Has Anyone Heard About This?
 

Fatal Case of Alleged College Hazing

Tearfully Kristin's mom said, "Somebody has to account for this…somebody has to go down for this…you know this is just not right."
Two young women drown in Playa Del Rey in the middle of the night. The family of one the victims believes it was a case of hazing. The young woman was pledging a college sorority.
Apparently the two women swimming at night with friends at Dockweiler State Beach drowned after they were overcome by high tide and rough surf.

Kenitha Saafir, 24, of Compton, and Kristin HIgh, 22, of Los Angeles, were pronounced dead at the scene, said Los Angeles Police Department Officer Ed Funes.


Kristin
"The incident is being investigated as an accidental drowning at this time," Funes said.

The women were at the beach near 63rd Avenue and Speedway about 11:30 p.m. Sunday when they were pulled under the waves.

The women were there with four friends, said Sgt. Cindy Halloford of the LAPD's Pacific Station.

The family of one of the victims says she was pushed into the water by her own desire to join the sorority. They were involved in illegal underground hazing.

Patricia Fargas, Kristin's mother said her daughter lost her life because she wanted to join a sorority.

Though at this time it is being called an accidentally drowning the Kristin's fiancé said it was more. He says somebody has to pay for this in civil and criminal court. He said that they will push the issue.

Tearfully Kristin's mom said, "Somebody has to account for this…somebody has to go down for this…you know this is just not right."

Apparently this morning members of the sorority phoned the mother to tell her this had nothing to do with hazing, but two other girls that got out alive told her a different story.

The sorority denies that it was hazing. They say they do not allow it.

The survivors told the Patricia that her daughter died a hero. She was trying to save somebody. Patricia says she wants her voice to be heard to stop hazing across the country.




Last Updated: Sep 10, 2002

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/091..._drowning.html

So SAD!
 

I hadn't heard....I'm curious as to which sorority this was.

I'm in SoCal
 

I am also curious to know which organization it is. The article did not indicate where the young women went to school in Los Angeles, however.

No matter what happens, remember that there are two more children that have been ripped from their parents.
:(

im in la - and that all everyone is talking about today.

a particular chapter has been named amongst us greeks out here that know - but it hasnt been confirmed.....

Pretty Poodle,

What chapter is that and of what sorority? I know it is specualtion at this point but someone has to know something. My neo just sent this to me last night and I just happended to check my e-mail.

I am in Los Angeles as well and this has to be real, real local for it to have happened at Dockweiler Beach. Also, since UC's haven't started school yet, I am venturing to say it was a private university or a Cal State.

Either way, I pray for those young women's soul's. That is just not cool at all.

here's the latest story:

http://kcal9.com/topstories/StoryFol...323025161_html

Mother Blames Hazing For Drownings
Two Victims Died In Nighttime Surf Off Dockweiler State Beach



AP
Email This Story
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Sep 10, 2002 2:30 pm US/Pacific
(AP)-(PLAYA DEL REY )-Two women who drowned during a nighttime beach visit may have been undergoing a sorority hazing, the mother of one victim said Tuesday.

Kenitha Saafir, 24, of Compton and Kristin High, 22, of Los Angeles were pulled to shore in Playa del Rey by police officers but pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

High, a California Sate University, Los Angeles, student and mother of a 2-year-old son, had been undergoing an initiation rite for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, her mother, Pat Fargas, told KCAL-TV.

"She's crying back from her death to say stop this hazing," Fargas said.

Fargas alleged the women had been undergoing initiation rituals for weeks. They'd been pushed into the water blindfolded and with their hands tied, the station said.

"I tried to talk to all of them this weekend and said stop it, and I'm gonna call and report this, and now it's too late," she said.

Police said they could not immediately confirm the account.

Uniformed officers were sent to a Playa del Rey beach at about 11:30 p.m. Monday by reports of women screaming, Officer Eduardo Funes said in a statement.

The officers were met by four people who said that two of their friends "were swept into the ocean and had not come out," Funes said.

The officers removed their leather belts and boots and dove into the ocean in heavy surf, located the women and pulled them out.

Attempts by the officers and paramedics to revive them failed.

The sorority had no information on the incident, Executive Director Betty James said from its Chicago headquarters.

"The sorority expresses its condolences to the families and will cooperate with authorities in their investigation," she said.

Alpha Kappa Alpha has an anti-hazing policy adopted two years ago by the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc., which includes representatives of nine historically black fraternities and sororities.

The policy calls for holding people who engage in hazing "personally liable to the victim and to answer to the law and the organization," according to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Web site.

(© 2002 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

My sincerest condolences go out to Kenitha and Kristin's families and friends.

