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T.P. DOBBS V. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 1992

Two cases are on appeal to the Supreme Court of the Model Illinois Government. Although the cases rise out of different facts and different judicial circuits, both pertain to the same consititutional issue--the constitutional of the Hazing Act, 144 l11. Rev. Stat.221,222. The Act is being challenged as a deprivation of due process under Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution of the STate of Illinois of 1970 for being vague and overbroad. Article 1, Section 2 reads: "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor be denied equal protection of the laws." This is a case of first instance.

In October 1990, the Res Ipsa Loquitur Legal Fraternity at the Southwastern Illinois School of Law staged its annual rush. Jacqueline Farnsworth Farwell, a first year student at Southwestern, pledged with IRL. As part of the rush activities, the pledges were required to spend a night outside in a pre-select location. Farnwell's location was the Oak Knoll Cemetery. The purpose of this activity, as explained by Thomas Patton Dobbs, President of RIL, in his trail testimony, was to provide the new pledges with an extended opportunity to reflect upon their commitment to the law and the fraternity. Each pledge was permitted to wear a parka and given a wool blanket and candle. According to the testimony of Rufus Johnson, the RIL pledge master, Farwell was left at the cemetery at approximately 12:30 am on Saturday morning. The pledge team returned to the cemetery at approximately 7:15 am and were not able to locate Farwell at the spot where she was left. However, after a brief search, the men found Farwell's frozen body sitting against a gravestone some fifty yeards away. She was wrapped in her parka and blanket. Her candle had burned down to the stub in her hand. The coroner's report stated that Farwell had frozen to death, causing her heart to stop.

The state attorney for Dupo County sought conviction of the seven officers of RIL, including the pledge team, on an array of manslaughter charges. All seven members were found non-guilty of the manslaughter charges in jury trial. However, all seven were found guilty under the Hazing Act. The state's attorney asked for the maximum penalty of six months imprisionment for each defendant.





At Monmouth College in New Jersey, members ordered five pledges to dig 6-footgraves" on a sandy beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The five then lay down inthe graves while members threw handfuls of sand on top of them. The grave of WilliamE. Flowers Jr. collapsed, and he began inhaling sand. He died of asphyxiation.A grand jury called the death "accidental", clearing seven Zeta Beta Tau memberswho had been arrested on charges of manslaughter (Nuwer, 1990).

Several members of the Chi Chapter at Stetson University in Florida were expelled from thefraternity for shocking pledges with an electrical device. Seven years later theentire chapter was suspended for 1 year in a similar incident, possibly involving the sameelectrical device (Nuwer, 1990).

At Manhattan College in New York, on one of the coldest nights of the winter, pledgeMichael Flynn, 19 was abandoned naked on an isolated country road in Putnam County, NewYork. During the drive by automobile to the drop-off point, fraternity brotherspoured beer on his feet, ignoring two pleas from Flynn that his feet were freezing.The wind-chill factor outside the car was 35 degrees below zero. Flynn's feetwere seriously frostbitten. He was hospitalized for 2 weeks and suffered permanenthealth problems. A judge acquitted the four defendants, saying he could notdetermine the brothers had knowingly subjected Flynn to frostbite (Nuwer, 1990).

Eleven pledges of the Kappa Sigma House at the University of Southern California were each instructed to consume quarter-pound slabs of raw liver. Thick cut and soaked in oil, each was to be swallowed whole, one to a pledge. Gagging and choking repeatedly,Richard Swanson failed three times to down his piece. Determined to succeed, hefinally got the oil-soaked meat into his throat where it lodged, and, despite all effortsto remove it, killed him (Described in Cialdini, 1985).

Two freshmen at Ohio State University were brought to the "dungeon" of theirprospective fraternity house after breaking the rule requiring all pledges to crawl intothe dining area prior to Hell Week meals. Once locked in the house storage closet,they were given only salty foods to eat for nearly two days. Nothing was providedfor drinking purposes except a pair of plastic cups in which they could catch their ownurine (Described in Cialdini, 1985)






Pledges Don't See Brotherhood
Last Modified: 12:59 a.m. 6/15/2002
By Vincent Brydon, The Capital-Journal

Allegations: Two WU students claim hazing caused them to leave the Phi Delta Theta fraternity

Washburn University sophomore Matthew Rodriguez, 20, said he pledged fraternity Phi Delta Theta because he wanted to belong to a fraternal order that would make positive contributions to society and help him establish connections in the business world.

Instead, the native of western Kansas said he was greeted with constant hazing, including racial harassment, making the fraternal experience he began in the fall of 2001 anything but brotherly.

"Phi Del is a national fraternity and there are a lot of pluses for being in the frat," Rodriguez said. "I thought I could tough it up and stick it out, but I couldn't take anymore (hazing)."

