Pledge dies on bid night
 

From The Diamondback at the University of Maryland:

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- University of Maryland student Daniel Reardon, 19, died Thursday at 4:50 p.m. at Washington Adventist Hospital after his family requested he be removed from life support.

An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death will be performed Saturday if Reardon's body arrives before noon, according to the state medical examiner's office. In an interview with WUSA-TV, Reardon's family had expressed interest in donating his organs.

Reardon was found unconscious last Friday at 3:50 a.m. in a lounge area of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house at 7 Fraternity Row.

According to the fraternity's Web site, Thursday was its annual bid night, when recruits are offered membership to the fraternity. That night Reardon, a boarder at the Phi Sigma Kappa house, accepted a bid from the fraternity, said greek life director Matt Supple.

Police are still investigating the incident, but alcohol is considered a contributing factor, said University Police spokesman Capt. Paul Dillon.

Investigators are examining whether hazing violations were committed, said university spokesman George Cathcart.

After the police finish their investigation, other groups, including the Interfraternity Council, the judicial programs office, the greek life office and the Phi Sigma Kappa international fraternity, will be investigating the events surrounding Reardon's death, Supple said.

"We hope that the people who were there that night come out with the truth," said Emily Grinstead, a friend of Reardon's since elementary school. "They keep telling us that everyone's story is fuddled."

Reardon's friends said he never talked about joining a fraternity, but said that it would not surprise them if he had.

Jeff Curtin, another friend since elementary school, said, "He's the type of guy that would." Curtin said he was social, friendly and always able to light up a room.

Friends also asserted that although Reardon liked to have a good time, he was not known for heavy drinking.

"He was always under control and never acted disrespectful or out of character on alcohol," Curtin said.

Reardon graduated from Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Washington in 2000 and spent last year visiting 15 countries. Friends and family said Reardon matured since traveling in Europe.

"I feel like he grew up a lot in the last year," Curtin said. "Every time I saw him he seemed more together. He was really turning into a respectable guy."

Reardon decided to attend the university because he was offered a president's scholarship and because it has a pre-dental program. In high school, Reardon worked as a dental assistant in his father's dental practice and was considering pursuing dentistry or business as a career.

Friends and family said leadership was one of Reardon's strongest qualities.

"He made kids feel welcome," his father said. "He would befriend kids that weren't necessarily involved in the in-crowd."

His other interests included music, working out, running and skiing. He was also a member of his high school varsity crew team.

A memorial service will be held Friday at 2:30 p.m. at St. Columba Episcopal Church at 4201 Albemarle St., Washington, NW. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Columba's Outreach Ministries or the Woodrow Wilson Senior High School Crew Team, in Washington, D.C.

The university has provided counselors to the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity house since Feb. 8, when Reardon was found at the house.

What that write up doesn't mention is that Reardon got kicked out of the dorms last semester for marijuana possession. I have also been told (I know it's not always reliable) that the pledges did not have a tremendous amount of alcohol that night.

Although it is horrible that a student died and even worse that it was at a fraternity house and at a fraternity event, I think the autopsy will show that there were other factors than alcohol that contributed to his death.

..
 

Just another national making us all look bad..

I dont really mean that but if that was a local you would all be complaining about the locals making you look bad.

PS. In the past couple of weeks, 2 TKE pledges at SDSU died, a ZBT brother at Alfred was found dead and a kid at Mansfield University was found dead. I beieve they were all national. Do you still think its the locals that make you look bad?

My condolences go out to the Reardon family. I'm sure they did not send their son off to college to die in an accident.

P.S.

In the grand scheme of things, is a GLO's image the most important issue here? Is it just me or am I the only on that is concerned about the fact the someone's SON, BROTHER, UNCLE, COUSIN, FRIEND, ETC. HAS DIED???????????????:confused:

That's similar to the LSU death - I have read that the fraternity pledge who died had been busted twice for underage overdrinking. Of course it is horrible that these incidents occurred, but a lot of these kids are far from being innnocent babes in the woods.

shultzz - what happened at Mansfield? was it a fraternity or sorority?

The problem is that anytime something happens that may be remotely related to anything Greek Dom, it is really blown up.

While I too pass my condolences to the family, we never know until an autopsy is performed.

I remember on a previous thread or Yahoo that a Student died and supposedly alcahol and drug related, it was neither, he did not take his medication!

I got one to day from a member of another Fraternity about a sexual assault, but when the DGM questioned the stundent he was told that the female said you got a teeennyy weennie so lets get this over with!

There is always 2 sides to the story so why should people prejudge? Well, it makes for good press!:mad:

I know my chapter does 3 major Charity Events each year, North American Food Drive, Western Week, and Hot Tub A Thon!:)

I know there is damn little press about that!:( Some other Chapters do the Watermelon Fest or Bash, teeterTotter a Thon and ETC!

I know all of the Greek Orgs, have some kind of charity events and how much press is given! Dah! And it is Bull Sh*&!

Schultzz - Phi Sigma Kappa is not a local fraternity.

Honeykiss1974 - yes, of course we are concerned that someone has lost their life. However the media seems to be more concerned about putting a spin on this story to make the GLO as well as the Greek System look like the bad guys. They're not all that concerned about this human life, they're more concerned about their next story.

The reason I posted earlier is not because the image of the GLO is being tarnished by activities they engaged in, but because the media is making them out to be the bad guys when it is more than likely another substance that this kid was consuming that caused his death.

One of my brothers went to highschool with him. He was at the funeral.

Re: ..
 

Shultzz, why don't you chill out about the whole national/local issue? :mad: No one is trying to say that national GLO's are angels 100% of the time, and no one is saying that locals are devils 100% of the time. I know what thread you're referring to, and, if you'd read the responses more closely instead of jumping to conclusions, you would see that no one from a national GLO is trying to act "better" than a member of a local.

As for the student who died, my thoughts are with his family and friends. :( Loss is a terrible thing, and I know that his loved ones are having a very hard time right now.

I don't care if the kid was thrown out of the dorms for possession of marajuana. That's completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. I hope that he didn't die from anything alcohol related, but that's irrelevant too. Let's hope they get to the bottom of this for the sake of his family. I can only imagine what they must be going through.

The whole thing is scary. When will the know for sure what happend. Make sure to update us.

My love goes to the family,friends,and chapter.

Shultzz:really, that chip on your shoulder is getting a bit out of hand. National vs. Local is not the issue here, if you would like to debate that go ahead but not here, not now. No one ever said that national orgs don't have issues too.