I rather this come from a Soror than anyone else....since we can be certain this topic will get some attention.

LA media has already, this evening, pointed out the name of the sorority and possible chapters in question. Since that is public information, I will say that Alpha Kappa Alpha has been named and the LA City Chapter (Sigma) has also been mentioned.

I will point out, however, that the facts in this case have not been brought to light. Until a detailed police investigation and report has been brought out, we are hearing "speculation" from people who, most likely, were not present when this incident happened.

In NO WAY am I condoning hazing or supporting any person involved in a hazing incident. Alpha Kappa Alpha holds strict its policy against hazing.

Again, my sincerest condolences go out to the families who have lost loved ones.

the bottom line is that two young women are dead. i pray for their souls and their family/friends that are grieving for them. truly, my sincerest condolences are extended. in my very humble opinion, it doesn't matter which organization is being tied into the alleged hazing incident. whatever the circumstances surrounding their death, i believe there's a lesson to be learned by greeks, prospectives and non-greeks.

Man,

Again, my deppest codolensces to the family and friends of those two women.

I agree that further investigation needs to be done just to be more informed.

I don't think that it matters either which sorority the ladies were allegedly pledging for the sake of saying "Whew...wasn't us." because the fact does remain that the women are not alive and that is the tragedy. I think people want to know what sorority for other reasons. I know for me I am in Los Angeles...the heart of it...not the valley, not Riverside, not San Diego...LA! So if it were my sorority, best believe I would know someone involved and heads would roll...and so that was why I wanted to know for myself.

I also do believe that lessons need to be learned and that the death of these women should not just be taken as "Oh, well" like just circumstance. It is too sad.

Is there even a chapter of said organization on that campus? Is it citywide? I have never heard any on the campus but then I never did hella research on the topic. But, as was posted by others...that's why more investigatio needs to be done.

absolutely - my deepest condolences go out to the two ladies and those that knew them. this should not have happened.

something like this has never happened so close to home and a lot of us here (greeks across the board) just dont understand and dont know how to react. i think today has been a wake up call for a lot of us.

See...
 

1. What a shame. Those families have lost their children over foolishness.

2. It's not worth it now for those soon to be former members to lose their letters, and possibly their freedom over something NOT official. (I'm not loosing my stuff for a single, solitary being). JUST DO THE RIGHT THING!

3. Was it worth loosing "your" life to belong to an organization? Now, these young ladies do not have the letters, nor their life. IT'S SAD! IT'S NOT WORTH IT!

Those of you out there (ON BOTH SIDES), better learn to say "NO"! :rolleyes:

(just sad)

I'm not a member of any sorority and it doesn't matter who they were trying to be apart of...the point is they're gone when they could have been here. I can say that it is sad what happen to the young ladies.
:confused: :confused: :confused:

AKA is not to be blamed!
 

Even if what has been reported is true, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is NOT to blame just as Delta was not to blame for the tragic car accident that happened in Florida. Who are to blame are renegade members of the sororities who insist on defying our rules and regulations.

My prayers go out to the families of these young ladies. And I hope to God that the message is heard loud and clear--

MEMBERS cut out the stupidity!
PROSPECTS do not submit yourself to anything that is stupid or dangerous!

NONE OF US CONDONE HAZING!!!!!

Too Close to Home
 

My prayer goes out to the families of those ladies.
I got a call late last night from my chapter soror and found out, to my horor, that one of the ladies that passed away was the wife of a friend. He pledged Alpha about a year or so after me and they just got married and had a son. This is so unreal. :(

Please keep them in your prayer for this SHOULD NEVER have happened.

Sorors,
Kristen was my friend. We served on the same national committee in the NAACP. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Justice will prevail. I agree with the soror that said AKA is not to blame. I blame the individuals of the 2 renegade chapters that were not recognized on the LA and Long Beach campuses that were present during the incident. For the young ladies of AKA to call Kristen's mom and say that, " it was not hazing, they were just talking about history". Then why were they on the beach at 11:30 pm in the water taking orders from so called "big sister". Sorry sorors I had to get that off my chest because my friend's son has to grow up with out a mom.

Re: AKA is not to be blamed!
 

Thank you, ladygreek, for this.
I'm still angry and shaking about this situation.
:mad: :mad: :mad:

My condolences to the families of the victims.

Ladies who are interested: PLEASE understand two things.
1. If the chapter is not recognized by Nationals (no matter what the org), you will not be an OFFICIAL member of that org. You can confirm a chapter's status by calling the International HQ of any of the Four Sororities.


2. YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH THREE LETTERS!!!!!!! AKA, Delta, ZETA or SGRHO should not make you more of a woman than you already are.

Stuff like this gives us all a bad rep.

I couldn't have said it better.

Terrible....
 

My heartfelt condolences and prayers go out to the families of those young ladies. This makes no sense. All this "underground pledging" has got to stop. A sorority or fraternity are not worth dying over. Your life is more than just letters across your chest, license plates and stepping. Come on sorors and frats all of this foolishness needs to stop. Two people are gone because so called "big sisters" wanted to pull rank. Does this make any greek organization look good? NO:mad: It makes all of the Devine Nine look very bad!!

I don't what is more upsetting about this situation. A renegade chapter in LA, where the Greek community is pretty tightly knit. The "anti-cat" mentality that still runs rampant. The gall of the women to call the families after, not (unless the story has been twisted, which it might well have) to offer condolences, but to spin their take. "Talking history?"

It's so tragic.

just fixing the code. ~Kel

I also agree with you Nikki1920.

My condolences to the family and friends of these two young ladies. This is such a senseless act.

VIGIL Against Hazing
 

Come out tomorrow night and take a stand against hazing.

Join your peers and the families of the Kenitha Saafir and Kristin
High as we hold a vigil at Dockweiler Beach. Tell everyone you know to come out and let the world know that we are not tolerating this behavior.

Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 7 PM
Dockweiler State Beach
8255 Vista del Mar, Playa del Rey

Look for the trail of parked cars and a banner.

Map of location: http://sgrho.com/images/vigilmap.gif

For any questions, please email Maiya (maiya20@hotmail.com) or
Stephanie
(stephanie@sgrho.com).

New Article
 

New info.....

Associated Press
September 11, 2002

Police: No evidence of hazing in drowning of two college women

LOS ANGELES -- Police said there was no evidence that hazing caused the
drowning of two college women in Playa del Rey, despite the assertion
by one of the victim's family members that sorority initiation rituals
caused the deaths.

Kenitha Saafir, 24, of Compton, and Kristin High, 22, of Los Angeles,
were pulled to shore late Monday night by police officers but could not
be revived, authorities said.

High, a California State University, Los Angeles student and mother of
a 2-year-old boy, had been undergoing an initiation rite for the Alpha
Kappa Alpha sorority, her mother, Pat Fargas, told Los Angeles
television stations. "She's crying back from her death to say stop this
hazing," Fargas said.

"They had them all dressed in black, they blindfolded them, told them
to hold onto each other" and then were directed along the beach, said
High's fiancee, Holman Arthurs. "I guess what happened, had to be, was
that it was high tide, and the tide went over them."

But authorities said a preliminary investigation indicated no hazing
was involved.

"No one was tied up or blindfolded or forced into the water," said
police Officer Jason Lee. "There were several girls possibly swept into the
ocean due to high surf at the time. The rest were able to come back to
the beach. Unfortunately, the victims were not able to."

Officers were sent the beach about 11:30 p.m. Monday on reports of
women screaming. The officers were met by four people who said that two of
their friends "were swept into the ocean and had not come out," Officer
Eduardo Funes said in a statement.

The officers dove into the ocean, located the women and pulled them
out. Attempts by police and paramedics to revive them failed.

Autopsies may be conducted Wednesday to determine the exact cause of
death. Their deaths are under investigation by authorities.

The sorority had no information on the incident, Executive Director
Betty James said from its Chicago headquarters.

Alpha Kappa Alpha has an anti-hazing policy adopted two years ago by
the National Pan-Hellenic Council Inc., according to its Web site.

A tearful Fargas, alleging the women had been undergoing initiation
rituals for weeks, said she wants to file charges against the sorority.

"I tried to talk to all of them this weekend and said stop it, and I'm
gonna call and report this, and now it's too late," she said.

From the article....Questions
 

1. So, is the Fargus lady a soror? I ask because "they" are saying an initiation rite. Uhhhhh...water, tides? :confused:

2. Mr. Arthurs, was he out there? Or, hearsay?

3. Sue the org?

4. Where are the so-called renegades?

5. If they would have been in their respectived dwellings, none of this would have happened. What happened to the liBERRY? a LSs home, room? It's still SAD and ridiculous.

:confused: :rolleyes:

Unfortunate...
 

Those of you in LA know that the NPHC net is a very tight knit group. So AKA was named along with 2 UG chapters/members...

All I can say is my Directorate is actively doing some "damage control"...

I feel for the families... Apparently, the mother really saw her daughter try hard to become a member of my Sorority or whatever. I dunno the true circumstances. To lose your daughter over some B.S. like that is inconsolable...