He also thought that Washburn officials and the Kansas branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would help him.

But Washburn's response to his claims was insignificant, Rodriguez said. And the NAACP last month rejected his claim of racial harassment, citing that he volunteered to participate in a "racially insensitive activity."

Now Rodriguez and former pledge brother Kristopher Hinrichsen -- a friend of Rodriguez's who also was outraged by the pledge experience -- have begun their own fraternity, Alpha Kappa Lambda, in hopes of establishing an organization that fosters the brotherhood upon which fraternal orders are founded.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez must wrestle with a number of questions, including: What is racial harassment? How are his rights protected from racial harassment? And when are those rights, according to law, violated?

In the beginning

"I always caught hell for being Mexican," Rodriguez said of his initiation experience.

Rodriguez said his racial harassment intensified during "hell week" -- the toughest week of the pledging process -- when fraternity members hurled an estimated 30 to 50 racial slurs a day at Rodriguez and forced him to wear a T-shirt with the remark "Why do I stink? I'm Mexican" scrawled along the hem of the shirt in yellow marker.

Hinrichsen confirms Rodriguez's allegations, saying Rodriguez was a constant target for racial jokes.

"They definitely brought that up many times," he said. "They called him all of them (insults) you can think of."

"Dirty Mexican" and "Piece of Trash" were among the racial slurs Hinrichsen said he recalled being used against Rodriguez during his pledge experience.

Attempts by fraternity members to justify their behavior, Hinrichsen said, were insignificant.

"We're preparing you to become a better Phi Del,' was what they always told us," Hinrichsen said. "But I didn't understand why we had to go through this to become brothers, or why the process ever existed at all."






U-M Frat Pledges Tell of Harmful Hazing
BY MARYANNE GEORGE
FREE PRESS ANN ARBOR BUREAU
December 9, 1999

National executives with the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and University of Michigan officials are investigating a series of humiliating and dangerous hazing incidents involving the fraternity.

The activities were disclosed after a pledge was shot in the groin with a BB gun Monday.

A group of pledges, who were not identified, told the Michigan Daily, U-M's student newspaper, on Tuesday that they were duct-taped to chairs, forced to drink more than 20 shots of vodka, pelted with eggs while locked in a bathroom for seven hours, tarred and feathered and forced to eat raw fish.

Two pledges were allegedly admitted to a hospital for alcohol poisoning, and another was sent to a hospital hours before the BB gun incident after allegedly being struck with a snowball containing a rock. That incident occurred while the pledges were stripped to their underwear and pelted with snowballs by fraternity members, according to the Daily.

Sidney Dunn, executive vice president of the fraternity's national organization, said he interviewed a group of pledges Tuesday night who told him of similar hazing incidents that had occurred at the house in the last couple of years.

Dunn said he had not been aware of the hazing until Tuesday and was surprised by the severity of the incidents.

"The pledges said there was a lot of humiliation, a lot of yelling and screaming," Dunn said Wednesday. "I can't confirm what was in the Daily, but the activities described to me were similar."

The fraternity's U-M chapter was suspended Monday, after a 19-year-old pledge from New York was shot in the groin with a BB gun.

The BB gun was purchased by the fraternity's president, Brad Lundy, Dunn said. The Daisy-brand gun could be powered either by carbon dioxide or air, according to Ann Arbor police.

The shooter, also a 19-year-old U-M student, told police that he didn't think the gun was loaded and fired it at the groin of several pledges to scare them.

The pledges told the Daily that the gun was fired into the air during other pledge activities this fall. Monday, they said, one of the members aimed and fired the gun at pledges' eyes, temples and backs.

Dunn said he was told, but could not confirm, that the man underwent successful surgery Tuesday for an injury to his penis.

Officials at the University of Michigan Hospitals declined to release information at the request of the man's family.

The shooter, whose name is not being released, is under investigation for discharging a firearm that caused injury intentionally but without malice, said Ann Arbor Police Detective Cynthia Avery. The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a fine.

Lundy gave the gun to police, she said.

Further disciplinary action won't be taken against the chapter until January to allow members to concentrate on final exams, Dunn said. Discipline could range from education to reorganizing the chapter with selected members, he said.

The fraternity, located at 1620 Cambridge, near the U-M campus, was already serving a 5-month social probation imposed by U-M's Interfraternity Council for having a keg of beer at a recent party.

Dunn said he was unaware of that probation until Tuesday.

U-M spokeswoman Julie Peterson said students who participate in hazing are also subject to discipline under the U-M Code of Student Conduct and IFC regulations. "Any behavior that puts students in danger is intolerable," she said


While pledging to become a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity two years ago, Floridian, Sylvester Lloyd Jr., 23, said he endured weeks of physical abuse. Including, kicking, punching, slapping, choking, being thrown into a wall, and paddlings with a one and a half inch thick wooden board, which in the end sent him to the hospital.

