Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database

Joe McAdory
Staff writer
Published: March 14, 2009

Richard Hamrick’s visit to a 2005 Sigma Nu party at Auburn left him with brain swelling and a 10-day stay in a Columbus hospital.

Andrew Jackson Thurmond IV, 18, of Birmingham, was killed in September in a car wreck west of Auburn. The Delta Sigma Phi brother had a blood-alcohol level of 0.76, according to a coroner’s report. The Auburn Police Division has not said whether the driver, Scott Leighton, 19, also a Delta Sigma Phi brother, was drinking.

Taylor Jones is still recovering from serious injuries received during a January altercation at a Sigma Phi Epsilon party. The Auburn freshman hasn’t returned to school.
Alcohol. Death. Fighting.

And a reputation.

“People believe fraternities are evil, therefore they must always be evil,” said Paul Kittle, director of the Office of Greek Life at Auburn. “The common generalization is that all fraternity men are thugs.

“We tell them, ‘The public holds the weapon, you hold the ammunition.’ The guys completely own their image. ‘Don’t play beer pong in your front yard, take pictures of yourselves and put it on the Internet.’

“We know they’re better than that. Those who do those sort of things represent a small subset of a large group. But the entire fraternity gets painted by the same broad brush. … All of that community service work you do, your image, gone.”

Jim Hardin, director of Judicial Affairs at Auburn, reported 11 fraternity-related offenses that required disciplinary action in 2008. Four involved hazing, two theft, two disorderly conduct, one possession of drug-related paraphernalia, one vandalism and one DUI. None involved actions taking place at an actual party.

The university’s response to the incidents included counseling, probation, health behavior assessments and restitution.

By contrast, the university reported 60 such incidents last year involving non-Greeks.

Kittle estimated a little less than a quarter of all males at Auburn are involved in a fraternity.

Will Caudill, president of Sigma Chi, thinks the rap against fraternities is unfair.

“The first thing the media hears is when something goes wrong,” said Caudill, a bio-medical science from Franklin, Tenn. “We do a lot of great things. We (Sigma Chi) raised $12,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network. That stuff, people don’t hear about.”

According to Bo Mantooth, advisor to the Auburn Interfraternity Council,  fraternities at Auburn raised between $175,000 and $200,000 last year for local charities. They also donated 35,000 to 40,000 hours in community service, he said.

“There’s a lot more to life than the parties,” said Bradford Stewart, president of the Interfraternity Council. “That’s what the majority of non-Greeks see, parties.”

Not like the movies

Fraternity parties are legendary, from John Belushi modeling a toga in “Animal House” to the boys of Lamda Lamda Lamda getting down with the Omega Mu’s in “Revenge of the Nerds.”

But there are rules in an effort to ensure the parties are safe. Each party must have a hired security team in place to check IDs, make sure people attending the party are on the guest list and help prevent dangerous situations.

Locally, the team of FBL Security, headed by Daniel Finz, has been the preferred choice of many Greek organizations, Kittle said. Repeated attempts to reach Finz failed.

Another company, C&C Security of Birmingham, worked a recent Sigma Chi party and plans to expand full time into the Auburn area.

“Most people see security guards as idiots who beat people up when things go bad,” said Anthony Burke, who heads C&C. “But we are here to make sure nobody gets hurt and that they have a good time. When you break the rules, you have to leave. The first time, we give them a warning. The second time, we tell them to go into the house or leave.”

C&C works about 150 parties a year, including events in Auburn and Tuscaloosa, Burke said.

Checking IDs at the door is an important part of the job, he said. He said partygoers must clear a checkpoint. If legal, the person receives an arm bank. Those who do not are given a big ‘X’ on their fist.

“The problem is outsiders, the people who don’t know the rules,” he said.

All sanctioned fraternity parties must adhere to the IFC guidelines and national risk management guidelines of the Fraternal Information & Programming Group. Failure to comply can result in sanctions, including a ban on future events.

“If you want to host an event where alcohol is present, there are standards that all fraternities must follow,” Kittle said. “Having proper risk management is a way to ensure safety for an event — and to ensure that you will have an event the next week.

“We hold risk management sessions at the beginning of every semester. The fact that I don’t get police reports or property complaints shows they are managing themselves well.”
One such guideline includes the “bring your own beer” rule. Keg parties are not permitted.

Auburn President Dr. Jay Gogue said there is room for improvement in creating safer atmospheres at fraternity
parties.