Irregardless who was involved, these young ladies should have had NO COMPELLING REASON to go into the ocean, blind-folded to join something at 11:30 PM!!! :mad:

So really, my issue is, given that these ladies are dead, what quite possible could these perpetrators say to any of us that would allow us to reconsider? And, although one should never think of doing these crimes against humanity, even if these suspects did not haze, how in the world can they get implicated???:confused: One just does not do it in the first place!!! One just does not get involved with that dysfunction...

I am truly pissed off right now... But that's my opinion...

Re: From the article....Questions
 

Soror, Ms. Fargas (BTW, she spells her name the same way as the actor who played Huggy Bear) apparently told some TV reporters that she was a soror.

I don't know which young lady it was but one of them was a legacy, all the women in her family are aka's. So that may of been her mother.


QTE

My sincere condolences go out to the families of the young ladies that drowned. However, I will reserve judgement on hysteria until the facts are out. This seems like a very crazy scenario to have women blindfolded and tied up in rough surf. Its been one day and already there are 3 very different versions. No, 3 letters are not worth dying for and no one should be engaging in any activity where one of the outcomes could be death. If there is any truth to come out of this story, it will have to come from the survivors. The family is already talking lawsuit and their precious children aren't even funeralized yet.

I posted this reply in the AKA forum on this issue and I wanted to post it here as well.... Because of the comments I've seen expressed on GreekChat... I can see some members don't really see that their own mentality might be a contributing factor to incidents such as this.............................

I think there is a deeper issue to the problem....There are so many "old heads" in Sororities and Fraternities, that will not give you "respect" if you don't go that route. Now I don't mean, participate in things like this of course, but I mean the "other" process. Look at the situation with Vince Carter. Many "brothers" don't want to give him "respect" because he "pledged grad." Now many members of BGLO's will say the right thing i.e. "he's my brother regardless....or We're a non-hazing, oranization...blah, blah, blah..." but when it really comes down to it, the love isn't there. I proudly pledged an Alumnae chapter of DST, but there were so many who would not because of fear of how they would be treated. Now granted, you could say that maybe they didn't want be a part of the organization for the right reasons anyway if that deterred them, but...I think you all get the point. So much so, that many naive folks are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to "be down." I know the girls in this case are responsible for their own actions, however, man members of BGLO's should change the way others are treated that go another route. I know no one wants anybody to slip through the cracks into the organization, but if we keep putting a stigma on going grad..these things will continue to happen. I am trying to be as discrete as possible, but I know all the Greeks out there know what I am talking about. :cool:

ALL OF US Killed those Women
 

How did we become what we've become? When did we stop being the avante guarde for black intellectualism? This is sad, and we have only ourselves to blame.

ALL OF US, killed those beautiful women. The fact remains is that even AFTER we joined our respective organizations, we have NOT done enough to change the culture and to rededicate our organizations to our founders principles. We rationalize violence, as ritual, or "right of passage." We give people "respect" to pledges because they were able to absorb more violence, than the average pledge. We really need to reflect. I'm certain that each one of us has particpated in the violence and justified it on some level. But its time to do away with it. And if you can't legitimize a person through violence, then you need to let your membership expire and find a new hobby.

About 4 months ago, I argued on the blue and white boards that it may be time to get rid of undergraduate chapters. I was marginalized by the others, as they have been completely socialized to the notion that there is ONLY ONE WAY TO PLEDGE. In that discussion, I told them that the undergrads would eventually lead to the death of the NPHC. I might as well had been talking to the wall.

It pains me when fraternities and sororities have to make statements like "prosecute the ones that did the crime." This kind of obfuscation is part of the problem. The fact remains is that when they die, they die because of a socially constructed culture that we promulgate. The die BECAUSE of the culture of NPHC. All of our organizations, and hence members, are therefore liable in the destruction, maiming and deaths of our brothers and sisters. Sad, truly sad.

If our founders could see what we do in their name, would they even want to form the organizations?

Sweetie,

I think the issue from these "old heads" is not that Back in MY day, we did this, that and the other... But, at least for me, before I became a member, of how I admired the tenacity and academic achievements of my now, "sorors". Yes, all of us ol' skool members may have had to so some dumb-a$$ed chit, to be a part of something, but, in my case, it was NEVER doing crazy things as what was done to these young ladies... Why, because, my LINE was responsible for ME as I was responsible for my linesister. And if we call ourselves Christians and/or "children of God", then "sistahs, just don't let sistahs" be taken down like that...