Joe Snell, in late January 1993, was in the process of joining the University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) Chi Delta chapter of the black fraternity, Omega Psi Phi, when he and his six line-brothers were blindfolded. Separated, he could hear and feel dull thuds, as other pledges were "body-slammed" into a wall. When his turn came, he was also knocked down. When the battered pledges finally had their blindfolds removed, they were made to kneel down and were interrogated with a bright light shining in their eyes.

from http://www.subboard.com/generation/articles/98510489992159.shtml





Members of QU Frat Booted out of House
By Rodney Hart, Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Qunicy Herald-Whig
Quincy, IL
March 4, 2003

The National Executive Council of Alpha Delta Gamma has suspended all members of the Quincy University chapter and evicted them from the on-campus residence.

The council made the decision after the Adams County State's Attorney's office charged the chapter's president with aggravated cruelty to an animal last week.

Prosecutors allege that Daniel J. Hollenkamp, a 22-year-old senior from Carlyle, threw a 14-week-old puppy off the Bayview Bridge and into the Mississippi River.

Council members met last weekend with James Reis, QU's dean of students, and ordered sanctions against the fraternity. Hollenkamp was removed as fraternity president last week.

The St. Louis-based fraternity suspended all members of the chapter and will establish a new chapter executive board by March 31. In the interim, the chapter - which has about 25 members - will be governed by a nine-member committee of chapter alumni.

Bryan Lind, national president of the fraternity, said the on-campus chapter house must be vacated immediately. QU will work with the affected residents to make new housing arrangements.

"The facts clearly show that this was an isolated incident involving a single individual and two members of the chapter's pledge class, who have also resigned," Lind said.

"Nevertheless, the executive council felt that strong action was necessary in order to show the university and the entire community that we share their outrage over this incident, and that actions so far outside the bounds of acceptable behavior, as well as our fraternity's standards of conduct, will not be tolerated."

Reis was unavailable for comment this morning, as was Stephen Rak, director of campus activities at QU. The university has declined to talk about the alleged incident.

Investigators say alcohol was involved. Hollenkamp was in a car with three other people on the night of Feb. 20 when the alleged incident took place, investigators said. State's Attorney Barney Bier said there is no plan to charge anybody else "at this time."

Lind stated that any failure to abide by the sanctions imposed on the chapter will result in further disciplinary actions, which may include the expulsion of all members from Alpha Delta Gamma and revocation of the chapter's charter.

"Everyone on the National Executive Council continues to offer our sincere apologies to QU and the entire community for this senseless and stupid act, and wishes to once again ask not only for their forgiveness, but also their understanding that this incident is definitely not representative of what we stand for as Alphadelts," Lind said.

There are two sororities and two fraternities at QU. Andrea Saviano, a senior from Chicago who is a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, said the incident was not the result of a fraternity event.

"I think the boys (fraternity members) here are doing their best to make sure everybody knows this was not a fraternity event at all," she said. "I don't know how the public is responding to that, but they are doing a good job of making that very clear."

Saviano said she knows the two owners of the puppy, named Scotch, and that the dog was not abused. Sally Westerhoff of the Quincy Humane Society said Monday the puppy was abused.

"I knew Scotch personally. He loved attention and was a normal, feisty puppy," Saviano said. "He loved to play with his chew toys and loved being outside. Anyone that walked in the house was greeted by Scotch, who was kind to everyone."

The fraternity members are still trying to cope with the dog's demise, Saviano said.

"Now these boys have to deal with people saying they abused the dog in order to find a motive for Scotch's senseless passing. It's sick," she said. "Danny is a great kid. I know him well enough to know that, but what he did was wrong, and there is no justification for what he did. Anyone that wants to make excuses for his actions is as demented as his random act that has left Scotch dead."

Lind said any chapter functions must be pre-approved by the special alumni committee as well as the dean of students. In addition, the new executive board, once in place, will confer with the dean weekly, and must attend a new officer leadership program created by the dean's office. The chapter must also forward copies of weekly meeting minutes to the special alumni committee.

The chapter will be required to perform community service events approved by the special alumni committee and the dean of students.

(c) 2003 Quincy Newspapers, Inc.

[My note: it seems that animal cruelty is a re-occuring theme for frat boys. Again, I believe that people who abuse animals are the lowest of the low.]





Texas A&M Task Force Investigates Greek Competition Disturbance
By Rolando Garcia, The Battalion
Texas A&M University
March 6, 2003, Thursday

Texas A&M University officials are investigating the cause of the Feb. 22 disturbance that ended the Greek Olympiad Step Show competition after-party in a series of fights and gunshots.

