The parents of Sawyer Lee Updike, a University of Texas at Austin student who died by suicide in January 2024, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Sawyer was 18 when he died. His parents, Sheryl Roberts-Updike and Lee J. Updike, filed the suit on Nov. 20 against Sigma Chi’s Alpha Nu chapter, along with Sigma Chi International and several fraternity members accused of subjecting their son to what the lawsuit describes as severe hazing.
According to the filing, Sawyer joined the fraternity in fall 2023 and soon became part of a hazing process that allegedly lasted for months. The lawsuit claims he was injured during alcohol-related events and subjected to repeated physical abuse, sleep deprivation, and forced drug use. It also alleges that some incidents were filmed or recorded.
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The suit further claims that fraternity members intimidated Sawyer and threatened to sexually assault his girlfriend if he did not comply with their demands.
The lawsuit alleges that around Jan. 16, 2024 — a few weeks into Sawyer’s second semester — he went to the fraternity house and was given cocaine and psilocybin mushrooms. The filing says the substances worsened an ongoing psychological crisis. Afterward, Sawyer allegedly drove to a nearby convenience store parking lot, where he died by suicide.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence, stating they had a duty to act reasonably toward pledges and failed to do so. It seeks monetary damages for the physical and emotional harm Sawyer allegedly suffered from the start of pledging through the time of his death.
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In a statement included with the lawsuit, Sheryl Roberts-Updike said she lives daily with the loss of her son.
“No parent should ever lose a child, and certainly not because of hazing disguised as ‘brotherhood,’” she said. “What happened to Sawyer was cruel, senseless, and preventable. It is unbearable to know that a young man with so much promise was put through something so dangerous in the name of belonging.”
Sigma Chi executive director Michael J. Church said the fraternity’s UT Austin chapter has been closed, according to CBS Austin. In his statement, Church said Sigma Chi’s principles require members to uphold high standards and care for one another, adding that anyone found responsible for the alleged actions should face the full consequences of the justice system.
