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Hazing not cited in CMU birthday party death

A student originally from France died at a birthday party. First reports indicate no mention of hazing.

Man found dead at CMU fraternity house
Monday, March 08, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A 20-year-old man was found dead in a Carnegie Mellon University fraternity house Sunday afternoon, according to a statement from the school.

Matthew Tembo, 20, was a student at University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg and was at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house on Morewood Avenue for a birthday celebration, Pittsburgh police Detective Christine Williams said. An autopsy had not yet been performed late Sunday, and there was no cause of death.

Foul play is not suspected, the university statement said.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office said that Mr. Tembo is from France, though no city was provided.

He was a student at Carnegie Mellon during the 2007-08 year, according to the CMU statement.

The university is contacting his family and friends.

CMU is offering support to students from its Counseling and Psychological Services.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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