NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! “You need a code of omertà if you’re trying to create an organization that’s essentially like a criminal organization,” Andrew Lohse said. Lohse was talking about fraternities: The 36-year-old is a survivor of fraternity hazing and the author of “Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy.” As a Dartmouth student, the whistleblower exposed the stomach-churning indoctrination rituals he said he endured within Sigma Alpha Epsilon.TWO OLE MISS STUDENTS FOUND DEAD WHILE PACKAGED KRATOM IS RECOVERED AT TWO SITES: OFFICIALS Robert Strang, 20, an Ole Miss student, was found dead this week. (Strang Family) When recent headlines broke about the mysterious deaths of two students at Ole Miss, one of whom was in a fraternity, and the alleged cocaine distribution ring at Penn State, Lohse said he immediately thought back to his time as a brother. “For years and years [the last] “For 10 years, it’s like when someone dies in a fraternity, it’s like when my phone rings,” Lohse told Fox News Digital. OLE MISS NAMS STUDENTS FOUND DEAD AS POTENTIAL OFFICIAL ADDRESSES FOR FOULD PLAY One of the Ole Miss students who was found dead last week, Ryan Strang, was a brother of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was found in a house off campus. Authorities found packages of kratom, a commercially available drug that has been derided as “gas station heroin,” at both scenes. However, his role in either death was not immediately clear. Phi Delta Theta has not been charged with any crime. General view of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house on the campus of the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, September 24, 2026. Black ribbons are tied to the porch columns in honor of the death of the fraternity member. Robert Strang, 20, of Atlanta (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital) “The loss of two young lives is a profound tragedy,” the fraternity said in a statement, in part “Phi Delta Theta joins the University of Mississippi and the Ole Miss community at large in mourning Robert and Aidan Hamilton and extending our deepest condolences to their families, friends, chapter brothers, classmates and all those who knew and loved them.” the importance of a collective commitment to health, safety and well-being on today’s college campuses. We encourage the Phi Delta Theta community to keep the Strang family, the Mississippi Alpha Chapter, and all those affected by these tragic losses in their thoughts. “Dangers like kratom didn’t exist when Lohse was in school, he said.” There was no kratom, no tranquilizers, no smoking bath salts, no fentanyl. Back then, cocaine was pretty much just cocaine. every time someone used cocaine, they could die.”TOXICOLOGY REPORTS ARE EXPECTED FROM OLE MISS SOON AND RESULTS MAY ACTIVATE ANTI-PHENTANYL LAW, OFFICIAL SAYS At Penn State, prosecutors allege in court documents that pledges were allegedly forced to cut and package cocaine as part of an alleged organized drug ring led by former Sigma Chi member Agostino Abbatiello. Agostino Abbateillo, 24, is one of 14 men accused of operating a massive cocaine ring near the Penn State campus. (Getty Images: Grichka Beysson-Leandri; Kamil Krzaczynski for Fox News Digital) Lohse said: “When I read that the fiancés were in the background doing that, I thought it was kind of surprising, but in a bad way, but also extremely brazen. More news last week in Madison, Wisconsin, where police. said it found approximately 30 partially clothed youth crammed inside a sweltering basement, covered in food, condiments and other liquids, and several of them showed signs of having been physically assaulted. The Madison Police Department said officers were sent to the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house on Wednesday night and are investigating the hazing incident, with two people arrested. Partially clothed youth are seen inside the basement of an Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house in. Madison, Wisconsin, during an alleged hazing incident. (Madison Police Department) “AEPi headquarters takes the allegations involving our Pi Chapter in Madison, Wisconsin extremely seriously,” said Jonathan Pierce, the fraternity’s communications director, in a statement. “We will fully cooperate with authorities investigating this matter. “Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for. There is no place for them in the AEPi,” he added. “No exceptions. No excuses. We educate our members on their responsibility to ‘Be Your Brothers’ Keeper’. This is not an optional value.” ‘Sad moment’ “It’s a sad moment, for society, for civilization,” Lohse said of some of the recent headlines about the fraternity’s behavior. “These organizations should be forces for good. Young men need it more than ever. Young men are more adrift than ever, there is no moral leadership.” “There is a void at the center of higher education and American society that used to be filled by God, by religion, by the church,” he said, adding that it is now “totally empty.” During his time as a brother at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he said he was forced to “swim in a kiddie pool full of vomit while urinating” and “drink” vinegar or milk to the point that he and his fellow pledges “vomited” in a tarp-covered room. FORMER MICHIGAN HOCKEY PLAYERS ALLEGE COACHES IGNORED YEARS OF ABUSIVE RITUALS FROM ROOKIES (Getty Images: GRICHKA BEYSSON-LEANDRI; Pennsylvania Prosecutor’s Office) He also said he was forced to stay in a small basement for a period of time. This all added up to the constant forced drunkenness, he said. of 10, 15 or more drinks,” he said. MIAMI SECRET SERVICE AGENT CHARGED OF NEAR-FATAL HAZING AT FRATERNITY, OFFICIALS SAY He said the unwritten “code of silence” or “omertà” contributes to these repeated hazing or drug-related problems within fraternities. “The original 19th century concept of the American fraternity is not what exists today,” Lohse said. THREE COLLEGE FRATERNITIES IN THE SIGHT AS HAZING CLAIMS OF DRINKS, BURNS, AND HOSPITAL TRIPS LEAD TO CRERISON: SCHOOL Agostino Abbatiello arrives at the Center County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. Abbatiello is accused of masterminding a cocaine ring at Penn State University (Kamil. Krzaczynski for Fox News Digital) “Basically, a modern fraternity can be considered a criminal organization. In most states, a fraternity’s unique behavioral attributes intersect with criminal statutes, whether it be misdemeanor hazing or felony drug trafficking. A code of silence is needed to protect that.” He went on to say, “the organization forces the individual to compromise their own identity for the collective, taking something from its members to ensure the system perpetuates itself.” “GET THE LATEST NEWS BY EMAIL After the hazing incidents during Lohse’s time as a student, SAE was suspended from Dartmouth for the past 10 years and was reinstated in August, the student-run newspaper reported. Dartmouth. When asked what advice he would offer to students considering Greek life at major universities, Lohse stopped short of outright telling students to avoid fraternities. Instead, Lohse urges young men to calculate the “opportunity cost” before committing. “Consider that the positive benefit, while perhaps not zero, pales in comparison to the negative risk,” Lohse said, advising incoming students to reflect on what they really want from higher education. SEND US A TIP The College Green on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, on Sunday, October 17, 2021. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg) DO YOU HAVE ADVICE? “Think about what you really want out of college. Who do you really want to be with and who will be there to help you? I think you’ll find that a fraternity isn’t going to give you that.” Judson Horras, president and CEO of the North American Interfraternity Conference, told Fox News Digital that “student safety is the top priority of our members. We have stricter anti-hazing laws in more than a dozen states, as well as the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act. Regarding the deaths of the Ole Miss students, Horras said, “We are heartbroken by the loss of two University of Mississippi students, one of whom was a member of the fraternity. Our condolences are with the Ole Miss families and community. “We will continue to work with colleges and families to keep all students safe.” Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta and Abbatiello’s attorney have been contacted for comment.