“It’s much like what we would say regarding campus safety and security,” he said. “We’ve made progress, but we can do more.”

Although Auburn is a dry campus, alcohol is permitted within the confines of a fraternity house.

“Those fraternities located within the boundaries of Auburn University lease the land for their respective houses, giving them their own sense of private property that allows for alcoholic beverages,” Kittle said. “All but six fraternities (Ki Phi, Lambda Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Pi Kappa, Fiji) are located on campus property.

The off-campus fraternities must abide by the same rules as those on campus, Kittle said.

Kittle said drinking is part of the college culture and that involves under-aged students.

“It’s here. Our challenge is how to educate students so they can reduce the number of incidents,” he said. “Students who choose to drink are going to drink. This city does not exist under a bubble. It’s the real world. This is a very open institution. Very rarely are there reports of injuries and I’m thankful for that. If you can find the answer to under-aged drinking, that’s the silver bullet.
“Fraternity membership is not supposed to supersede the legal drinking age.”

Modern hazing often subtle

Auburn has not been immune to hazing incidents in the past.

In 1993, Chad Saucier, a student from Mobile, writhed in convulsions and died after consuming a large amount of alcohol at a Christmas party. It was reported that Saucier, dressed in an elf suit, was strongly encouraged to continue drinking.

In August 2005, a prospective Theta Chi member was hospitalized due to a high amount of alcoholic consumption. According to FIPG rules, fraternities are not allowed to use alcohol during the recruitment of pledges.

Although the word brings to mind those kinds of horror stories, Kittle said it is more subtle now.

“People think of beatings and brandings,” he said. “You can consider hazing anything with power control. Someone has to be in position of perceived power over another. But a lot of freshmen don’t know the definition of hazing. Hazing on the subtle end is an issue we deal with on a regular basis.

Four brothers faced hazing charges last year, Hardin said. All stemmed from the same incident.

“It was personal items,” he said. “Stuff like, ‘Go get me a Coke.’ But if it’s permitted to a certain amount, there are problems you can get into. While this wasn’t doing any damage, pretty soon this person isn’t studying for his chemistry exam.”

Capt. Tom Stofer of the Auburn Police Division said fraternities at Auburn are well-behaved compared to others.

“As major institutions go, I’d say we have some of the best, well-behaved fraternities anywhere,” said Stofer. “They aren’t immune to problems, but they have been isolated incidents. The only time we really respond is when something gets out of hand.”

Stofer said the most common calls are fight complaints or disorderly conduct incidents.

“But this isn’t just a fraternity issue. Alcohol plays a part in society’s problems, in general,” he said. “We’re just as likely to respond to alcohol-related calls downtown as we are at a fraternity house.

“Alcohol is the root of so many problems. Date rape, domestic violence, property damage, you can often track it right back to alcohol abuse or use. We know there is a lot of alcohol in Auburn readily available.”

Boys and girls clubs

Dr. Alan D. DeSantis, professor of communication at the University of Kentucky, wrote about Greek life in “Inside Greek U.: Fraternities, Sororities and the Pursuit of Power, Pleasure and Prestige.”

DeSantis said failures within the Greek system cannot totally be traced back to the men and women involved.

“Fraternities and sororities are social boys and girls clubs run by boys and girls,” he told the Opelika-Auburn News. “There is not enough adult presence for guidance in their lives. It is a rare professor who I meet that even gets involved in these organizations. We do a far better job with student-athletes. No wonder they become really incredible people.”

Although he supports the Greek system, DeSantis said it has lost its focus.

“I think the major problem is that it has become all about the social aspect,” he said. “The mission in college is to expand the lives and minds of students to help them think better and more critically. A person should be forever changed by this experience. Sadly, I do not believe the Greek system aids in that goal. I don’t think it challenges them.”

Some fraternity members make it to the top. Take Gogue, for example.

“More than anything else, fraternity membership taught me that there is something out there that’s much bigger than me,” said the Sigma Chi alum. “The collective membership can do a lot more together than each person can do individually, and that understanding has proven valuable as I’ve worked to lead a large organization such as a
university.”

Story link
Victim’s father warns about hazing dangers
March 14th, 2009 @ 6:20pm

SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a Utah State University student who died from drinking too much alcohol visited downtown Salt Lake Saturday to raise awareness about the dangers of hazing.