Dean of Student Life Dr. Dave Parrott will act as co-chair, along with Director of Special Facilities Steve Hodge, for a task force to improve security at the annual event. The committee will include members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, which sponsors the step show.

The party in Reed Arena following the competition ended early after drinking, drugs and fighting sparked disturbances that sent the approximately 5,500 partygoers racing to the exits, according to the University Police Department. UPD requested the assistance of the Brazos County Sheriff's Office and the College Station Police Department, calling for all available units. Gunshots were fired in the parking lot, and there were several robberies reported in the vicinity of the arena after the party ended.

Hodge said he decided to end the party after fights had broken out on the floor and people began leaving the arena en masse. He directed his staff to turn the lights on and open exits to prevent a bottleneck.

"We opened doors we don't usually open to make sure people got out safely," Hodge said.

In addition to six police officers at the event, about 100 arena staff were providing security at the party, Hodge said. The party, the largest held each year in Reed Arena, may be too large, meaning future attendance may be scaled back, he said.

"In hindsight, we probably wouldn't sell as many tickets," Hodge said.

Hodge said there had been a series of altercations throughout the night, but such incidents were not unusual at a party of that size.

Parrott said the task force will conclude its inquiry in May with recommendations to prevent disturbances at future Greek Olympiad events. The annual event is an asset to the University, Parrott said.

"My hope is that (Greek Olympiad) can be held in a safe and secure manner," Parrott said.

Fraternity spokesman Maco Faniel said the organization worked closely with Student Life in planning the event.

Faniel, a senior speech communications major, said the fraternity would cooperate fully with the investigation and implement the task force's safety recommendations.

"There will be a 15th annual Greek Olympiad," Faniel said. "It's become a tradition at A&M."

Faniel criticized news coverage of the incident and said he was confident that the bad behavior of a few would not taint the black community at A&M.

"I think people will take the time to find out what really happened," Faniel said.

(C) 2002 The Battalion

Survey Finds Penn State Sororities, Fraternities Drink More
By Colleen Freyvogel, Daily Collegian
Pennsylvania State University
March 4, 2003

Survey says: Fraternity and sorority members at Pennsylvania State University drink more than nongreek students.

A Pennsylvania State University Pulse survey released at the end of February shows 94 percent of students in fraternities and sororities drink alcohol, compared with 81 percent of students who do not belong to a greek organization.

"The data shows that fraternity and sorority members drink alcohol at a higher rate than independent students," said Linda LaSalle, a community health educator for University Health Services. "A big part of it is the fraternity and sorority culture. A big part of it is the parties and a lot of social activities revolve around drinking alcohol."

The survey, which was started in 1995, has a 3-percent margin of error, said Betty Moore, senior research analyst at the Student Affairs Research and Assessment Office. Students questioned were randomly chosen.

According to the survey, students who belonged to social fraternities and sororities were more likely to encounter "problem behaviors," including being assaulted or humiliated, being in a serious argument or quarrel, or experiencing unwanted sexual advances.

Moore said they have "consistently" found members of social sororities and fraternities drink more than the rest of Penn State.

The survey showed only 2 percent of greek members consume one drink an hour and 8 percent consume nonalcoholic drinks as well as alcoholic drinks when socializing -- almost two times less than nongreek students.

Mary Kaye Jacono, Panhellenic president, said she does not agree with the results of the survey.

"It's completely not true," said Jacono. "There's no facts to back that up."

Interfraternity Council president Steve DiOrio would not comment on the survey.

Mike Sabol [senior-management science and information systems] said he is neither for nor against the findings of the survey.

"I wasn't in a fraternity for the first two years, but before I joined the frat, I probably drank more," said Sabol, a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. "Now you go to a party and you go there just to drink, but I don't think I drank any less before I joined."

Morgan Moran [sophomore-marketing], a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, said the amount of greek members that go to parties are miniscule compared to the thousands of nongreek freshmen who go to fraternity parties.

"I think it seems like [greek members drink more] because, obviously the stereotypes, and they are always seen as providing the alcohol. So it seems like they drink more," Moran said. "The whole thing is the Penn State greek community, especially the fraternities, aren't exclusive, so the freshmen and sophomores go because older people go to apartment parties or bars."

Although the number of nongreek members might sometimes outweigh the number of greek members at a party, the survey reported that 29 percent of members participate in drinking games, compared with 19 percent of nongreeks.

The survey also reported that 32 percent of those who belong to a social greek fraternity or sorority engaged in unplanned sexual activities, compared to 19 percent of nongreeks. Nineteen percent of greeks did not use protection when they had sex, compared with 10 percent of nongreeks.

