In a frantic 48-hour period last September, the UTD Fraternity and Sorority Life office was thrown into crisis mode. Internal university records obtained by The Retrograde show how the office received a “critical” hazing report, scrambled to identify suspects and shut down a major philanthropic event — all while they prepared a showcase of their recruitment season for their boss.
The 205-page report obtained by The Retrograde details the different processes involved in addressing internal discipline after press get involved and the thorough, if undisclosed, investigation into serious allegations, highlighting the varying protocols within UTD’s Greek community administration.
The documentation consists of internal emails, Maxient conduct reports and Microsoft Teams chats. The main crisis began Sept. 23 at 8:21 a.m. when Dean of Student Amanda Smith received a “critical” urgency incident report routed through the university’s Maxient system.
The subject line: “Hazing — Sirius Hall — 9/17/2025.” The accused organization: Kappa Sigma.
The report’s description was blunt. A complainant said they “came across a deeply disturbing video on TikTok called Kappa Sigma pledge.” The complainant said that the video showed Kappa Sigma pledges knocking on women’s dormitory doors in Sirius Hall, asking residents if they would like to “kiss or slap” them and the pledges “being slapped, some extremely hard.”
“This will eventually escalate into more aggressive violence as well as the fact that is taking place on campus means it is imperative for UTD to stop this,” the complainant concluded. The report was copied to Vice President for Student Affairs Gene Fitch and several other administrators.
Just over 12 hours later, at 8:31 p.m., a second Maxient report arrived. This one alleged “public humiliation hazing shown in video” involving Kappa Sigma in Andromeda Hall. It was marked as “normal” urgency.
The university’s response to the first, critical report arrived five hours later. At 1:24 p.m., Smith sent a terse Microsoft Teams message to FSL Director Kevin Saberre and Office of Community Standards and Conduct Director Shaq Massey: “I need to see both of you ASAP.”
Saberre replied, “on my way.” Massey, stuck in traffic on George Bush Turnpike, wrote he would be there shortly. By 1:34 p.m., the internal machinery was whirring.
“There’s a hazing allegation,” Saberre wrote in a Teams chat to FSL Assistant Director Adam Joiner. His next request: “Can you send me Kappa Sig’s bid list.”
The staff’s initial, private assessment was damning. In a Teams exchange that afternoon, Joiner and Saberre discussed the “kiss or slap” video.
“but is it hazing?? Signs point to yes,” Saberre said.
“I would agree. Actives arent doing it,” Joiner replied, suggesting the culprits were new members. He added, “Yeah, its a stupid way to get in trouble. Especially since they posted it on social media.”
While this hazing investigation was launching, Kappa Sigma was running its annual “Box-A-Thon” philanthropy event in the Student Union Plinth, involving a large, decorated cardboard structure where members camped out throughout the day to raise donations for homeless veterans. But the event had a problem: it violated campus policy.
The records show that on Sept. 24, The Retrograde emailed Smith for comment on an article covering the fundraiser and its box, which was left up overnight. UTD’s SU reservation system, Mazevo, indicated that the space had only been reserved from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day of that week, but the box had stayed overnight with fraternity members present until 11 p.m., violating a clear policy at the time. A front desk attendant in the Dean of Students office gave The Retrograde an unambiguous response: “Nothing is allowed to be left at the Plinth overnight, unless our office specifically approves of it.”
The administrative response to this violation was direct. That evening, Saberre updated Massey on Teams. “Well they are gonna be pissed cause we had to shut down box-a-thon cause they forgot the expressive activity form.”
Massey responded, “LMAO welp…”
“They were heated!!” Saberre said.
The records show the hazing review continued procedurally — Joiner sent Saberre the Kappa Sigma bid list while Massey met with the student president of Kappa Sigma. The office’s process for hazing allegations involves gathering information and conducting interviews, which differs from the immediate action required for a clear policy violation like an unauthorized overnight structure. The records state that the female victims were not interviewed during the 48-hour period. FSL did not respond to comment as to whether they were interviewed after the fact. Kappa Sigma’s national office declined to comment on the situation or its general hazing policy.
The turbulence was not confined to Kappa Sigma. On Sept. 24, Massey informed Saberre that he was about to place another fraternity, Beta Chi Theta, on “an interim suspension.” The reason? The chapter had failed to complete their sanctioned alcohol awareness workshop for nearly a year, despite being mandated by a prior violation. Member events for Beta Chi Theta were banned.
Meanwhile, the public-facing machinery of FSL churned onward. On Sept. 24, Joiner prepared talking points for a lunch the following day with Fitch. The agenda was a portrait of success and positive momentum:
- Go over Recruitment Numbers: 123 bids accepted from 174 registered students.
- Talk about changing bid day from the Plinth to the Multipurpose fields — “Change it to more of a tailgating atmosphere.”
- Plan for 2026 recruitment and review constitution changes.
The talking points focused on broader departmental updates, as the hazing allegations and bans were still being procedurally finalized.
These records, spanning two days, sketch a system under strain. They show an administration acting with decisive action when rules about forms, structures and sanction deadlines are broken, all while simultaneously dealing with a department meeting and serious hazing allegations and social media videos that were deleted within weeks of the investigation beginning.
The Retrograde reached out to UTD for comment regarding the contents of the records and an update on the hazing investigation. As of publication, UTD did not respond.
UTD has not updated its hazing report since January 2023 when it simply read: “No current hazing incidents to report.”