Prairie View A&M suspends pledging
 

Saw this in the paper today - sad.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/6682073.html

exerpt:

Donnie Wade Sr., a minister, said Thursday he does not know what exactly caused his son's death but is certain that hazing was involved. He also said that his son was terrified that other fraternity members might harm him.

But what hurts the most, the victim's father said, is that no one from the fraternity has called to express their condolences. He also believes his son was abandoned at the hospital by the fraternity members.

“We don't know if they dumped him at the door, escorted him inside or what,” said one of the victim's relatives, Milton Flowers of Dallas. Nobody from the fraternity was at the hospital to greet the student's parents when they arrived.

The minister said his son, who had no known health issues, had been required to do rigorous exercises that included doing “push-ups on his knuckles and laying on his back while he held his feet 6 inches off the ground.”

He also said his son was fearful because a dozen members from a different fraternity had beaten him last November after he'd transferred there from Stephen F. Austin State University.

“He had gone to the fraternity house to watch a football game, and they didn't like it because he was wearing his old school's colors,” he said. “They beat him so hard with a paddle that it made his butt leathery. ”

He said he wanted to report the incident, but his son begged him not to, fearing repercussions.

‘Out of control'
This year his son decided to join Phi Beta Sigma, thinking it was different, the minister said.

“But then they started telling him things like they were going to give him some wood (beat him with a stick). And that he couldn't walk on the grass because it was the color green,” he said. “And when we last saw him, he couldn't eat certain foods so he'd hadn't eaten in a couple of days.”

He last saw his son on homecoming weekend, a week before he died.

“My son was so afraid,” he said.

The minister recounted another story where one fraternity member ordered his son to buy him liquor. When his son objected, saying it was illegal, the fraternity member said, “I don't care how you do it. Just do it and keep it until I need it,” his father said.

To prevent his son from getting in trouble, the minister bought the liquor for him. He again followed his son's wishes not to report it.

“The fraternities are out of control,” he said.

R.I.P, young man.

If only people stopped excusing the hazing of athletes, military, and other nonGLO groupings. Then I'd take the outrage over GLO hazing more seriously, which is different than feeling sympathy over these injuries and deaths.

What does hazing solve? What's the point?

Where are people excusing the hazing of athletes?

I agree that people/press outside the military excuse pretty much everything that goes on within the military. But that's because people with no military background can't say boo about the military without getting a response along the lines of: "You have no idea what you're talking about. Only people in the armed forces can possibly understand why this is necessary. We're humiliating this recruit to protect your lazy, unpatriotic butt, how dare you question us?"
________
Avandia class action

Sports Illustrated had an essay a while back called "Praising Hazing" written by Richard Hoffer. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...7001/index.htm

He likes hazing because it "breaks down egos".

My thoughts and prayers to the Wade family.

I've encountered this more times than you can imagine and never quite understood why the military is supposed to be some sacred cow where accountability is concerned. The worst by far was in high school with the JROTC kids who thought that the uniform made them untouchable. Unfortunately I did see some of what you would call hazing while I was in JROTC (kids being made to go off the rappelling tower or risk demotions/demerits, pushups being used as discipline by both the teachers and student commanders, holding kids at attention for several minutes, etc.) and I never really understood what purpose it served. Most of the kids subjected to this stuff never became the model cadets they would supposedly become after it.

Yeah, no it doesn't. At least, not in all cases. In JROTC I'd say 90% of the kids who seriously got their balls busted ended up becoming more defiant and egotistic.

I knew Donnie Wade personally because I and other members of my chapter brought him in into Alpha Phi Omega. He was a good man, and didn't deserve this type of treatment from anybody. My heart and prayers are with his family.

i couldn't agree more. there's no "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" in putting their hands on someone. sad stuff..

Prairie View A&M officials have disbanded the local chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity for a string of violations of school hazing rules and state law that ended in the death of 20-year-old Donnie Wade Jr. of Dallas in October.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...1.4c54d6b.html

Saw that coming. It was so bad that I heard that if the school didn't do it, Nationals would.

This still isn't the end of it, and repercussions that will affect all chapters is in the works.

No charge filed in Prairie View A&M student hazing death

A grand jury has declined to indict a fraternity member linked to the hazing death of a Prairie View A&M student last year, a prosecutor who presented the case said Wednesday.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...n1.fe9251.html

Comments from Donnie Wade's parents. Such a senseless waste...

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/111...n-hazing-death