Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database

The University of Illinois student newspaper takes a sober look at the benefits and responsibilities of fraternities during Rush Week. This is the paper’s followup on the piece written by its reporter who attended what he called beer-soaked recruiting parties. http://www.dailyillini.com/article/2012/09/alcohol-culture-of-rush-week-makes-lasting-impression-on-new-students

Excerpt:

The University is home to the country’s largest Greek system. But having a part in that distinction comes with responsibility. Fraternities should have safeguards in place to ensure that minors don’t drink during Rush Week or at parties.

Not only that, but the University’s Interfraternity Council, the organization that presides over the more than 40 fraternity chapters, states in its policies for the recruitment process that “the only restriction placed on chapters is the restriction of not involving alcohol in ANY recruitment activities.”

But the IFC does not have any restrictions or regulations on placing bids, the invitations for membership to a fraternity, on potential new members.

This muddies the line between simply throwing a party at the beginning of the semester — the time that most fraternities actively seek new members — and recruiting new members.

In some aspects, Greek life comes under attack because it sometimes glorifies underage drinking, breaking laws against it and celebrating the act.

As an institution with an internal government to manage risk, such as those associated with alcohol, it is that much more important to ensure there are written records of what goes largely unreported in campus fraternities.

Notably, underage drinking is not isolated to fraternities. Champaign-Urbana itself has the unusual practice of allowing 19- and 20-year-olds into bars, and it is foolish to assume that all underage bar attendees simply watch their of-age friends drink while they sip soda.

Whether an apartment, residence hall or other residence on campus, you can be confident that beer and liquor will be present.

Unlike the rest of campus, however, fraternities are held to a higher standard by the IFC, and chapters face consequences if found to use improper Rush methods, including serving alcohol to minors.

Fraternities on campus do great things — they fundraise for worthy causes, they provide friends or a home for freshmen trying to find their place at an enormous university, they allow members to assume leadership positions in their fraternity and in the community, and they help alumni in securing jobs and promotions.

Providing alcohol when recruiting new members who are underage serves only to mitigate these positives. That does not mean fraternities should stop having alcohol at their parties — it is unfair to expect a complete ban, but it is expected that alcohol is used responsibly. This does mean, however, that alcohol, should not be such a focus during rush.

The Office of the Dean of Students enumerates a list of values that are supposed to be “inherent” in the Greek system’s mission, which is to facilitate friendship, leadership, scholarship, service and social advancement. Alcohol detracts from these values because the first and, quite often, lasting impression for a non-Greek member or a student seeking entry into the system is not one that emphasizes the positive benefits of a fraternity.

The Christian Science Monitor raises some important questions about the role of a pledge who knowingly accepts a beating to gain admission into a group. While the author does a good job, he fails to note that the courts assigned a very small percentage of blame to pledge Chad Meredith following his drowning death. The courts in a South Carolina case made a ruling in the death of Barry Ballou for Sigma Nu at U South Carolina that being of sound mine he could understand that he was accepting hazing–but not to the point of death. On the other hand, New Hampshire law puts a burden on pledges to take responsibility for any hazing injuries they incur–along with responsibility to the perps. In this case, I am watching the court proceedings ahead as intently as everyone.  Both sides may decide to settlle the civil lawsuit–as is very common in such cases. The largest settlement to date was MIT and the death of Scott Krueger: $6 million. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2012/0911/FAMU-blames-hazing-victim-for-his-own-death-Heartless-or-prudent

I wrote to Det. Deitrick and U-Idaho school studauthorities regarding the death of a Lambda Chi Alpha pledge named Preston W. t affairs Vorhauer, a freshman of 18, out “swimming” with senior members just because –well dunno why, that’s the point. I wanted to make sure this wasn’t like the more than a dozen drowning incidents of pledges out with members that we saw at the University of Miami (Chad Meredith) and the University of Texas Cowboys (death of Idaho resident Gabe Higgins under mysterious circumstances and a fraternity coverup), UCLA and elsewhere. Total silence from Detective Mike Deitrick with the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office. And so now I turn the inquiry over to Attorney General Lawrence Wasden of Idaho and a great Lambda Chi Alpha staff for which I wrote a recent article for an all-hazing issue. Was this just a couple boys out for a swim or was there any pressure on a pledge to prove himself to older members? No disrespect to the University of Idaho, nor Mr. Deitrick or the Sheriff, but U-Idaho has had its historical hazing and alcohol issues, most recently the death of Benjamin Harris swilling shots for his 21st birthday with Sigma Nu members. This is too suspicious a case to put to bed without investigation. Detective Mike Deitrick and Greek affairs at Idaho are either too busy or whatever to respond. I don’t plan to let this death rest on a deputy’s gut feeling and will FOIA them until they respond with facts and results of whatever interrogation of witnesses that was done or not done. This case may have been sufficiently investigated but all that has been reported is Mr. Deitrick’s apparently gut feeling. My gut feeling? The public deserves more facts. But this sounds like a great chapter. http://www.uidaho.edu/greeklife/chapterinfo/fraternities/lambdachialpha2 Let’s make sure.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/13/benjamin-harris-dead-univ_n_644888.html

