The Alpha Delta Phi fraternity was handed a significant sanction after a hazing incident in November 2024.
Police later released bodycam video of the situation, which was published on ‘The CrimePiece’ YouTube channel. In the footage, officers are seen entering the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity house at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and finding 56 people in the basement wearing blindfolds.
Hazing generally refers to humiliating, abusive, or demeaning tasks required of someone seeking membership in an organization, and it can still be classified as hazing even when the person agrees to participate.
The University of Iowa has again stressed that hazing is not allowed under university rules. Iowa law also prohibits it.
Following the 2024 incident, the university suspended the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity from campus for a minimum of four academic years.
Police records state that when officers arrived, they encountered a group of young men clustered in the basement. Many were shirtless and blindfolded.
Investigators noted that the men appeared to be covered in white, brown, and yellow substances that are now thought to have been food items. Some had ties pulled over their eyes to serve as blindfolds.
“They were all covered with what seemed like food products like ketchup and mustard and alcohol,” according to court documents.
An incident summary from the university also described what happened next, including how officers tried to determine who was responsible.
“While police were present at the house, the men who were wearing shirts in the storage room slowly moved into the middle of the room and removed their shirts,” it said.
“When police inquired what was happening in the basement, no individual in the room responded. Only after the police asked ‘Who was in charge?’ did a shirtless member respond ‘They are upstairs’.”
In the summary, the scene was compared by several to a “food fight,” but the document pointed to an apparent distinction between active members and pledges: “It is reasonable to believe that in a food fight all participating members would be throwing food. In this case no pledge member participated in throwing food, so it is reasonable to believe it was only executed by active members.
“It is reasonable to believe there was a coordinated effort to separate pledge class members from emergency personnel immediately following the exit from the basement.”
As part of the sanction, the fraternity must also work with the UI Fraternity and Sorority Life office to establish agreed-upon conditions that would need to be met before it could seek a return.
Newsweek reports that Joseph Gaya, who was not a University of Iowa student, was the only person arrested. He was later charged with interference with official acts.
The case against Joseph was ultimately dismissed and the charges were dropped.