Two Phi Beta Sigma brothers have each been accused of a misdemeanor and a summary offense of hazing. Jacob Francis, who led the fraternity’s recruitment, and Jayson Archer, the fraternity’s president, are each accused of leading violent hazing rituals against new members.

According to an affidavit of probable cause, State College police received an anonymous tip saying the pledges at Phi Beta Sigma were undergoing an intense hazing process.

“This has been going on for months, and it has emotionally and physically scarred us. We’ve been made to feel that if we don’t endure this, we’re not worthy of being part of the fraternity,” read the tip in the affidavit. “This is not brotherhood, it’s abuse. We can’t stay silent any longer. Please help us!”

The report said pledges were told to be a “bloody LL,” which meant being hit so much they were physically marked, according to the affidavit.

After receiving the tip, police said they began investigating. The report said high-ranking members were aware of the abuse, naming Francis, Archer, and Carlos Dye, a former member. Police worked with Penn State’s Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response (OSACR) to see whether the report could be substantiated.

An OSACR representative met with three potential recruits from the fraternity, providing details of those interviews to the police, according to the affidavit.

One interviewee, identified as Victim 1, gave a lengthy description of the hazing, according to the affidavit. Victim 1 told the OSACR representative that pledges were punished for mistakes, which included being hit with a 24-inch paddle. Victim 1 said the pledges were paddled on their rear end until they were bruised and it hurt to sit. Pledges were also punched in the chest with a closed fist as a punishment. Victim 1 identified Francis as the punisher.

Victim 1 also said new members were forced to travel to other universities to go through pledging with new members there in what was called “lock up,” according to the affidavit. Pledges were told they could be “paper” or “meat.” “Paper” meant they could sign off on the process and not go through with membership, and “meat” meant they were ready to bleed for their fraternity.

Victim 1 also said pledges were forced to perform workouts in the basement of the fraternity, according to the affidavit. If new members didn’t perform a workout correctly, they were punished.

The OSACR interviewed two more potential candidates, identified as Victim 2 and Victim 3, according to the affidavit. Both individuals denied any hazing rituals but said there were online modules that pledges had to complete to join the fraternity.

However, a warrant obtained texts between the three potential victims and showed texts corroborating Victim 1’s statements, according to the affidavit.

Police obtained a second search warrant, seizing the phones of Archer and Francis. Those phones showed texts between Francis, Archer, Dye, Wes Green, and Micah Neverson, according to the affidavit. Those texts corroborated reports of paddling new members. Additionally, multiple paddles were seized in the search.

Phi Beta Sigma is an unregistered and unrecognized fraternity at Penn State. Its house sits a few miles away from campus on 130 Farmstead Lane, No. 141.