(C) 2002 Daily Collegian





Party's Over for Frat House
City News Service
July 10, 2002

NORTHRIDGE, CA --The party's over for one Cal State Northridge fraternity, after the City Attorney's Office convinced a Superior Court judge to impose sanctions on the group.

City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said today the Pi Kappa Phi house on Parthenia Street has been operating without the proper city permits and was a constant source of complaints from neighbors. "For nearly a decade, the good people of this neighborhood have put up with the detestable behavior of this illegal fraternity house," Delgadillo said.

Complaints related to the fraternity ranged from vandalism to other problems stemming from one recent party where more than 1,000 people reportedly descended on the house, he said.

Delgadillo also said the property owner did not have the conditional use permit necessary to have a fraternity house in the residential area, and that there were illegal conversions made to the house to add more rooms.

The property owner, Hamid Helmandi, pleaded guilty to the code violations and was ordered to make improvements to the house. Also, no more than four people will be allowed to live there at one time, and large social gatherings are prohibited.

"The City Attorney's Office has a zero tolerance policy for illegal fraternity houses in residential neighborhoods," Delgadillo said.

Copyright 2002 City News Service, Inc.





Three Wounded at Frat Party
Associated Press
July 19, 2002

SEATTLE --Police were searching Friday for two men in a shooting at a fraternity near the University of Washington. The men, both in their early 20s, were at an off-campus Sigma Chi fraternity party attended by about 200 people Thursday night when the shooting occurred, Seattle police spokesman Duane Fish said. The men were kicked out for fighting, but before leaving, one of them threatened to return with a gun, witnesses said. The two men returned around 1:30 a.m. and fired shots through the house windows, striking three people inside, police said. All three were taken to University Medical Center. One man was in stable condition Friday morning with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, said Pam Sowers, hospital spokeswoman. Another man shot through the cheek and a woman struck in the right arm were treated and released.

(c) 2002 The Associated Press.





The Washington Post
July 18, 2002

The family of an Old Dominion University freshman who died after a night of binge drinking has settled a lawsuit against the fraternity he pledged.

The family and Alpha Tau Omega reached a confidential settlement, said JamesC. Lewis, attorney for the parents of 19-year-old Terry Stirling of Ruckersville. The $ 5.35 million lawsuit had been scheduled to go to trial this week in Norfolk Circuit Court.

Stirling was found dead Dec. 1, 2000, in a house that fraternity members frequented. University officials said Stirling died after drinking on and off with others for 2 1/2 hours on Nov. 30.

Alpha Tau Omega's parent organization revoked the local chapter's charter, and the university closed the chapter.





Penn State Student to Face Judge in Court, Charged With Sexual Assault
By Jeff Frantz, Daily Collegian
Pennsylvania State University
July 22, 2002
University Wire

In the Centre County Courthouse Monday, Pennsylvania State University student John David Di Nunzio will face charges of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident involving a 19-year-old woman in April 2001.

Last month Daniel N. Purtell, who was separately charged in connection with an assault in his room at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house, 200 E. Beaver Ave., was found guilty of one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault alleging oral penetration. He was acquitted of sexual assault alleging vaginal penetration. Di Nunzio allegedly assaulted the same woman Purtell assaulted, and the assaults reportedly occurred on the same night in the same fraternity house. However, the Purtell assault and Di Nunzio's alleged assault did not occur at the same time and are reportedly not connected.

The men were both members of the fraternity at the time.

Di Nunzio and Purtell could not be reached for comment.

Purtell will be sentenced today before Centre County Judge Tom Kistler, who is also presiding over the Di Nunzio case.

Kistler has dealt with high-profile Penn State sexual assault cases in the past.

Most notably, last November the judge sentenced former Penn State wrestler Jean M. Celestin to six to 12 months in prison when the state suggested sentencing guidelines called for a three- to six-year term. Kistler delayed Celestin's imprisonment until after the Penn State student could finish his coursework at the end of the fall 2001 semester.

The university suspended Celestin for two years.

While Kistler could not comment on the Celestin case because it is still going through the appeals process, he noted that sexual assault is not a crime for which there are mandated sentences.

"There are prescribed guidelines available to all judges in Pennsylvania, but they are guidelines," Kistler said. "There's no requirement to stay in them."

Many people, including Centre County District Attorney Ray Gricar, were highly critical of the final sentences.

Peggy Lorah, director of the Penn State Center for Women Students, was unsatisfied with Celestin's sentence.

"Our wish would always be they would sentence to the maximum because we're talking about crimes that are serious and that doesn't send a serious message about them," Lorah said.

(C) 2002 Daily Collegian





Delta Chi Loses Official Status After Hazing Inquiry
By Arek Sarkissian II
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, AZ
August 24, 2002

A UA fraternity lost its university recognition in May after an investigation into complaints of hazing, university officials said Friday.

