Tulane frat members won’t be charged in hazing incident
by Gwen Filosa, The Times-Picayune
Tuesday October 07, 2008, 11:09 AM
Orleans Parish prosecutors refused to charge five members of a Tulane University fraternity arrested this spring in what police called a hazing that included the pouring of crab-boil and boiling water on two pledges.
A preliminary hearing had been scheduled today in the Magistrate section of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. Instead, the district attorney’s office announced it would seek no charges against the five men, all originally booked with aggravated second-degree battery.
Booked were Joseph Lorono, 21, of New York; Randall Graham, 20, of Michigan; Nicholas Maddern, 22, of Massachusetts; Kevin Dunn, 20, of New York; and Jeremy Bendat, 22, of California.
The five were arrested May 6 days after an hours-long hazing either at or near the fraternity house on Broadway, late night April 25 or the pre-dawn hours April 26, sources familiar with the investigation said.
Tulane suspended its chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity after the arrests and promised its own investigation.
At some point, crab-boil and other things were poured on the pledges’ bodies and boiling water poured over that, tearing their skin in places, according to the sources.
The two victims had “second- and third-degree burns” to various parts of the body that included the back, chest, neck and arms,” the sources said.
Indystar article ignores hazing and its traditions at Wabash. It also ignores past deaths and close calls at Wabash. Has good info on alcohol situation at Wabash. Comparisons with Ryder death of Gary Devercelly may be in order. Moderator.
Student death may be 2nd linked to drinking
Some question whether Wabash College needs more alcohol education
By Heather Gillers, Francesca Jarosz and Dan McFeely
Posted: October 7, 2008
The Wabash College student who died over the weekend appears to be the second freshman in a year to die in alcohol-related incidents during his first semester on campus.
Crawfordsville police are investigating whether alcohol was involved in the death of 18-year-old Johnny Smith, who was found dead at his Delta Tau Delta fraternity house Sunday morning.
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Smith’s relatives in Tucson, Ariz., said the aspiring engineer felt pressure from other fraternity members to drink. Relatives said they think he drank too much during homecoming festivities before his fraternity brothers put him to bed.
Smith’s death follows an incident in October 2007 when freshman Patrick Woehnker, 19, died after falling off the roof of a campus building. Montgomery County Coroner Darren Forman said alcohol was a contributing factor.
Now, students and administrators at the all-male college are questioning whether enough is done to teach freshmen about the dangers of alcohol. Unlike the state’s major public universities and some other small private colleges, 900-student Wabash does not dedicate part of its new student orientation to the topic.
Instead, it relies on a code that calls on students to be gentlemen and responsible citizens.
The school administration has been “very intentional about our expectations” with regard to underage drinking, said Mike Raters, the college’s dean of students, but he acknowledged that more could be done.
“Obviously our work needs to continue in our efforts to raise awareness of the gentleman’s rule and responsible citizenry,” he said. Raters questioned whether teaching students about the hazards of alcohol when they are too young to drink legally was the right thing to do.
“We don’t have a specific session in orientation that focuses on alcohol education because the overall premise of the gentleman’s rule and responsible citizenry emphasizes that they have to follow the law,” he said. “To have a special session on alcohol education would be in my mind contradictory to ‘follow the law.’ “
Alcohol education and the signs of alcohol poisoning are discussed during a twice-a-year workshop attended by fraternity leaders. Raters said the subject also sometimes comes up in weekly meetings involving college staff members, fraternity presidents and resident assistants.
Students cite traditions
Some students say Wabash is not immune to the underage drinking that takes place on other campuses. Traditions such as homecoming are an excuse for some students to drink excessively, said Spencer Elliott, a Wabash junior from Fort Wayne.
“Just like any football game — like (Indiana) versus Purdue — people go to the game drunk. Wabash is no different,” Elliott said. “People take these events as an occasion to party and get drunk.”
Wabash College President Patrick White said that in the two years he has been president of the school, he has never heard of a fraternity being disciplined for an alcohol-related incident, but some individuals have been disciplined for underage drinking.
Detectives told Smith’s family that he had been at a homecoming party Saturday night and that four fraternity brothers brought him back to his room very drunk, Smith’s aunt Sherri Taylor said Monday. She said they were told that a member of the fraternity stayed with Smith until about 4 a.m. Crawfordsville police said a 911 call from the frat house came in at 8:52 a.m. Sunday.
Relatives said Smith never drank alcohol growing up and had told his 19-year-old cousin Eddie Brown by phone last weekend that he felt pressure to drink to avoid humiliation in front of his fraternity brothers. “He never was in any kind of trouble,” said Monya Ballah, Smith’s grandmother.
Other schools have acted
Other schools have cracked down on hard-drinking fraternities and implemented curriculums aimed at preventing underage drinking.