With that, there was only 2 young ladies, that overwhelmingly succumbed to the pressure of belonging. And insecurities abound on everyone's part, the fact STILL remains, if you walk DIVINELY, then there AIN'T NO REASON to take anotha brotha or sistah down... NO AMOUNT of pledging (ol' skool or hazin') is gonna make that person BE the functional, dues paying, active member that they dedicated his/her life to be...

And THAT'S why the NPHC D9 made the anti-hazing stance...

The pubilicity of this incident AIN'T about colors and how many letters one can put on a jacket... It's a testament of what our core beliefs and the ideals we serve in each of our own BGLOs. What's good about this topic on another board is the cameraderie of all of us BGLO's share together... And each of us are pretty much saying the same thing--so the thinking gots be right...

My point is, WAAAAYYY back in the day, my ancestors were all slaves, it didn't matter if one came from Massa Washington's or Massa Jefferson's Plantations--my ancestors were STILL out in the field... And when Massa sold us off to another plantation, the slaves that one encounted may have had some bitterness at first, but WE STILL CAME TOGETHER TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT. Even if summa us ran, most of us helped out.

What these perpatrators did is no more than being bought and paid for "bounty "Aint Jemima's" that turned unsuspecting runaways to be re-enslaved back on Massa's plantation... AND THAT'S THE MENTALITY ALL OF US NEED TO WORK OURSELVES GETTING AWAY FROM, TRULY!!! That's my opinion...

Re: ALL OF US Killed those Women
 

I feel you Blu...........but so many members are in DENIAL! Just look at some of the quotes posted on the boards. It's sad when you think about the problem, but it's even sadder when many of us do not realize that WE are a HUGE part of the problem. :(

My heart is overwhelmed by what happened as well as some of the post that were posted about hazing.

I am not a member of any BGLO but I know how socially acceptable it is. I have had many disagreements with members about my stance on hazing. I am pretty sure no one thought anyone would get hurt in this situation. This goes to show that you never know what will happen. My attitude is "I am wayyy too pretty to have people touchin alllll over me".

If someone is responsible for this, I hope they are held accountable!

Some people think the girls went too far.

Hazing in ANY form is too far.

THINK PEOPLE THINK!

INFO I received from an AKA
 

New info: ALL people involved have NO CURRENT ties to AKA. The girls participating were not eligible/not involved in a formal process & the girls "leading the process" were FORMER members of a suspended chapter...this means that they have no rights/priviledges pertaining to the Sorority.

Now, with that said, HOW do we stop those not actually affiliated with our organizations from using our name to perform ILLEGAL activities. My opinion, we should sue them on top of what other charges they may face.

NONE OF THOSE WORDS ARE MINE!!!!!

The first thing we all collectively need to do is to STOP treating being brutally hazed as a badge of honor- the worse you got it, the more respect you are given.

You can tell pledges that they shouldn't let themselves be hazed all you like, but when they see US giving props and respect for this kind of behavior, they know what is really meant, even if it is never said. They know what happens when you DON'T go through the hazing, and that they may never be accepted by the people that they respect and look up to the most.

We need to rethink member education, and I don't just mean of new members- there are a LOT of old heads who just won't accept that things must and have changed. Point to cases like thjis as the consequence of not changing those behaviors. We need to make it clear that those attitudes of scorn and disrespect are not welcome in our orgs, because that attitude belongs to a gang, not an organization of college educated individuals.

in light of this situation and other issues that have been mentioned since i have been on this and other forums, perhaps a moratorium on intake needs to be considered so that each org. can truly get their houses in order. from this dialogue, it is obvious that everyone has a strong opinion on the subject. the bottom line is that these women are now dead due to poor judgement and possible due to inappropriate behavior by these renegade women. all we can do is pray that God helps the family deal with the pain and that what is in the dark come to light.

Kristin
 

I just wanted to share this with you all from a friend of mine who introduced me to Kristin who I have only know for 2 years but who she has known for most of her life, she's non greek and wanted to share her feelings cause Kristin isn't here to do it herself. I challenge you all to take it in and try to digest it:

