Family sues UW Pi Kappa Phi

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Parents sue UW fraternity, say focus on alcohol led to son's death

By TRACY JOHNSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The parents of a 19-year-old University of Washington student are suing his fraternity, blaming his death on an atmosphere of flowing alcohol and a party game that meant gulping 100 shots of beer.

Brett Jensen died last year after falling 30 feet from a deck at his fraternity house, Pi Kappa Phi, which allegedly threw a drinking bash that night.

His parents, Don and Janice Jensen of Everett, filed a wrongful-death suit this week in King County Superior Court and seek unspecified damages. But they said what they really want is for their son's fraternity -- and all others -- to shift the focus of social gatherings away from booze, particularly when many of the members are underage.

"We're hoping that no other family has to go through the grief and the horrible hell that we've gone through," Don Jensen said yesterday. "It's the culture, the system, that needs changing."

Just after midnight May 7, Brett Jensen was found lying next to the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house with a severe head injury. He had somehow toppled from a deck that was surrounded by a 3-foot-high wooden railing.

No one saw it happen, police said at the time.

He had been playing a game at his fraternity that night called "Century Club," which requires everyone to drink a shot of beer every minute for 100 minutes, according to the lawsuit.

The Jensens and their attorney, Mark Johnson, acknowledge that Brett Jensen made the decision to drink. But they contend that his fraternity constantly made alcohol available and encouraged members to partake -- and did nothing to make sure they stayed safe when their judgment was impaired.

"As long as they continue to make alcohol the center of the fraternity functions, these kinds of things are going to occur," Johnson said.

Don Jensen would like to see fraternity houses mimic sororities by banning alcohol altogether, making a fundamental -- if unpopular -- change to the Greek system.

His son's fraternity held parties such as "Big Bro Night," during which older members set out to get the new members drunk or played a game that required teams to down a gallon of cocktails quicker than everyone else, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Pi Kappa Phi national and Washington chapters, the fraternity alumni association and two fraternity house officials. Mark Timmes, the chief executive of the fraternity's national chapter in North Carolina, said last night that he had not seen the lawsuit and could not discuss the accident. He said only that "it was a horrible, horrible tragedy, and our hearts and prayers remain with the Jensen family."

Mike Podobnik, president of the Washington chapter, said he couldn't comment.

Brett Jensen had been a standout student. He was his class president every year from seventh to 11th grades and graduated from Cascade High School in Everett -- where his father is a counselor -- as valedictorian with a 4.0 grade-point average.

He was offered numerous scholarships and was attending the University of Washington on a full ride, according to court documents.

His family learned of his death in an early-morning phone call, prompting a confused drive to Harborview Medical Center.

Don Jensen remembers how the hospital lobby was brimming with his son's friends. And he remembers how hospital staff gently told them that they had done all they could.

"We relive that night over and over again. We still can't make sense out of it," he said. "We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."