Family files wrongful death lawsuit against Sigma Chi fraternity at UT, alleging brutal hazing practices drove freshman Sawyer Updike to suicide in 2024. The family of a Texas college freshman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from allegations that fraternity hazing drove him into a mental health crisis that led him to take his own life. Sawyer Updike, an 18-year-old from Pearland, accepted a bid to pledge the Sigma Chi fraternity through the University of Texas at Austin’s Alpha Nu Chapter in August 2023, according to FOX 7. Throughout his time as a member of the chapter’s pledge class, Updike was allegedly subjected to months of ‘horrific hazing’ that ultimately drove him to suicide, the lawsuit states.