I cannot write to you about the activities leading up to the deaths of Kristin High and Kenitha Saafir. There are many speculated stories by those not present that evening and those that were present seem to have no real conscience to speak the truth. To the family and friends of Kristin High there is only one solid truth. They will never see their loved one again. The friends of Kristin High truly want their voices heard. Anybody that can honestly say that they do not think hazing takes place in Greek organizations, despite efforts and laws forbidding it, has got to pull their head out of the sand. There are far to many unreported incidents and reported incidents of hazing in Greek fraternities and sororities being swept under the rug and being ignored. It is a shame that two people had to lose their lives, mothers and fathers had to lose their children, sisters and brothers lost a sibling, and an innocent child now has to grow up without his mother because of senseless, reckless, and irresponsible behavior. I am not directly involved with Greek organizations, but I am familiar enough to know that Alpha Kappa Alpha promotes sisterhood and integrity. I can only wonder where that sisterhood and integrity was the night my friend was killed. An organization as large as Alpha Kappa Alpha Inc., can not hold each and every member by her hand and make sure that they abide by the rules, but they can be more accountable and need to be a little more accepting of the fact that a large number of it’s members has taken part in illegal hazing. In fact those individuals that go through a hazing ritual are respected more then those that don’t. An anti-hazing act that is implemented to cover ass and preserve the organization name has absolutely no substance if the organizations are allowed to constantly look at situations with blinders on. Implementing an anti-hazing law among sororities and fraternities should not alleviate the organizations accountability when their members break the rules, especially when it results in bodily injury and in this case two deaths.


An effective solution to this problem (and it is a huge problem) can only be achieved if the powers that be in the organizations choose to open their eyes to the reality of what really takes place. It is only until then that they can become more active in the prevention of tragic accidents like this. As friends of Kristin High we have to ask ourselves if we are willing to wait for that day or are we ready to take as many steps as we can to expose the wrong doings of some members of Greek fraternities and sororities. We are now Kristin’s voice and we will be heard.

-B. Tate

Re: INFO I received from an AKA
 

Here is an article...

Local News

Police say no hazing in 2 drownings
PLAYA DEL REY: Two women who drowned weren't involved in a sorority. A mother has suspicions.

By Josh Grossberg
DAILY BREEZE


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------










Two women drowned late Monday in rough waters off Playa del Rey in what one of the victim’s mothers says may have been a sorority hazing ritual. But Los Angeles police said late Tuesday that no hazing was involved.


Denying reports circulated earlier in the day, LAPD media relations officer Jason Lee said: “There was no hazing. No one was tied up or blindfolded — that information was not true.


“A bunch of girls were out in the water and unfortunately, sadly, these two girls were swept out,” he said.


Kenitha Saafir, 24, of Compton and Kristin High, 22, of Los Angeles went to Dockweiler State Beach with some friends about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to police. Police were first notified when they received reports of screaming.


“When police got there, they found four witnesses who said two friends had gone into the ocean,” said Los Angeles police media relations officer Eduardo Funes. “Officers took off their leather equipment belts and boots and dove into the dark ocean. After a few minutes, they found the floating bodies of the two victims.”


Police and Los Angeles city fire crews attempted life-saving measures, but the women were dead at the scene, Funes said.


Although the incident is being investigated as an accidental drowning, High’s mother said she suspected the women died while participating in a sorority initiation rite. Both women were students at California State University, Los Angeles.


High, mother of a 2-year-old son, had been undergoing an initiation rite for the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, said Pat Fargas in a television interview.


“She’s crying back from her death to say stop this hazing,” Fargas said.


Fargas alleged the women had been undergoing initiation rituals for weeks and had been pushed into the water blindfolded and with their hands tied, according to KCAL Channel 9.


“I tried to talk to all of them this weekend and said stop it, and I’m gonna call and report this, and now it’s too late,” she said.


Betty James, the executive director of the sorority, said she was looking into the matter.


“The sorority expresses its condolences to the families and we’ll cooperate with the authorities in their investigation,” she said.”


Alpha Kappa Alpha has an anti-hazing policy adopted two years ago by the National Pan-Hellenic Council Inc., which includes representatives of nine historically black fraternities and sororities.


The policy calls for holding people who engage in hazing “personally liable to the victim and to answer to the law and the organization,” according to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Web site.


But a Cal State Los Angeles official said the sorority is not active on the campus.


“I think there’s some misinformation,” said spokeswoman Carol Selkin. “There’s no official chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha on the Cal State (Los Angeles) campus. This is a commuter campus. (Sororities) are not a big part of campus life.”


Selkin said the two women were students in good standing.


“We’re tremendously saddened by the loss of these students and we extend our deepest condolences to their families,” she said.


Whatever the women were doing in the water, they couldn’t have picked a worse time. Because of a tropical storm in Mexico, the waters were rough. Surf was 4 to 6 feet and there were riptides, lifeguards said.


“We had a good south swell coming in the past couple of days,” said Los Angeles County lifeguard Capt. David Story. “That particular area of Dockweiler was picking it up. It was dangerous even for an experienced swimmer.”


City News Service contributed to this article.