This is the June 27 story on the Cornell acquittals. I had not seen this while on vacation and am passing it along in case anyone here missed it. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/nyregion/ex-cornell-students-acquitted-of-hazing-in-death-of-fraternity-member.html

 

excerpt:

The three defendants — Max Haskin, Ben Mann and Edward Williams — were accused of making George Desdunes drink excessive amounts of alcohol during an induction ritual for the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, of which they were all members. They were charged with hazing in the first degree and unlawfully dealing with a child (referring to serving alcohol to a person under 21), both misdemeanors. But on Tuesday, Judge Judith A. Rossiter of Tompkins County Court acquitted them of all charges.

Raymond M. Schlather, one of the defense lawyers, said Wednesday that the court had “determined without any hesitation or equivocation that these guys are innocent.” He added, “Having said that, I emphasize that there are no winners, because someone is dead and the family is in pain, and frankly, the lives of three young men are irrevocably harmed.”

Mr. Desdunes’s mother, Marie Lourdes Andre, was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

“She’s absolutely devastated,” her lawyer, Douglas Fierberg, said. “She’s in shock and terribly saddened that her son could be killed by these individuals and there be no criminal responsibility.”

Police theorize that feces-spreading and damage to to cars was revenge by Ball State sorority women getting back at woman who reported hazing http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120910/BUSTED/309100014/sorority-hazing-vandalism?nclick_check=1

Good story by Doug Walker: As a result, four current or former BSU students face criminal prosecution.

EXCERPT: Charged last week with two counts each of criminal mischief, a Class D felony carrying a standard 18-month prison term, were:

• Briana N. Fulton, 21, 3701 N. Marleon Drive

• Bianca T. Humphrey, 22, 4524 W. Bethel Ave.

• Lauren L. Mason, 22, University Park, Ill.

• Leteria L. Bigbee, 21, Indianapolis, who is reported to be a friend of her co-defendants, but not a member of their sorority.

A police report reflects the second felony charge stems from damage done by mistake to the vehicle of another BSU student, who had no ties to the sorority controversy.

When the vandals realized they had struck the wrong vehicle, investigators said, they returned to the same apartment complex and damaged the car of their intended victim.

The events leading to the filing of the criminal charges purportedly stem from a complaint a student filed with BSU police last January, alleging that tasks she had been asked to perform to join Zeta Phi Beta sorority represented hazing, and that she was otherwise being harassed by sorority members and their friends.

Ball State officials placed the sorority on probation, and ordered its members to stay away from the former pledge.

In May, sorority members allegedly learned where their accuser lived, and set in motion a plan to vandalize her car.

On the night of May 10-11, Fulton, Humphrey, Bigbee and Mason are accused of going to Forest Oaks Apartments, 4100 W. Woods Edge Lane, and vandalizing what they believed to be the car of the ex-pledge.

That vehicle actually belonged to a 24-year-old male student, who reported he found his car smeared with dog feces and nail-polish remover, and damage to its body and windows that appeared to have been inflicted with a rock or key. Among other things, a smiley face and the word “bitch” had been scratched onto the vehicle, investigators said.

The cost of repairing that car was estimated at more than $4,500.

The defendants are accused of returning to the apartment complex the same night, realizing they had vandalized the wrong vehicle, and then inflicting similar damage on the ex-pledge’s car.

When the charges were filed last week, prosecutors did not request that arrest warrants be issued. Instead, the four defendants will receive summonses to appear at initial hearings in Delaware Circuit Court 3 on Sept. 18.