A student at the University of Southern Mississippi was beaten so badly by fellow fraternity members that he had to undergo surgery and relearn how to walk, a federal lawsuit filed against the university and the Nu Eta chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity alleges.
Rafeal Joseph pledged Omega Psi Phi on the campus in Hattiesburg in 2022 and suffered “severe abuse” during a months-long pledgeship, his attorneys said in a Tuesday announcement. According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Hattiesburg on Monday, abuse included intimidation and threats, denying pledges food and sleep, stealing their money, and frequent beatings with a wooden paddle.
The alleged hazing culminated during a ritual night on April 17, 2023, when “members beat Joseph so severely, he spent nearly eleven days in the hospital and had to relearn how to walk,” the announcement noted. It was the second time Joseph had to be checked into the emergency room over the span of pledgeship, the trips including surgery and a blood transfusion, the lawsuit asserts.
Civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers, representing Joseph alongside Shequeena McKenzie, alleges university officials were made aware of the abuse shortly afterward but did nothing to help the student or discipline his abusers. The university, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, and multiple other individuals and organizations are named in the suit.
“We see violent incidents like these time and time again across the nation, but instead of taking action, fraternity leaders and university officials alike sweep it under the rug and write it off as ‘boys will be boys,'” Sellers said. “This isn’t youthful indiscretion. This isn’t tradition and it sure isn’t brotherhood. It’s criminal violence and abuse, and it needs to end.”
In addition to Joseph’s experience, the lawsuit lays out a “troubling history” of hazing violence at Southern Miss. This includes another incident in fall of 2022 when Darius Starkey, another Nu Eta initiate, suffered a torn ACL. The suit says university officials neither investigated that incident nor took any action against the fraternity.
“If someone struck a stranger with a 2×4, they’d face criminal charges,” Mackenzie said. “USM’s response suggests the same conduct inside a fraternity is somehow acceptable.”
As part of the lawsuit, Joseph is asking for compensation for the harms he is said to have suffered and money to cover medical bills, lost income, and attorney fees. He is also seeking a court order to stop the defendants from continuing the alleged behavior while leaving room for other remedies to be granted during a jury trial.
Joseph’s attorney’s provided pictures of his injuries, but SuperTalk Mississippi News is choosing not to publish the graphic content. The University of Southern Mississippi’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life did not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication. This article will be updated when and if they do respond.
