Rutgers student electrocution raises off-campus fraternity safety concerns

The reported electrocution of a New Jersey scholar following what authorities imagine was associated to an alleged hazing incident has raised new questions relating to security issues inside off-campus housing at schools throughout the nation.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old Rutgers College scholar was taken to the hospital in crucial situation after receiving an electrical shock at an off-campus Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity home throughout an alleged hazing incident. according to NJ.com. A second scholar was additionally reportedly injured by an electrical present after making an attempt to tug the sufferer away from the wire, a father or mother of a scholar affiliation member informed the newspaper.

In response to the allegations, the nationwide group of Alpha Sigma Phi made the choice to completely ban the college’s chapter from campus, successfully closing the doorways of the Faculty Avenue home.

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The Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity home at 106 Faculty Avenue the place a 19-year-old Rutgers College scholar was critically injured on October 15 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Wednesday, October 22, 2025. (Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press through USA Right this moment)

“Based mostly on our data, we’ve got decided that the chapter violated a number of parts of the Fraternity’s well being and security pointers that night,” Gordy Heminger, president and CEO of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, Inc., stated in a press release to Fox Information Digital. “If the chapter had not hazed new members that night, we don’t imagine any accidents would have occurred. On account of the investigation, the chapter is now closed.”

Following an institutional evaluate, Rutgers additionally positioned the fraternity underneath a stop and desist order and organizational disciplinary probation.

Whereas investigators are nonetheless piecing collectively the occasions that led to 1 scholar being hospitalized, questions are starting to come up in regards to the security of off-campus Greek housing — and the dangers of potential hazing.

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A 19-year-old scholar was hospitalized in crucial situation after being discovered unconscious at an Alpha Sigma Phi chapter home off the campus of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Wednesday, October 15, 2025. (iStock)

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“There’s a feeling and expectation from dad and mom that the college has extra management over these off-campus personal housing choices,” David Stollman, president of Campuspeak, informed Fox Information Digital. “I feel the fixed expectation from dad and mom is that there’s extra management than the college can even have.”

Presently, laws surrounding a college’s legal responsibility for incidents that happen in off-campus scholar housing are left as much as every particular person group, with some colleges weighing the advantages – and dangers – of monitoring the housing.

“Campus attorneys have totally different opinions,” Stollman stated. “Some imagine and direct their college to say that it’s higher that we all know and that we do all the pieces we will so as to add a layer of safety. Others say that if we add that layer of safety, the college is accountable.”

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The Rutgers College chapter of Alpha Sigma Phi has been completely banned as authorities attempt to decide the reason for the coed’s accidents, officers stated. (iStock)

Inside days of the alleged hazing incident, the chapter home of Alpha Sigma Phi in New Brunswick was declared uninhabitable after it was revealed the property had a historical past of failed inspections and a $10,000 fantastic imposed earlier this 12 months, based on data obtained by Fox Information Digital.

Inspection information from 2014 exhibits a collection of code violations, with officers documenting quite a few hazards as of 2020, together with structural neglect and fireplace issues of safety.

In 2023, inspectors found lacking carbon monoxide detectors, damaged door {hardware}, broken flooring and out of doors trash piles. A 12 months later, most of the violations have been nonetheless in place when officers returned to the home, leading to a $10,000 fantastic.

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After a 19-year-old Rutgers College member was critically injured in an alleged hazing incident, specialists are elevating questions on legal responsibility for off-campus security violations. (iStock)

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One other inspection in Could 2025 revealed 50 reported issues, together with open wiring, structural injury, blocked fireplace escapes and pests, based on paperwork obtained by Fox Information Digital.

Lower than a month earlier than the coed was critically injured, the Division of Neighborhood Affairs seized the property’s inspection certificates. Days later, a reinspection report indicated that there have been at the very least 19 extra violations on the residence, together with a number of life issues of safety involving damaged carbon monoxide detectors and blocked exits.

The home is owned by the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity and managed by the group’s nationwide housing arm, CLVEN, based on property data.

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In a press release to Fox Information Digital, Heminger emphasised that any upkeep points delivered to CLVEN have been resolved in a well timed method, and that “over 200 minutes of digital housing conferences with college students have been reviewed this educational 12 months, and no electrical/life issues of safety within the residence have been ever reported by any of the scholars.”

“Sadly, the scholars and (or) their friends induced important documented injury to the chapter home,” Heminger stated.

As well as, Rutgers has “no involvement” in overseeing the property, a college spokesperson stated in a press release to Fox Information Digital.

An unsafe constructing discover is posted on the entrance door of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity home at 106 Faculty Avenue, the place a 19-year-old Rutgers College scholar was critically injured on October 15 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Wednesday, October 22, 2025. (Tanya Breen/Asbury Park Press through USA Right this moment)

Based on Stollman, many off-campus Greek residence halls are managed by the native or nationwide chapter, or rented from a third-party landlord – with many organizations selecting native alumni over universities in the case of security assessments.

“There’s a danger to the college if they begin certifying these homes,” Stollman informed Fox Information Digital. “As a result of in the event that they affirm that one thing is secure and it is not, then as a father or mother I’d take a look at them and say, ‘Wait a minute, you informed me this was secure.'”

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Nonetheless, Stollman insists that universities with such housing conditions ought to provide dad and mom extra transparency about their involvement in guaranteeing scholar security.

“It might be nice if dad and mom may assist their scholar retailer discover a place to dwell off campus with a few of that transparency,” Stollman stated. “[With] the college will carry the violations raised by the town, even when the college doesn’t certify that these violations are correct or inaccurate.

Based on Rutgers, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Workplace is at the moment investigating whether or not prison expenses could be filed in opposition to the scholars concerned within the incident.

The sufferer is at the moment recovering from his accidents and continues to obtain remedy, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Workplace confirmed to Fox Information Digital.

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As Greek life stays a longtime custom within the nation’s larger schooling system, Stollman urges households to analysis their college students’ off-campus housing choices with security and transparency prime of thoughts.

“Renting off-campus housing for college students is massive enterprise,” Stollman says.

‘There are various corporations which have invested closely, particularly in these giant college cities. [Families should] Check out what these corporations are placing ahead of their lease agreements, and what they’re placing ahead in scholar protections. So it is a troublesome scenario, actually [about] what you could find out and how one can make selections as early as attainable.”