2-year-old videos showed a member holding a duck at gunpoint, members chanting in front of dead duck
By AALIYAH ESPAÑOL-RIVAS — campus@theaggie.org
Resurfaced video of an Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) fraternity member abusing a duck and of others around a dead bird hung indoors has ignited a controversy over the fraternity’s conduct and resulted in several reports to the Davis Police.
The video, posted on the r/UCDavis subreddit page on March 4, showed an unidentified individual wearing an AGR hat chasing a duck with a gun on the AGR house’s front lawn. In a subsequent clip, the same duck was seen in a cage with another duck that appeared to be injured. In the video’s final clip, three unidentified individuals dressed in formal suits are seen chanting while standing near a dead duck hung from a ceiling fan.
Officers and Yolo County Animal Control were dispatched to the AGR house on the afternoon of March 4 following multiple tips, according to Davis Police Department Lieutenant John Evans. Following communication with fraternity leadership and an investigation of the house, police determined that the resurfaced videos were taken two years ago.
“We found that the video was taken about two years ago, and the person that was depicted in the video no longer lives there and is no longer attending UC Davis,” Evans said. “The officers determined that, although the actions that were depicted on the video were disturbing, that there was in fact, no violation of state law that occurred.”
Evans also said that the investigation is now closed and that the individuals involved were contacted.
“There are a lot of things that aren’t necessarily against the law that you still shouldn’t do,” Evans said. “People see images and videos that are super disturbing and upsetting to them, but it still doesn’t necessarily mean that it violates the law. I can understand why people don’t like it and why they’re upset, but at the end of the day, for our department there’s just not really much there as far as a criminal complaint.”
Multiple Reddit users expressed disgust and anger with the actions displayed in the videos, with some calling for the fraternity to be disbanded.
“No excuses for abusing animals, none,” one commenter said. “For those who don’t seem to care about abuse of animals, look at it like this, animal abusers are statistically more likely to abuse humans; this is well proven. Take their charter, UCD.”
A small group of protesters gathered at the AGR house in North Davis, Saturday, March 7. AGR members called the Davis Police Department and asked for extra patrol ahead of the protest after receiving threats online and getting their house egged, according to Evans. The house has also since been vandalised, with the phrase “Death to Abusers” spray-painted on an exterior wall.
The California Aggie reached out to the AGR Davis Chapter President and the fraternity’s national headquarters for comment but received no official response in time for publication.
AGR is under investigation by the Student Conduct and Integrity Office for an undisclosed matter and has ceased operations, according to the UC Davis Center for Student Involvement, which advises Greek life operations. AGR was previously levied with violations of hazing in November 2025. Until the investigation is over, the chapter is barred from holding official meetings and participating in social events.
Alpha Gamma Rho was originally founded at Ohio State University’s College of Agriculture in 1903, with the four pillars of “recruit, commit, educate and recognize.” Its philanthropic causes include Ducks Unlimited, a private organization committed to the conservation of wetlands and habitats for North American waterfowl.
UC Davis’ AGR Phi chapter opened in 1923; it is one of 12 standing fraternities within UC Davis’ Interfraternity Council (IFC). The IFC was unaware of the actions in the video until they resurfaced earlier this week, according to IFC President Maksymilian Wozniak, a third-year aerospace engineering major.
“The incident was two years ago, and it was kept within the fraternity, as far as we know,” Wozniak said. “Obviously, the IFC condemns all forms of hazing and animal abuse and condemns the actions of the former members of AGR.”
Amra Abid contributed reporting to this story.
Written by: Aaliyah Español-Rivas — campus@theaggie.org
