Student Found Dead in Cornell Fraternity House
 

Updated 4:45 p.m.: George Desdunes '13 was found dead in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house early Friday morning, according to a University statement.
http://www.cornellsun.com/section/ne...ernity-house-0

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_828444.html

RIP Brother. Good thoughts and wishes to Family, Brothers and friends.

Very sad news. My condolences to Mr. Desdunes' family, SAE brothers, and friends.

Sad Update date:
Police Continue Investigation Into Death of George Desdunes ’13
George Desdunes ’13 died Friday morning after he was found unresponsive in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house. Alcohol consumption may have played a role in the death, Tompkins County Sheriff Ken Lansing told the Associated Press on Sunday......
http://cornellsun.com/section/news/c...es-%E2%80%9913

Fraternity temporarily suspended at Cornell:
....Cornell officials said that information they have received about the use of alcohol is sufficient enough to conclude that the fraternity likely violated the university's recognition policy, according to the Cornell Chronicle. That policy outlines the university's expectations - including the observance of state and federal laws....
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...sey=nav%7Chead

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/c...sae-fraternity

http://www.ivygateblog.com/2011/03/b...th-of-brother/

So sorry for the young man, his family, and his chapter.

One of our international officers visited my chapter yesterday and we discussed, among other things, risk management at lunch. He said that 100% of the Risk Management Committees (the body that deals with RMF in Delta Chi) he had sat on were alcohol related incidents. Most of my chapter was surprised and said they would have guessed hazing in the majority; it's very telling as to how we as undergraduates underestimate the dangers of alcohol.

Cornell student's death investigation update:
http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...sey=nav%7Chead

A very well written Op-Ed from a Cornell SAE Alum:
Remembering Tradition in the Wake of Tragedy
http://www.cornellsun.com/section/op...n-wake-tragedy

Sixteen Former SAE Pledges Plan to Join TKE
More than a month after the University revoked its recognition of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, 16 former SAE pledge members are joining the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity instead, according to students involved.

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/c...-plan-join-tke

Cornell Fraternity Sued Over Student’s Drinking Death-
The mother of a 19-year-old Cornell University sophomore who died after drinking heavily at a fraternity house in February filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the fraternity on Monday, saying her son was hazed and then left to die.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/ny...etro&seid=auto

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/stor...cP-eAN1Xw.cspx

The Fraternity Service Center (IHQ) has its latest response, dated June 28, 2011, available here.

The numbers just came out on the family suit:
Cornell University Frat House Sued for $25 Million Over House Hazing Death

http://abcnews.go.com/US/cornell-haz...ry?id=13948311

While it is sad that the man died, and it is sad how he died, the way the story is written, sounds that this is all about getting monies from someone with the deep pockets.

$25 million, huh? Is there precedent for such a high amount? Scott Krueger's family settled with MIT for $6 million, a chunk of which was endowed for a scholarship in his name. Also, MIT apologized and changed a lot of its housing and Greek life policies (aephi alum can probably discuss this a lot better than I'd even try to).

Are the chances high that they'll settle for a smaller amount?

I have had, in the past, conversations with attorneys who have worked in that Court House. Juries there are very friendly toward the plaintiffs.

Unfortunately, you have a very sad story with ridiculous actions carried out by a few members. One bad apple spoils the whole bunch in many people's eyes. Makes you wonder what they were thinking?

Angel: I rather sadly agree with you. And yes this will hurt SAE all over country. Pick any of the news stories about this, especially those on college campuses, and the comment sections are ugly to say the least.

And this will also reflect on every other GLO as well.

It would be nice if a National could baby sit each and every member and chapter 24/7/365. But that, as we all know, just is not in the cards.

All our Nationals can do is set policies and procedures up and attempt to educate members on them.

This anti-hazing initiative/education program is located right on SAE's National open home page: http://www.truegentlemaninitiative.n...ing.aspx?Id=94 along with a hazing report phone number.

But as we see with this case and others going back through the years at both SAE and just about every other GLO, there will sadly be the bad, dumb, idiot, and unthinking member who just does not get it. And something sad, bad and very avoidable happens.

I hope that Sigma Alpha Epsilon is successful in its defense.

A Pledge to End Fraternity Hazing
By DAVID J. SKORTON-David J. Skorton, is the president of Cornell University

IN February, a 19-year-old Cornell sophomore died in a fraternity house while participating in a hazing episode that included mock kidnapping, ritualized humiliation and coerced drinking. While the case is still in the courts, the fraternity chapter has been disbanded and those indicted in connection with the death are no longer enrolled here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/op...er=rss&emc=rss

Hazing has always happened, long before it was considered negative and became illegal. It continues in non-GLO groups with less criticism. Reputations and interest in membership for GLOs aren't so easily broken. It's also cultural in that people think different things when they hear "GLO," "Greek," or "fraternities and sororities."

SAE national headquarters will probably figure out what to do to address this issue and SAE will live on.

When a Hazing Goes Very Wrong
IN the early-morning hours of that Friday in February 2011, at around 3 a.m., George Desdunes and another Cornell sophomore were sitting on a couch blindfolded, their wrists and ankles bound with zip ties and duct tape.
They had been kidnapped and driven to a town house somewhere on campus, one of the annual hazing rites of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. This particular ritual worked in reverse of most hazing. It was the freshman pledges who kidnapped older students.
The two S.A.E. brothers were asked trivia questions about the fraternity. If they gave a wrong answer they were supposed to drink a shot of vodka. As George Desdunes’s roommate would later tell the police, “The purpose is to tie up the brother and get him drunk.” ....HAZING is common on American campuses. A 2008 University of Maine study concluded that 55 percent of students who join fraternities, sororities, sports teams or other student groups experience it. On Wednesday night, officials at Binghamton University of the State University of New York, citing “an alarmingly high number of serious hazing complaints this spring,” halted all recruiting and pledging for the rest of the semester while it investigates. Binghamton has more than 50 fraternity and sorority chapters. ....As a condition of that settlement, S.A.E. officials agreed to post on their Web site every case in which a local chapter was put on probation, suspended or expelled by universities from 2007 to 2011. In five years, disciplinary action has been taken against nearly 80 of S.A.E.’s 223 chapters. A spokesman for S.A.E., Brandon Weghorst, declined to comment for this article, citing continuing litigation. (In the spirit of full disclosure: one of my sons belonged to an S.A.E. chapter for two years, and enjoyed his experience.) ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/ed...l?pagewanted=1