Cornell Student's Death
 

Cornell's IFC voted to have a one-weekend moratorium on fraternity parties :

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/ne...ernity-parties

Excerpts:

. . . 10 chapters were planning to hold parties open to all students this weekend . . . .

The moratorium comes two weeks after the death of George Desdunes, a brother at SAE who was found unresponsive in his fraternity’s house and later died at Cayuga Medical Center. . . .

The University’s Board of Trustees is meeting on campus this weekend, and several Greek leaders said the moratorium was partly intended to show the trustees that the Greek system could be responsible. . . .

At the same meeting Friday afternoon, the Panhellenic Council voted to support IFC’s moratorium, asking its members to refrain from attending parties at fraternity houses this weekend. . . .

Comment: Dang. I wish I were a Cornell trustee so I could ask my trustee buddies confidentially how truly, deeply convinced they are by a one-weekend moratorium.

Update: Editorial in Cornell Student Paper

See

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/op.../rash-decision

Cornell has de-recognized Sigma Alpha Epsilon for at least five years.
(LaneSig and Kevin, please note for your lists, thanks.)

Edited to add address for Sigma Alpha Epsilon's statement on its HQ site:

http://www.sae.net/page.aspx?pid=545

Back ot the original post:
The house must be vacated by March 31, 2011, according to the campus student paper:

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/ne...th-desdunes-13

Excerpt:

The University has withdrawn its recognition of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity for at least the next five years, following the Feb. 25 death of George Desdunes ’13, according to a statement*released Friday from Vice President of Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy ’73. All SAE members must vacate their fraternity house by March 31.

The University found that Desdunes, who was a brother at SAE, was provided alcohol “while in the care of certain members and associate members” of SAE and became incapacitated, Murphy stated.

“Even though the members and associate members recognized the condition Desdunes was in, they failed to call for medical care. He subsequently died,” she said. . . .

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

Update: Four Are Arraigned on Charges

The four are, apparently, former pledges of the now-former SAE chapter; see:

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/stor...j9j-2CqeQ.cspx

Also pretty much the same report is posted on the Wall Street Journal's site:

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP4981...da401d7e4.html

Update Aug.29, 2011: Opinion Piece in Cornell Student Paper:

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/op...8/29/call-lead

The author is David J. Skorton. He's identified as the president of Cornell.

This letter bothers me because he says he banned pledging and then says:

The requirement is simply that pledging be replaced with a process that is devoid of personal degradation, disrespect or harassment in any form.

It doesn't sound like it is pledging he is banning, but hazing. I don't like the idea of those two words being used interchangeably because they are not the same thing at all.

Unfortunate to hear. But let me get this right: They're charging the PLEDGES with hazing? I can understand being charged if they negligently left him even though they knew of his condition, but how in the hell does a pledge haze a brother?

In my heart, I do not think he died from hazing or from pledging. I think he died from a pledge class prank.

However, just so you know, there have for years upon years been traditions of "turn-around" days during pledging. It might not be common, but it is old.

Note: I do not believe what occurred at Cornell was a turn-around day, but I just wanted to give you an example.

I understand that, but what kind of prank are we talking about? Sounds to me like he drank too much and unfortunately had alcohol poisoning. It's not like the pledges could have made him drink it.

Desdunes, 19, who was a brother in SAE, participated in a mock kidnapping before his death, according to court documents. He and another SAE brother had their hands and feet tied with zip ties and duct tape. The two were asked questions, and when they answered incorrectly, they did exercises or were given drinks, such as flavored syrup or vodka, the documents stated.

http://cornellsun.com/node/47251

Well that is certainly interesting. I have heard of pledges kidnapping brothers, but never hazing them...

More developments in the Desdunes case:

http://www.ithacaindy.com/2012022167...duct-tape-used


“Cornell University student George Desdunes was found unconscious in a fraternity house with a noose tied tightly around his neck and hands and feet wrapped with duct tape and zip ties, according to new court documents part of a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit against Sigma Alpha Epsilon and several former students of the Ithaca, NY-based Ivy League school.

The claim is part of a lawsuit filed June 27 by Desdunes' mother, Marie Lourdes Andre. The legal claim . . . is being challenged by SAE, which wants to lawsuit moved to Tompkins County. In the lawsuit, Andre charges a cleaning service employee found Desdunes on a couch at the SAE fraternity house Feb. 25, 2011. The student later died at Cayuga Medical Center.

"The lawsuit claims that after a hazing event in which he was tied up and given alcohol by pledge members, Desdunes became so intoxicated that he 'required immediate medical treatment. Instead, he was taken by the pledges, still bound at the wrists and ankles, and dumped on a couch in the SAE house where he was unattended and left to die,'" reports the Cornell Daily Sun.”

(The Sun's article is at the address below.)

http://www.cornellsun.com/section/ne...ompkins-county

The NYC Courthouse where suit currently sits is rather well known as a plaintiffs courthouse.

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.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/ed...WT.mc_ev=click

There is a very good article about this in an education supplement to today's Sunday New York Times. Others may disagree but I think it is a good impartial piece. Interestingly, the writer divulges that his own son is an SAE from another chapter and had a good experience. Shocking is the number of SAE chapters that have had violations per the National office. Also encouraging is that the president of Cornell insists that fraternities and sororities can and should be a positive part of Cornell.

Trial -- or the preliminaries to the actual trial -- is set to begin Monday, May 21, according to

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...text|FRONTPAGE

Update:

Three "pledges" reportedly have been acquitted. Also, it looks like a civil case is being pursued. See

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.1103415

Good.

That's quite simplistic thinking (as is the NY Times article).

1. SAE is one of the larger national fraternities. There may be smaller national fraternities out there who have a much larger percentage of chapters who have had the same issues.

2. Because of the above, SAE is much more likely to get sued than, say, KDR, simply for the fact that their pockets are deeper. You can't get blood from a turnip.

3. The list of chapter "violations" includes things such as drinking on bid night and a noise violation. It is NOT a list of only hazing violations. Many of the entries on the list only cite "violation of university rules" which could be something as mild as failing to file their RSO paperwork.

4. The NY Times article doesn't differentiate between real hazing and "PC" hazing. Beating the crap out of someone does not = asking them to answer the house phone.

The chapter (which has been disbanded) was found guilty, according to reports. A smallish fine was apparently imposed. See, for example, the following on an ABC site:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/f...5#.T-zlzsjNnpM

^^^ I slightly changed my tune when I read that the chapter had admonished the pledges for not doing kidnappings. That was a dumb move on their part.

As bad as this whole thing is, it gives better insight into the wrong mentalities that exists among some of the fraternities at Cornell. The administration and school IFC has tried to do stuff recently (no alcohol at rush, "dry" pledging period, etc.), but whether or not their efforts are effective has yet to be seen. I'm looking forward to what will happen next semester.

SAE fined $12,000

http://centralny.ynn.com/content/top...-hazing-death/

“Sigma Alpha Epsilon is forced to pay the maximum of $12,000 in fines for unlawfully dealing with a child, hazing, and criminal nuisance. The fraternity was convicted on those charges for the February 2011 death of George Desdunes, 19. . . . “