Former UT-Austin exchange student sues fraternity over alleged assault

Though the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Texas Rho Chapter isn’t associated with UT Austin due to multiple past violations of university policies, the lawsuit alleges that the fraternity members attacked the Australian exchange student at a party last year, resulting in a dislocated leg, broken ligaments, fractured tibia and broken nose, according to court documents. So far, the injuries have caused plaintiff Julian Ascione to undergo four surgeries and more are likely, preventing him from completing his spring 2023 university semester, the suit states.

In early March 2023, Ascione attended an “open party” with a date at Texas Rho’s house on 2414 Pearl St., Austin, TX 78705, according to the suit. After fraternity members asked Ascione to leave, they agreed to let him wait for his date, who was using the bathroom at the time. Later that night, a different group of four to five people, who, according to the suit, appeared intoxicated, again told Ascione to leave. That group then allegedly attacked Ascione in the parking area outside of the house, and the plaintiff had to call an ambulance for himself, according to the court documents.

The lawsuit, filed in January, was first reported by the Daily Texan. The suit alleges that the defendants, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Texas Rho Chapter House Corp., as well as the chapter’s adviser and president, did not properly monitor alcohol consumption the night of the alleged attack or maintain necessary security or intervene in the assault.

Ascione is asking for between $1 million and $5 million for the injuries he sustained during the alleged attack, according to court documents. The defendants have denied their involvement in the allegations. Because the defendants “owned, possessed and controlled” the fraternity house where the alleged attack occurred, the suit alleges that they are responsible for damages due to their “gross negligence” during the party. 

Acsione’s lawyer told the Austin American-Statesman that the case, which does not yet have a date, will be tried in Harris County, where two of the defendants lived during the time of the alleged assault. The lawyer, Clayton Rawlings, also told the Statesman that although the fraternity members who allegedly assaulted Ascione were not individually named in the suit, they may be identified and added later during the discovery phase of the lawsuit.   

Texas Rho is no stranger to lawsuits and violations of policies set forth by its own parent fraternity and UT Austin. After investigating a tip through its anonymous hazing hotline, the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity suspended Texas Rho in 2017 over “health-and-safety concerns and an inability to adhere to the national organization’s standards and expectations.” The Texas chapter will be reinstated after its members graduate in four years from 2017, according to the national organization’s website. 

UT Austin’s own investigation in the fall of 2017 into fraternity hazing resulted in the cancellation of Texas Rho as a student organization in May 2018 for at least four years. The university investigation, which was reported on heavily by the Daily Texan, found that “new members were required to consume alcohol and ingest gross/unwanted substances; required to participate in calisthenics; subjected to physical brutality; engage in boxing/fights; confined to uncomfortable spaces; degraded and demeaned during line-ups” among other violations.

Despite the chapter’s suspension, it continued to operate as a “rogue organization” under the Texas Rho name, which resulted in a 2018 lawsuit by the national organization for continuing to use the registered insignia and marks of the national fraternity, KVUE reported. That suit was settled in 2019 with a complete separation from the national organization, according to The Daily Texan. However, the Texas Rho chapter was officially reinstated by the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon organization in April 2023, according to an Instagram post by the chapter.