Editor’s Note: This story includes potentially triggering situations, including bodily harm and injury.
Seven members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Indiana University have been charged with hazing, a Level 6 felony, after an October 2025 incident that resulted in the hospitalization of two people.
IUPD requested warrants for their arrests July 30, and the seven cases were filed in MyCase the following day.
Police records show that a total of 36 Phi Kappa Psi fraternity pledges were allegedly ordered to do push-ups, planks, squats and leg lifts for three hours at an Oct. 15, 2025 initiation event at the fraternity house on North Eagleson Avenue. Around ten pledges, including one of the two hospitalized, were then ordered to take an ice bath.
While in the ice bath, pledges were told to recite the first paragraph of the fraternity’s creed. After recitation, pledges were permitted to leave the ice bath.
At least two pledges were injured so badly that their muscles started to disintegrate, with one of the pledges entering the hospital in critical condition. Both were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that can cause organ damage and even fatalities.
According to the IU Office of Student Life, Phi Kappa Psi was placed on cease and desist Oct. 21 and remains at that status currently.
The seven fraternity members facing felony charges, according to MyCase, are:
- Casey Clarke, 20, of Hagaman, New York.
- Logan Conforti, 20, of South Elgin, Illinois.
- Ryan Donohue, 20, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
- Noah Kucera, 20, of San Clemente, California.
- Joseph Moon, 20, of Elkhart, Indiana.
- Kaptur Nowacyzk, 20, of Crown Point, Indiana.
- Arjun Patel, 20, of Westfield, Indiana.
Each of the seven fraternity members are being charged with two counts of felony hazing, and one member, Patel, is also being charged with obstruction of justice.
According to the probable cause affidavits, Patel, the fraternity president at the time, texted one of the pledges and asked him to tell doctors his injuries were caused from working out at the gym. Patel then allegedly asked him and multiple other pledges and fraternity members to delete their messages about hazing.
The affidavit describes video footage obtained from the Phi Kappa Psi house that showed multiple pledges experiencing physical pain upon exiting the room where the hazing occurred, including limping, wincing in pain and falling against walls.
Vice Chancellor for Student Life Lamar Hylton said in a statement released by an IU spokesperson Monday that all of Phi Kappa Psi's organizational activities remain suspended.
"The Office of Student Life holds all fraternities and sororities to high standards of safety, accountability and respectful experiences for every member," Hylton wrote. "The allegations made in the charges announced by the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office are inconsistent with Indiana University’s values and expectations of student conduct."
Hazing is a Level 6 felony in Indiana when it results in bodily injury, with a maximum sentence of 2.5 years.
All seven men have been issued summonses to appear in court in Monroe County Sept. 1.