George Starks, the father of 18-year-old Michael Starks, stood outside the Gateway next to a large photo of his son. Michael died late last year after drinking too much alcohol at an initiation event for the Sigma Nu fraternity.

Saturday George Starks said, “It’s an issue that surpasses Utah. It’s an issue that’s bigger than all of us locally. It’s a national problem and issue that we have to address.”

Starks says hazing like that is not uncommon.

“Hazing is going on all of the time in different states constantly. It’s something that gives Utah a chance to dig in its heels and say, ‘This is something that’s intolerable and we’re going to deal with it,'” he said.

This week, one of the 12 people charged in Michael Starks’ death pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Ten other students still have charges pending against them.

Hyderabad: A woman studying in a college in Andhra Pradesh was allegedly forced by her seniors to strip and dance and has since attempted suicide, the victim’s family said on Friday.

The incident took place in Bapatla town of Guntur district, about 360 kilometres from here.

The 20-year-old first year student of the Government Agriculture and Engineering College consumed a pesticide after having been hazed by her seniors in a college hostel.

She attempted suicide on February 24 but the matter only came to light only on Thursday night when she narrated her tale of woes after regaining consciousness at the town’s hospital.

Family members claimed her hostel mates made her dance nude in front of them.

The student from Srikakulum district in north coastal Andhra was staying in the hostel. “Our daughter consumed pesticide unable to bear the acts of ragging by her seniors,” her parents Adi Lakshmi and Ramana told reporters at the hospital.

They demanded stern action be taken against those involved.

Police recorded her statement, in which she named a few seniors, and have registered a case and launched a probe.

The case has come to light close on the heels of a medical student losing his life in Himachal Pradesh.

Aman Kachroo, 19, died on Sunday after being brutally hazed by his seniors in Kangra district.

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Posted on Fri, Mar. 13, 2009
Driver in fatal hit-and-run sues fraternity over hazing (article by Tony Rizzo of KC Star)

An area man who was tied up for hours inside a dog cage at a Louisiana fraternity claims in a lawsuit that the hazing incident led to post-traumatic stress syndrome that hinders his decision-making abilities.

Two months after the hazing, Curtis Mertensmeyer killed a pedestrian in a hit-and-run crash on Ward Parkway.

Although it does not mention the accident, the lawsuit maintains that post-traumatic stress syndrome caused Mertensmeyer to “take unwise actions because of a breakdown in his decision-making process in stressful situations.”

The lawyer who recently filed the federal suit in Kansas City declined to comment.

Other fraternities across the country have faced similar lawsuits in recent years, some involving hazing incidents in which fraternity pledges died.

Mertensmeyer, 21, is incarcerated at a Missouri prison after pleading guilty in November to involuntary manslaughter in the May hit-and-run death of 25-year-old Daniel Riemann. In February, Mertensmeyer received a five-year sentence, but a judge will consider probation after he serves 120 days.

He filed his lawsuit against the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and its chapter at Tulane University in New Orleans, where Mertensmeyer was a student and fraternity pledge.

The fraternity’s national office and the Tulane chapter president did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.

Tulane has a zero-tolerance policy on hazing, university spokesman Michael Strecker said. The Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity is facing a student conduct hearing for allegedly violating the policy, he said.

The university learned of hazing allegations against the fraternity Jan. 15, he said. It immediately placed the fraternity on temporary suspension while university staff investigate, he said.

While suspended, the fraternity can’t hold events at the chapter house or off campus. On-campus meetings must be supervised by an adviser or representative from the fraternity’s national office.

Strecker said he could not discuss whether Mertensmeyer’s case triggered the investigation.

Mertensmeyer’s mother, Jane Stafford, who is also the attorney who filed the suit, declined to discuss the hazing incident.

The lawsuit contends Mertensmeyer was forced to crawl inside a dog cage and was left there for several hours with his hands and feet tied together, according to the suit. Fraternity members allegedly threw items at him and poured unknown liquids on him while verbally abusing him.

After being released from the cage, the suit says, Mertensmeyer went outside with his feet and hands still tied, fell on concrete outside the fraternity house and injured himself.

Afterward, fraternity members continued to threaten and harass him to keep him from reporting the hazing. They told him that “the entire Greek system would be out to ‘get him’ on campus,” the suit alleges.

As a result, Mertensmeyer allegedly suffered permanent emotional and mental injuries.