The loss of recognition by the University of Arizona means Delta Chi Fraternity cannot engage in many Greek campus activities, including rush week and Spring Fling, until at least 2004, said Melissa Vito, associate vice president of campus life and the dean of students at the UA.

The disassociation came after a semester-long investigation conducted by UA Associate Dean of Students Veda Kowalski and a representative from the chapter's national office.

The investigation found the fraternity was engaging in hazing activities, including verbal and physical abuse as well as furnishing alcohol to minors, Vito said.

Not only were pledges ridiculed, they were forced to do calisthenics and a Roman chair exercise, in which pledges sit in the same position as a chair for an extended period of time, Kowalski said.

Also, minors regularly provided money for alcoholic drinks, Kowalski said.

Kowalski said the UA considers hazing to be when members of a fraternity or sorority are required to consume alcohol or forced to endure some type of humiliating or physically or morally degrading activity.

Hazing can also occur between members of other organizations.

The fraternity was officially notified of its disassociation in May, and appealed but was denied, Kowalski said.

The activities of Delta Chi were suspended in November after reports of hazing were made to the Dean of Students Office.

CU Fraternity Closed After Accident Involving Alcohol
Associated Press
October 4, 2002

National officials of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity have closed their University of Colorado chapter after it was found to have violated rules barring underage drinking.

"That chapter is permanently suspended," said Howard Obenchain, spokesman for the fraternity's national office. "They're gone."

Former members of the Boulder chapter couldn't be reached Thursday.CU officials said some of the students remain living in the fraternity's house. Rooms in the house, owned by a group of alumni, will be leased out to students in the future.

Phi Delta Theta could attempt to reopen after three or four years, once the current members finish school at CU, said Bob Maust, coordinator of the university's alcohol education programs."I think this is an example of what strong fraternities can do," Maust said of the charter's revocation. "The national office was well ahead of us on this one."

CU's Office of Judicial Affairs will consider student-conduct charges against those involved in the keg party and an automobile accident that followed.

"They're currently in the process of investigating the incident," CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale said.

Six fraternity members and pledges were injured, one seriously, early Sept. 19 when the SUV they were riding in rolled over on Colo. 119 near Boulder Falls.

The students were among 20 pledges who were dropped off in the mountains with a keg of beer as part of a fraternity "icebreaker" for potential inductees, according to police reports.

Officers cited nine fraternity members and pledges for underage drinking.

(c) 2002 The Associated Press.





Campus Mourns Freshman's Death
By Megan Downs & Samantha Fredrickson
The Sagebrush
University of Nevada, Reno
October 15, 2002

Rose Rivera shook her head in sorrow as she looked over 20 letters of condolence written from members of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

"It is really genuine the pain they had," Rivera said of the fraternity members' grief regarding the drowning death Thursday of the man she lovingly called her grandson.

"Those boys are devastated." she said

Rivera packed the letters into an envelope Monday as she prepared to leave for the funeral of 18-year-old Albert Jerome Refuerzo Santos.

"I'll be reading the letters at the funeral," she said, which will be held Thursday in Las Vegas.

Santos, a freshman biology major who attended Centennial High School in Las Vegas, drowned in Manzanita Lake early Thursday morning while swimming with a group of men associated with Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

Rivera, 81, said she met Santos for the first time six weeks ago when he moved in with her. His family resides in Las Vegas and Santos decided to move in with Rivera, a distant relative, because it was less expensive than the residence halls.

"I can feel his loss every day," she said. "He was like a grandson to me."

Rivera said she was not upset with members of Pi Kappa Alpha.

"It's not their fault," Rivera said."It's nobody's fault. It's the system that allowed it. They are all as innocent as Albert."

She called the supposed initiation ritual at Manzanita Lake a "lack of proper programming," and said the fraternity should take the students' safety into consideration and monitor their rituals.

"Why would you inflict pain on someone to get into a fraternity?" she asked. "These tests are gruesome. They are punishment. I believe those things should not be practiced."

Rivera said she hoped a lesson could be learned from this that would prevent it from happening to others. The fraternity needs to look out for the human condition, and realize everyone has a weakness. Santos' weakness was that he couldn't swim, she said.

"He was raised in the Philippines and came here two years ago," she said. "They don't have swim classes in the Philippines."

Rivera said Santos didn't know how to say no to people. He wanted to please everyone, she said, and he strived not to fail.

"Albert was so naive," she said."He just wanted friends. He did everything he could to pass the test. But he failed."

Rivera said members of the fraternity offered to pay for funeral services for Santos, but she said it wasn't necessary.

