Police investigate whether burned Ohio State University students were victims of hazing

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police are investigating whether two Ohio State University students who were treated for deep burns after being engulfed in flames at an outdoor fraternity party were victims of hazing.

The university placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity on interim suspension after a video circulated on social media showing a large group surrounding two young men on fire Saturday. A student who watched the video called police the next day to report a possible hazing incident, according to an audio recording of the call.

“They stood around watching while this kid just burned," said the student, who was sent the video in a group chat with her sorority members.

The video shows a ring of people standing outside, many wearing the school’s red and white colors, laughing and shouting at two men on the ground with their pants on fire. One lunges at the other, and they both roll on the ground. The shouting takes on a more panicked tone as they struggle to remove their clothing. One onlooker holds a small fire extinguisher but doesn't successfully deploy it.

According to the Columbus Police report, the victims were both students who were treated for “moderate” second- and third-degree burns. The university has not said how the fraternity is linked to the event, but the report lists the president of the fraternity as part of the investigation.

The report also lists hazing as the charge being investigated and notes that university authorities also are looking into whether hazing occurred.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed “Collin’s Law” in 2021 toughening penalties for hazing in the wake of a student’s death at a fraternity house at Ohio University. The law's definition of hazing includes participating in or coercing anyone into behavior that creates a substantial risk of mental or physical harm and is tied to initiation into an organization or continued membership.

Under that law and the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed by President Joe Biden in 2024, Ohio State maintains a public list of hazing violations and penalties. It shows that so far this year, four fraternities, one sorority and one co-ed group have been sanctioned for hazing. Sigma Alpha Epsilon does not appear on the list for the last five years, though the student newspaper The Lantern said it has been sanctioned at least seven times since 2001.

According to the newspaper’s archives, the chapter over the years has been found to have violated policies related to alcohol, hazing and endangering behavior, and at one point had its disciplinary probation extended for failing to comply with sanctions.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon eliminated its “pledging” process for all its chapters nationwide in 2014 in part due to injuries and deaths.

In 2022, 46 members of the SAE chapter at the University of New Hampshire were charged with hazing. Most agreed to perform community service and avoided conviction; the three who went to trial were acquitted because the judge said the state didn’t prove the acts were a “condition of initiation into, continued membership in or association with” the fraternity.

Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Julie Carr-Smyth also contributed from Columbus.