A member of the Beta Theta Pi pledge class was attacked by two male UM students on the evening of Monday, Feb. 2, on the fourth floor of the Ungar Building.
A student who witnessed the altercation and wishes to remain anonymous said that he was leaving his math class in the building around 6:20 p.m. with his classmate, the Beta pledge.
“We were walking into the elevator, and then, [the Beta pledge] was holding his basketball and two kids — from what I saw — like wrapped their arms around his stomach kind of and took the basketball,” the witness said. “It was kind of freaky because a full-on fight broke out.”
The witness said that he and a few women were watching the altercation — which was happening outside the elevator — from inside the elevator while waiting for the doors to close. He is unsure if the two males had class in Ungar or were only there waiting for the Beta pledge.
“I heard a rumor that [the two males] were in that [Kappa Sigma Fraternity] but I didn’t know whether or not they were in that frat or in my class,” he said. “I heard that [the two males] [took his basketball] to get out of something for, like, a lineup, or like a hazing thing later that night. Like, they were told to take his ball.”
An anonymous post on YikYak read, “No like apparently the [Beta] kid has to dribble the ball everywhere and if he loses it their whole pc [pledge class] gets a lineup.”
A lineup is an event where pledges — members associated with a fraternity but not yet initiated — are hazed. According to an article on Substack, lineups can include the brothers yelling at the pledges, embarrassing or shaming them in a “verbally abusive” manner. They sometimes include physical violence.
A photo of someone’s bloody knuckles was sent to the Alpha Epsilon Pi Spring 2026 pledge class group chat late that evening. It is unclear if the hand belongs to the Beta pledge or the attackers.
“It definitely looked like a tough two-on-one for sure,” the witness said. “It was scary. You know one of those things where you’re like, ‘Oh my god. I’m shook. What just happened? Let’s get the f—ck out of here.’”
Word of the altercation quickly spread across YikYak.
One post from an anonymous user read, “Someone in Beta PLEASE wear meta glasses to that lineup so we can find the body when they’re done.”
A photo was also posted of a basketball bouncing with the caption, “someone’s getting lined up tn #bbpledge.”
According to UMPD, no incidents have been reported over the last two days. In a statement to The Hurricane, the University said that it has “not received any reports on this incident.”
The Hurricane contacted UMPD Lieutenant Octavia Fisher, the president of Beta and the president of KSig and has not yet received a response.