Several members of the fraternity will be traveling to Las Vegas for his funeral.

Pi Kappa Alpha President Mike Puglia expressed his condolences about the loss of Santos.

"The gentlemen of Pi Kappa Alpha express deep sorrow and grief of a loved one, brother and friend," Puglia said. "We are fully cooperating with all university officials as well as the police department."

Santos should be remembered most for his smile, Rivera said. He was always cheerful. She described Santos as a "model student," and said he was always in his room studying.

The biology major had aspirations of attending medical school one day, and was attending Nevada with the help of a ,000 Park Place Entertainment scholarship in addition to the Millennium Scholarship.

Rivera joined roughly 200 students Sunday night at the southeast end of Manzanita Lake for a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Santos.

The group stood together in near silence for more than an hour with lit candles in Santos' honor and formed a semi circle at the spot where he was found. Members of Pi Kappa Alpha, dressed mostly in black, cried and hugged each other during the silent ceremony.

The vigil began with members of the fraternity offering a few words of sorrow. After that, the only sound to spread through the group was the gentle hum of "Amazing Grace."

Rivera said the vigil had been devastating for her, but she was glad to see Santos' friends join together.

She closed her eyes as she remembered Wednesday morning, the last time she saw Santos. She dropped him off at the university at 8 a.m.

She said she didn't even know he wasn't home early Thursday morning, until several members knocked on her door looking for Santos around 3 a.m.

According to the Washoe County Coroner's record of death, it was 1:20 a.m. when about 20 men associated with the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity arrived at Manzanita Lake.

"The victim and several members of the fraternity were reportedly taking part in an initiation/ritual," the record of death stated. "The ritual, as described by the fraternity members, requires stripping clothing down to the undershorts and entering the lake."

Lt. Todd Renwick, of the University Police Department, said the police have not yet determined if the drowning was in fact associated with an initiation ritual.

"That original coroner's report is based solely on the coroner's investigation of the dead body," Renwick said. "Our investigation will take information from the medical examiners report and the toxicology report. I think the coroner used his own words in his report."

Renwick said he does not expect the toxicology report to be completed within the next few days.

The coroner's report also said the members and pledges of the fraternity swam for about five minutes before exiting the lake. The men then realized that Santos was missing. According to the report, the fraternity members searched the area for the victim. At 2 a.m., Pike member Eric Perlin, vice president of the Interfraternity Council, called 9-1-1. The REMSA ambulance and UNRPD arrived at the scene five minutes later, the report said. UNRPD called the Reno Police Department for ground search assistance and Washoe County's Hasty team, a precision rescue sect, to assist in the recovery of Santos' body.

According to Hasty dive team member Mark Bell, the Hasty team arrived on the scene at 2:15 a.m. and began to gear up. Bell said it took the seven-member team 10 to 15 minutes before they entered the water. The team found the body almost an hour and a half later because of poor water conditions.

"It was black water and there was zero visibility," Bell said."We had lights but we still had to find the body by feel. The water was in the 50-54 degree range and there is duck poop."

Divers Darren Murphey and Grant Wigmore found the body of Santos face up and seven feet below the surface, 30 feet from the southeast shore of Manzanita Lake, the coroner's report said. Santos was declared dead at 4 a.m.

"We are currently conducting our investigation that will reveal whether there was criminal activity or not," Lt. Todd Renwick of the University Police Department said. "The UNRPD has assumed full ownership of the case."

The university temporarily suspended Pi Kappa Alpha Friday pending a review of any violations of student conduct that may have contributed to the death. The review will begin once the police investigation is wrapped up. The university is also providing free counseling for students affected by the death.

Upon the finalization of the investigation, the police will send the report to the district attorney's office for further guidance.

John Helzer, assistant district attorney, said people need to review the hazing law before they jump to conclusions.

"The law is very specific, in it consent is not a defense," Helzer said. "This law is very new and I believe it passed in the last legislative session. There is no prosecution that has occurred (on this particular law). It is clear in what it says. It violates, drinking, whipping etc."





Fraternity Member Jailed in Sex Assault
Fresno Bee
November 19, 2002

A Fresno man was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman during a party at the Sigma Nu fraternity house at California State University, Fresno. Juan Luis Ramirez, 21, was arrested about 2 a.m. and booked into Fresno County Jail on ,000 bail. Ramirez is a member of the fraternity. The 18-year-old victim, who belongs to a sorority, was at the fraternity house for a party. Fresno police Sgt. Mike Palomino would not identify the sorority. Ramirez and the victim knew each other but were not dating, Palomino said.

The university suspended the fraternity pending investigation of assault "and other charges," said Robert Hernandez, judicial affairs officer of the Division of Student Affairs. He said the university would cooperate with the police investigation. Hernandez said the university will review the fraternity's conduct and decide if Fresno State should terminate its relationship with the fraternity or take other steps beyond the suspension. The fraternity could not be reached Monday night to comment.