So no, those words were not that of CT4. :cool:

September 14, 2002

Drownings Raise Hazing Questions


Dispute: Police see no sign of crime in two deaths. But others fear the beach tragedy resulted from pledging ritual at black sorority.

By SANDY BANKS and JILL LEOVY, TIMES STAFF WRITERS

The late-night drownings of two college students this week in rough surf at Dockweiler State Beach appear to have been accidental, police said Friday, but African American sorority and fraternity members are agonizing over the possibility that the women died inadvertently during a hazing ritual for a venerated black sorority.

Kenitha Saafir, 24, of Compton and Kristin High, 22, both seniors at Cal State L.A., drowned in heavy surf late Monday night. They were at the beach with five other college women--three of them reportedly members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, and the other two, like High and Saafir, pledges aspiring to join.

Police said Friday that they had no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and had believed survivors' accounts that they were at the beach to exercise. There were no signs that the deaths were related to the use of alcohol, coercion, reckless endangerment or other criminal acts, said a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman, Sgt. John Pasquariello.
Hazing is a misdemeanor defined under state law as any act "that causes or is likely to cause bodily danger, physical harm or personal degradation or disgrace resulting in physical or mental harm" to anyone involved in an initiation rite for a student organization.

Several veterans of black fraternities and sororities don't believe that the women--college students juggling jobs and families--were exercising late at night on a beach. Forced calisthenics are a common ritual, they said, and sending pledges blindfolded into the ocean is a staple of West Coast pledge routines.
The group that the two drowning victims were reported to be pledging is the nation's oldest black sorority, with a long list of famous members, including Toni Morrison, Marian Anderson, Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks.

Alpha Kappa Alpha has 900 chapters nationwide, though there are none affiliated with Cal State L.A., where Saafir was a studio art major and High, the mother of a 2-year-old boy, was a business major.
A member of High's family said they had been pledging through an underground chapter.
Betty N. James, executive director of the Chicago-based sorority, declined to comment beyond a prepared statement: "The sorority expresses its condolences to the families and will cooperate with authorities in their investigation."

For years, the sorority, like the rest of the nine black Greek organizations, has expressly forbidden hazing in any form, including "paddling, creative or excessive fatigue, physical or psychological shock or morally degrading or humiliating activities."

At a candlelight vigil Thursday for the two women, Lawrence Ross Jr., whose book, "The Divine Nine," is considered the definitive volume on black Greek life, urged more than 100 people to use the deaths as a call to end hazing. "Without a revolution in our ranks, Kenitha and Kristin have died in vain ... while trying to be one of us, an African American fraternal member," he said.

Pledges don't have to be bound or forced into the water or up a tree, said Ross, who pledged Alpha Phi Alpha at UC Berkeley and travels the country speaking about the menace of hazing. "Young men and women go willingly to whatever ends they're told to go because they want to be part of something, because that's how much it means."

Ross said wade-into-the-ocean rituals typically require blindfolded pledges to make their way through the waves to a leader, who stands in the water urging them on. It is explained as a way to show trust.
"The young people are quick to say, 'It's not hazing; it's pledging,' " he said. "But at what point does it become hazing--when the blindfolds go on, when the water reaches their knees, when the waves knock them under and they can't breathe? Or when they drown and the policeman pulls them out?"

LAPD Capt. Ken Hillman, who was at Dockweiler on Monday night, said survivors told police they had gone to the beach to run and to perform calisthenics. Police first spotted them about 10 p.m., running in orderly lines across the beach.

Even though the beach was closed, police said they did not question the women because they seemed to be engaged in an organized exercise.

The waves were as high as 10 feet, and the riptide was strong enough to drag swimmers 300 yards out to sea. Witnesses told police one of the women appeared to have been knocked down by a swell, then pulled under. The other apparently tried to save her, and both were swept away.

High's family said she was a strong swimmer. Saafir's family could not be reached.
Dispatchers received a 911 emergency call at 11:22 p.m., reporting a loud commotion, possibly a party, at the beach, which is west of Los Angeles International Airport. A minute later a second call reported a woman screaming for help.

When police arrived three minutes later, they could see two bodies being tossed in the surf about 50 yards from the beach. Without pausing to remove their shoes, guns or 35-pound utility belts, LAPD Officers Robert Espinoza and Charles Rodriguez plunged into the surf, pulled the women out and tried to revive them.

Investigators said they don't know why the women entered the water. Both were wearing sweatpants, suggesting they had not intended to swim.
At a memorial Friday night in Compton for High, relatives assembled before the service to express anger. In the days before she died, High had told her family of unpleasant pledging incidents she had experienced, said their attorney, Mansfield Collins. Relatives said they are particularly angry that police saw the group on the beach after public hours and did not tell the women to leave. And the police conclusion that sorority rituals weren't involved is baffling, said High's mother, Patricia Fargas.