“Because of the post traumatic stress syndrome, when faced with stressful situations, (he) fails to make decisions in an appropriate and thought-out manner,” according to the lawsuit.

The suit does not mention a specific amount of damages being sought.

“Hazing at fraternities is a serious and deadly problem,” said Douglas Fierberg, an expert on anti-hazing laws and a lawyer who has represented hazing victims and their families across the country.

The problem has persisted despite state laws and the anti-hazing policies of fraternities and universities, he said. Missouri, Kansas and Louisiana are among 44 states that have outlawed hazing.

“Within the last six months alone, several kids have died in fraternity hazing incidents,” Fierberg said. “That’s not counting kids who have likely been injured in hazing incidents that have not yet been discovered.”

News reports recount at least five deaths nationwide this school year in which hazing is suspected.

Though fraternities ban hazing, Fierberg said, they usually leave implementation of the policies to members who are in their late teens and early 20s.

“They are untrained and are put in the position of making life-and-death decisions,” Fierberg said.

Juries across the country have awarded large verdicts in injury cases, he said.

A student in Texas won a $1.1 million verdict after his skull was cracked and he suffered brain damage. A Kentucky student who was beaten and suffered renal failure won $1 million. A Maryland student received a $375,000 judgment plus punitive damages after he was beaten and a heat lamp was held next to his face.

In the hit-and-run case, Mertensmeyer admitted in Jackson County Circuit Court that he had been drinking last May when he drove along Ward Parkway near 56th Street and struck something with his car.

He drove to nearby Loose Park, where one of his passengers told him he may have hit a person. He said he started to walk back to the scene but “froze” and left when he saw flashing emergency lights.

Daniel Riemann’s mother, Kelly Riemann, said Mertensmeyer’s defense attorneys never raised anything about the alleged hazing during the criminal case.

“I don’t think this has anything to do with what he did to my son,” she said.

Beta hazing case to change hands soon
By: Jason Hynes
Issue date: 3/11/09 Section: News
The attorneys in the Beta Theta Pi alleged hazing case involving three students reconvened Thursday morning for the first time since December.

The meeting was arranged during the last court session to ascertain the health of defendant Chris Bizot’s ailing attorney, Bill Mayo, said Deputy District Attorney Michael Sanderson.

Mayo, who died Feb. 4, represented Bizot since the beginning of the case, according to the Butte County Superior Court.

An attorney for Bizot did not show up to the pretrial meeting, but Bizot has approached a possible candidate to replace Mayo, Sanderson said.

Attorney Kevin Sears has been contacted by Bizot to take on his case, Sears said. It’s not official yet, whether he will replace Mayo.

Former Chico State student and Orion editor Mike Murphy, Chico State student Bizot and Butte College student Matthew Krupp were officials for the now-defunct Beta Theta Pi fraternity. They were charged with misdemeanor violations under Matt’s Law in July 2007.

The three students allegedly made pledges stand in ice baths, crawl through mud and do calisthenics during the rush of spring 2007, said District Attorney Mike Ramsey.

Matt’s Law was passed in 2006 after 21-year-old Chico State student Matthew Carrington died of water intoxication in a hazing ritual at an unrecognized fraternity in February 2005.

But the case has taken longer than expected to reach a resolution, which could be attributed to multiple motions, appeals and writs filed by the defense, Sanderson said.

“(Matt’s Law is) a new statute,” he said. “They’re kind of trying to test the limits of it – see where it’s going to go.”

The case was set for trial April 14, 2008, but an appeal by the defense delayed it.

The appeal contested whether the state of California could be considered the victim in the case and not individual pledges who were allegedly hazed.

Appellate courts, by their nature, prolong any case, Sanderson said.

“These delays don’t work in our favor because witnesses start leaving the area, or memories start fading,” he said. “So, we just as soon get it on and get it over with.”

Murphy declined to comment on the case. Bizot and Krupp couldn’t be reached by press time.

Sears remembered Mayo as a great person and a fierce advocate for his clients, he said. But Sears doesn’t think he’ll be bound by the direction of Mayo’s defense strategy.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t do it just like he did,” Sears said. “I have my own style.”

Sears has experience with more heavy-handed cases, such as murder and manslaughter, and was an attorney for former student John Paul Fickes in the landmark trial for Carrington’s case.

“I’m quite comfortable handling a case like that,” he said.

Sears declined to comment on Matt’s Law being the basis for Bizot’s case.

The jury trial for all three men is set for April 13.