Copyright 2002 McClatchy Newspapers, Inc.

Second Alleged Rape at U. Michigan Party Reported
By David Enders, Michigan Daily
University of Michigan
November 1, 2001

Two 18-year-old women have now told police that they believe they were drugged and raped at a University of Michigan fraternity party last weekend.

A University freshman told police Tuesday night that she was raped after possibly being drugged at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house. Another freshman told police Friday she thinks she was drugged and raped at the same party. The party was an unregistered semiformal event with the local chapter of Delta Delta Delta, said sorority President Martha Rothbaum. Rothbaum said she did not know at the time the party was not registered with the Social Responsibility Committee.

The sorority's national organization is looking into the matter.

"Our primary concern is to assist our members," Rothbaum said.

The second woman said she remembered dancing with a student during the party and after waking up in a room at the fraternity thought that she had had sex with him, She also said she spent most of the day after the party vomiting.

The Ann Arbor Police Department has two male suspects, one in each rape, said Detective Sgt. Richard Kinsey.

The suspect in the incident reported Friday has been described as a black male student between the ages of 18 and 20. No information was released on the suspect in the incident reported Tuesday. No charges had been filed against either man.

Beta Theta Pi President Mike Basford would not discuss details about the incidents.

"We're cooperating with the authorities, and when the police investigation is complete we'll release a formal statement," Basford said.

Kinsey said there is no evidence that either woman had ingested any sort of drug, although both reported passing out. Any trace of gammahydroxy butyrate - or GHB, a popular date-rape drug - would be undetectable after 12 hours, before either reported the incidents.

Members of Beta Theta Pi's national organization are participating in the investigation.

"We're cooperating with all interested parties," said Mike Kokkinen, the fraternity's national director of risk management. "We are looking into the possibility of having representatives (from the national office) come to help with the investigation."

IFC President Mark Hustvedt declined to comment Wednesday night because of the ongoing criminal investigation but said IFC is considering sanctions against the fraternity because the party was unregistered.

Both cases are being investigated as third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.





Rape Allegation Leads to Suspensions; Dean Says U. New Mexico Has Sufficient Grounds for Action
By James Barron, Daily Lobo
University of New Mexico
July 12, 2001

A 21-year-old woman said in a University of New Mexico police report that she was raped while at a bachelor party at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house, which has led to the emergency suspension of the fraternity and one of its members.

According to the June 28 report, the woman says a man who was at the party raped her in one of Lambda Chi Alpha rooms, which is at 1815 Sigma Chi Rd. She said the man, named Allen, ordered her to have sex with him and she refused, but then Allen raped her. She said she began crying and yelling until someone came into the room and pulled Allen off her.

The report stated that the woman told police she and another woman were invited to the house as entertainment for the party. She said they performed sexual acts on each other for the men at the party. She also said she had consensual sex with two other men before the rape occurred.

Randy Boeglin, UNM's dean of students, said the University had sufficient grounds to suspend the fraternity based on the police report. Boeglin said two non-University students were banned from campus and one student, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, was placed on emergency suspension. He added that neither the fraternity nor the three men have appealed the University's decision.

Boeglin said UNM has worked with the greek system to institute protocol for holding parties, which has gone a long way toward making them safer. However, he said some issues may need to be revisited.

"Every member has to think about how their behavior has an effect on themselves and on the campus community," Boeglin said. "These incidents tell me some work still needs to be done."

UNM police Lt. Mike Omtvedt said the investigation into the incident should be complete within a week and will be referred to the Bernalillo County district attorney's office.

Omtvedt said women need to be aware of their surroundings and not put themselves in situations where they increase the possibility of harm for themselves or their friends. He also said they need to be careful who they associate with and what parties they attend.

(C) 2001 Daily Lobo





Former Fraternity Chapter Advisor Charged With Sexual Battery
June 18, 2002

(Elyria-AP) --A former fraternity chapter adviser at Cleveland State University will have to pay damages in a civil lawsuit brought by a former student who alleges he sexually battered him.

Joseph Wegrzynowski, who is 46, is the former alumni association president for the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity at CSU.

He is scheduled to go on trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court in August on charges of sexual battery and furnishing alcohol to a minor who wanted to join the fraternity.

Judge Mark Betleski granted a default judgment against him yesterday. How much he will have to pay will be determined later.

The alleged victim is a 20-year-old Wickliffe man who says Wegrzynowski took him and other pledges to the Aqua Marine resort in Avon Lake in December of 2000.

He says it was there where Wegrzynowski improperly touched him.

© 2002 The Associated Press