"I cannot understand anyone coming to facts about the truth by hearing only half a story," she said.
Grief took over during the memorial as home videos showed Kristin in high school cap and gown, then happily pregnant, and later alight with joy beside her fiance, Holman Arthurs, and their baby.

"She was the personification of beauty, of elegance, of intelligence," Arthurs said. "She was the love of my life."

More than 40 states have outlawed hazing. Large financial settlements have caught the attention of Greek organizations and their college sponsors, leading many universities to ban the groups outright. More than 80 pledges have died in pledge activities in the last 12 years during rites that involved binge drinking, beatings and extreme physical exertion.
Hazing is difficult to eradicate, in part because of a code of silence among pledges and an ethos that makes surviving the rigors of pledging a badge of honor among black fraternities and sororities.

"You want to go through what your brothers and sisters have gone through. That's the bond," said one young woman, who pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha eight years ago and later helped supervise her chapter's underground pledge program.

At Thursday's beachside memorial, exhortations to end hazing drew a smattering of polite applause from the gathering of fraternity and sorority members. Afterward they gathered in groups and spoke of their desire to pay their respects to the families but their unwillingness to share the blame.

"Whatever happened, it's not our business," one fraternity member said. "We're not here to place blame. We're a private organization. We have our secret rituals; they have theirs. This is not about the end of pledging."

Ross said that idea threatens the lifeblood of black fraternal groups, long considered the incubators for black American leadership. Each of the nine groups boasts an impressive membership roster that spans the spectrum from entertainment to academia and politics, from Bill Cosby to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Aretha Franklin to W.E.B. Du Bois and Arthur Ashe.
The organizations promote academic achievement and donate millions to scholarships.

But the increasing toll of deaths and injuries among the nine sororities and fraternities has led their national leadership to agree that survival is in question without reform.

"You know what's ridiculous?" Ross said. "We invest all this time and money to get these precious people to go to college, then we kill them. You can have fraternal clubs; you can have secret rituals. But you can't kill people. It's as simple as that."

Post compliments of 14dst01...I moved it here.
 

Ok, I have been incognito for a mi-nute and I have read so much of this stuff, I finally had to say something.

I basically just want to get to what the real issus is at hand. TWO WOMEN ARE DEAD!!!!! Hello, do I need to repeat that, TWO YOUNG BLACK, COLLEGE-EDUCATED WOMEN, (one a mother) ARE DEAD!!!


So instead of pointing fingers and trying to explain why this continues to exist and whose fault it is, let's try to find a solution. Yes we (D9) have rules regarding hazing and MI but unfortunately as we have witnessed with this tragedy, folks don't always follow the rules.

So the question remains, "WHAT CAN WE AS MEMBERS AND EVEN PROSPECTS DO TO END THIS TYPE OF HAZING FROM CONTINUING?"

I don't expect anyone to have the answers right now. I know that everyone has expressed opinions and feelings on similar topics since this has happened. I just want to know what we can do NOW to let folks know this is a serious SITUATION we have in our hands. I guess I'm just tired of the conversation and ready for some action.

And jus to throw in my 13 cents, I don't care what anyone says, this WAS A HAZING AT IT'S WORSE!!! It's not rocket science ladies and gentlemen, look at the clues.

1. Group of black women were found at the beach Monday night (11pm) supposively exercising. Who the hell exercises that late at night, especially black women by the water. Come on now, let's be realistic. Weren't they in school, shouldn't they have been studying??? Also, according to the LA Times, the park was closed so they had no business being there in the first place.

2. When the police pulled them out of the water they were found with sweats on. HELLO, I don't live in Cali and I'm sure it gets cool at night but I'm on the east coast and I haven't had to pull the sweats out yet (though the temperature has been funny lately).

Bottomline, of course the police are not going to accuse anyone of hazing becasue they don't understand the history or details of underground pledging and if it's not something visible (bruises, gunshot wound, something), then they don't have hardcore evidence they need to convict someone of this crime. So what they are depending on are folks to tell them what took place at that beach and why TWO WOMEN were found DEAD after pulling them out of the water late Monday night.

The UNFORTUNATE fact still remains that the CODE OF SILENCE in underground pledging continues to keep those from speaking out and it won't surprise me if we hear of another hazing case in the near future.

As long as folks continue to believe that they have to submit themselves to this type of naive and ignorant stupidity, in order to belong, these types of "processes" will never stop.

Sorry so long, it's been a while since I've posted and I just had to let it out.