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December 3, 2019
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The Update | December 3, 2019
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Nine former Ohio University students and members of Sigma Pi Fraternity have been indicted by an Athens County grand jury in connection with the Nov. 2018 death of freshman Collin Wiant, according to several local outlets. Some of the charges include involuntary manslaughter, hazing and drug trafficking. The case is now one of the largest criminal cases connected to hazing in America’s Greek life history, where allegations are mainly handled internally by college officials. As the severity of the hazing behavior escalates and the death toll connected to hazing incidents rises, reporting processes are expected to change, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The Associated Press reports that a former Louisiana State University (LSU) student and ex-Phi Delta Theta member was sentenced to five years in prison for the alcohol-related hazing death of Max Gruver in 2017. A judge suspended all but two and one-half years of the sentence. Two other former members of the fraternity were sentenced to 30 days in jail for their connection to the crime, the maximum allowed by law at the time of Gruver’s death.
The Seattle Times reports that 19-year-old Samuel Martinez, Washington State University (WSU) Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity member who died Nov. 12 at the Alpha Tau Omega house was dead about four hours before police and medics were called to the scene. MyNorthwest reports that while hazing was initially not considered a factor in the student’s death, police will make a final decision after the coroner’s report is available early next year.
Over the past month, at least seven schools suspended fraternities due to accusations of hazing and violating alcohol and conduct policies, and four people died in fraternity-related deaths. National spotlights on incidents and amplified public calls for change, which some say means a fraternity-free campus, have followed. While several schools, including Princeton and Swarthmore, have halted fraternity/sorority life, experts told Newsweek that people shouldn't expect the policy to become widespread.
San Diego State University (SDSU) has chosen 28 people to form two task forces to explore the use and misuse of alcohol and other substances by students—as well as their health and safety—in the wake of freshman Dylan Hernandez’s death. The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Daily Aztec report all but two are SDSU employees, students, alumni, current or former fraternity and sorority members or advisers, or those who have advised the university.
The University of Central Florida (UCF)’s Pi Beta Phi chapter has been placed on interim suspension following allegations of hazing and alcohol misconduct, The Associated Press, CNN and local outlets report. The university learned of the allegations in a report submitted to the Office of Student Conduct, which cited an incident on Nov. 15 at the sorority house allegedly involving hazing, alcohol, and drugs. A Nov. 15 post on Greekrank.com also outlines alleged hazing in which the author's friend was pressured by sorority members to drink excessively and take drugs. (Note: The AP story incorrectly identifies fraternity "Sigma Kappa" as also suspended. It should be "Kappa Sigma," as reported by News13.)
A private investigation into the death of Cornell University freshman Antonio Tsialas is focused on a fraternity party where some students say they got black-out drunk, blurring memories of the last night he was seen alive, according to USA Today. Newly reported details about Tsialas’s death in late October came to light after his parents hired private investigators and offered a $10,000 reward for information that reveals what happened. Tsialas’s family’s attorney asserted Phi Kappa Psi was holding a secret party for freshmen, including Antonio, who was being considered for membership. Cornell President Martha Pollack noted Antonio attended an unregistered and unsupervised party at a fraternity that night in which freshmen attended and alcohol was served. Last week, she announced additional reforms to the fraternity/sorority system will come before the semester ends.
A lawsuit that Max Gruver's parents filed last year against the LSU Board of Supervisors, Phi Delta Theta, and current and former members of the fraternity has detoured into a fight over whether the university can be sued as a result of his 2017 alcohol-related hazing death, according to The Advocate. LSU argues the university should be dismissed from the wrongful death suit because the U.S. Constitution bars private suits against a state in federal court, and they are an extension of the state. The Gruvers' suit alleges that LSU engaged in a practice of discrimination by policing sorority hazing more strictly than fraternity hazing. The Gruvers argue that because that practice is grounded in outdated stereotypes of men, it is intentional discrimination that forces males to seek benefits of Greek life with greater risk of injury. In a statement, the Gruvers said, “Currently, universities recognize, promote and supply fraternities with significant resources and staff to recruit students and generate wealth. Yet, when tragedies arise, as they have for decades, universities act as though they have no direct control over or relationship with fraternities… Winning our Title IX claim against LSU will ensure that universities use that power to end hazing and save lives."
Coverage of protests connected to racist incidents at Syracuse continued in The New York Times, with the Syracuse Interfraternity Council (IFC) saying it would improve education programs on “issues surrounding racism, implicit bias and sexual assault.” All social activities at fraternities are canceled through the end of the semester following a group of students—including members of a fraternity—yelling a racial slur at a student on Nov. 16. In a statement, the Syracuse IFC said, “The Syracuse University community must realize that these matters of racism do not just surround Greek Life, but are prevalent across the country.”
KTLA5, Daily Titan and The Orange County Register report the parents of 19-year-old Bea Castro, who died of alcohol poisoning, are suing her Chi Sigma Phi Sorority, Cal State Fullerton, and the owner of the home in which she died for negligence and wrongful death. They claim a night of alcohol-fueled hazing resulted in their daughter’s death. The suit says the student was forced to drink large amounts of alcohol last March during initiation for the Chi Sigma Phi Sorority and claims some of the drinking occurred on campus.
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