Purdue University, for instance, provides a program that addresses alcohol for all students attending its five-day orientation, said Tammy Lowe, who oversees an initiative aimed at reducing high-risk drinking among first-year students.
At DePauw University, an alcohol task force with representatives from various campus departments works to be sure proper attention is focused on alcohol education.
Some students at Wabash say the school’s administration tries to let students regulate their own lives, and alcohol awareness training is no different.
“They leave the responsibility in the hands of each and every student,” said Jake Peacock, a Wabash freshman from Crawfordsville. “It’s up to us to make sure that stuff gets done.”
But advocates such as Ruth Gassman say more aggressive measures are needed. Gassman is executive director of the Indiana Prevention Resource Center at IU in Bloomington, which works to help prevent alcohol and drug problems.
She suggests measures such as requiring programs about drinking alcohol, providing alcohol-free and drug-free venues for students, and reducing advertising and promotion of alcoholic beverages on campus.
Elliott agreed that more should be done. He said that, ideally, the momentum should come from students rather than administrators.
“There are some things that need to be addressed,” Elliott said. “This may be the impetus for some of that to begin.”
Moderator: Hazing activist Andrea Ackerman long has claimed a connection between fraternity hazing at Wabash and activities of the Sphinx Club and the screaming match known as chapel sing at Wabash.
Theta Delta Chi Pledges Win Chapel Sing
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As the moment of truth drew closer, the Sigma Chi pledges advanced toward the Chapel, arms linked, faces painted red and black, singing their chant.
Homecoming got off to a rousing start Thursday morning with one of the most interesting spectacles Wabash College has to offer: Chapel Sing.
This well-known and beloved rite of passage has freshmen pledges from the fraternities, as well as a group of independent freshmen, line up on the mall to sing Old Wabash, the longest school song in the country, for forty-five minutes straight. Unfortunately for the freshmen, that’s not all they have to do.
The Sphinx Club was out in force to test the freshmen class’s knowledge of the school song. Armed with nothing more than their wits and their pots (and cigars, noisemakers, a mechanical parrot, white spray paint and a whole host of other devices), they spent the time taunting and tricking the freshmen, searching out those who knew the song and those who didn’t.
If a freshman messed up on the field, he was sent back to the Chapel, still singing, where he awaited his turn to demonstrate his skills to a group of other Sphinx Club members. If he messed up in the Chapel, the freshman would have a red “W†spray-painted on his white t-shirt. If he sang the song correctly all the way through, he would be sent back outside to continue singing and to continue being heckled.
In the end, four fraternities pledge classes were taken back into the Chapel to sing the song in unison for the Sphinx Club. The fraternity that did best was declared the winner of Chapel Sing.
The Beta Theta Pi freshmen, who were guarding the Chapel, received fifth place. The Delta Tau Delta freshmen came in fourth, the Sigma Chi freshmen, with faces painted red and black, came in third. Phi Kappa Psi came in second, and the winners of the contest were the nine pledges of Theta Delta Chi.
“We’re really proud of our guys, said Grant Gussman, President of Theta Delta Chi and a Sphinx Club member. “The competition was incredibly close. A number of houses and the independents have clearly invested a lot of time and it showed.â€
“Any of the four finalists could have won; we just happened to come out on top. The story of the day was the freshmen and how everyone united for Wabash. This is one of our campus’s most sacred traditions, and it was exactly you always want it to be.â€
The freshman Theta Delt pledge class was especially excited to attain this honor.
“It was one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever experienced,†said Theta Delt freshman Ben Foster. “I don’t think I’ve been as excited as I was [at hearing the winners] since grade school.â€
One of the most interesting perspectives was Dr. Ethan Hollander’s. This is his first time seeing Chapel Sing.
“I’m speechless,†Hollander said, “it was absolutely incredible. I asked a lot of people what it would be like, and everyone gave me a different answer. Now I see why. There’s no way to describe it to someone who hasn’t seen it.
“I do have one question for the Sphinx Club, though: do you think in the future there might be a line for the first-year professors?â€
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A death in Indiana: Wabash
Wabash College freshman found dead at fraternity
The Associated Press
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. —
Police in Indiana say a college freshman was found dead over the weekend in his fraternity house and suspect that alcohol was involved.Officials say 18-year-old Johnny D. Smith had pledged to the Delta Tau Delta fraternity at all-male Wabash College. The Tucson, Ariz., native lived at the fraternity house but had not yet been initiated.
Smith’s mother told The Indianapolis Star that her son was found Sunday morning face down in a pool of vomit.
Jim Russell, the fraternity’s national executive vice president, declined to say whether there was a party at the fraternity the night before Smith’s death.
An autopsy was pending.
Wabash College is 40 miles northwest of Indianapolis.