Nine members of a Louisiana State University fraternity have been arrested over multiple hazing incidents that allegedly took place last fall, the university said.
The young men were members of the school's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and were arrested and facing numerous charges, including felony battery charges and misdemeanor criminal hazing, the university in Baton Rouge announced in a statement Thursday.
"This type of behavior is unacceptable and at complete odds with what we expect from our students," the school said. "It does not belong at LSU. This is a sad day for the university, but one that illustrates the cultural shift occurring at LSU."
Delta Kappa Epsilon's national organization was made aware of the alleged hazing-related incident and reported the matter to campus police, who opened an investigation. It revoked the LSU chapter's charter as a result, the school said.
In a statement Thursday, the Delta Kappa Epsilon national organization said it would continue to "eliminate hazing wherever and whenever it occurs."
"In our ongoing educational programming regarding hazing prevention, we emphasize to our undergraduates that individuals should and will be held accountable for their actions," the fraternity said.
Arrest warrants from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office detail a number of allegations against the men by students who were pledging the fraternity.
One pledge claimed a member wearing steel-toed boots kicked him when he failed to correctly name the first 10 Delta Kappa Epsilon chapters as he did pushups.
Another allegation claims that pledges were forced to engage in a game called "Edward 40 Hands," where 40-ounce bottles of beer are taped to someone's hands. The pledges were allegedly forced to finish both bottles while in a plank position on the their elbows.
One of the victims said he had to vomit in order to finish the beers.
Cade Rain Duckworth, 23, is facing felony charges of attempted battery, battery, and false imprisonment as well as three misdemeanor counts of criminal hazing.
Gaston Thomas Eymard, 23; Shakti P. Gilotra, 22; and Malcolm Richard McNiece, 23, are facing charges of battery and criminal hazing.
Five others — Charles Eugene Brakenridge, 23; Joseph Dylan Harkrider, 19; Blake Andrew Chalin, 20; Alexander Joseph Rozas, 23; and Garrett Joseph Sanders, 21 — were charged with criminal hazing.
Seven of the nine men were booked into jail at East Baton Rouge Parish, according to the sheriff's department.
The university had a prior hazing incident in 2017 in which freshman Maxwell Gruver died after allegedly being pelted with condiments, ordered to recite the Greek alphabet and forced to chug hard liquor if he made mistakes, all allegedly part of his initiation into the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
Gruver died at a Baton Rouge hospital with a blood alcohol level of .495, more than six times the legal limit.
Ten men were charged in connection with his death, and the national Phi Delta Theta organization suspended the chapter's charter.