(Not sure if this is a hazing/risk mgmt thing yet, so posted its here. this is still horrific and my thoughts go out to this young man's family)
Pi Kappa Alpha suspended for involvement with suspected drowning
Burke Wasson & Kate Galbreath
Daily Egyptian
editor@siu.edu
Although local authorities continue to comb Cedar Lake for the body of a 19-year-old SIUC student who drowned early Sunday morning in a canoe accident, a University fraternity made a discovery of its own Monday: It has been suspended in connection with the presumed drowning.
Brent Johnson
According to Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is being temporarily suspended by the University following the presumed drowning of freshman and fraternity pledge Brent Johnson of Seymour.
"We have a couple of meetings Monday evening on this, but my understanding is we will temporarily suspend the fraternity from any activity on the campus until further investigation," Dietz said. "That is at the recommendation of both the local and national chapter."
Dietz said if the fraternity members' tragic camping trip involved alcohol, the organization would be banned.
Jackson County Sheriff Robert Burns declined to comment on whether alcohol was involved and said the department is still investigating the incident.
Pi Kappa Alpha members released a statement Tuesday afternoon offering condolences to the family and friends of Johnson but did not comment further.
Dietz said he has not seen a precedent of this case during his time at SIUC during the past four years.
"I've been here for four years and have never dealt with this, but [temporarily suspending the fraternity] is not unusual," he said.
Dietz said he expected meetings between him and other staff members who had not been consulted to run late into Monday night.
Daily Egyptian
Local authorities continue to comb Cedar Lake for the body of a 19-year-old SIUC student who drowned early Sunday morning in a canoe. accident,
He called the meetings "a kind of debriefing part of our process," and he said the administration intended to "ensure due process."
Dive crews worked until sunset Monday searching for Johnson's body in the Cove Hollow area of the lake. Divers are searching an area that is nearly 150 yards wide in water as deep as 32 feet.
"Understand that this incident occurred very, very early in the morning," Burns said. "It was still dark. It's difficult to pinpoint the exact location, so that extends the area of the search."
Burns said the search was strictly confined to the lake as of Monday and that divers from the Rend Lake Search and Rescue team would continue to search each day until sunset until the body is found.
According to the sheriff, divers have encountered cold lake temperatures between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and reduced visibility during their search.
"From speaking with some of the divers, the visibility is limited," Burns said. "The divers said there were some areas where they could barely see their own arm movement."
The sheriff said Johnson was camping with a group of at least 12 to 15 Pi Kappa Alpha members near the shore on the Cove Hollow area of Cedar Lake before he presumably drowned.
According to the sheriff, officers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources responded to the scene at 4:32 a.m. after receiving a 911 cell phone call of a possible drowning.
"Officers arriving at the scene were met by members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in Carbondale who had been on a camping trip and advised officers someone had fell from a canoe," Burns said.
According to the Sheriff's Department, Johnson was apparently sitting in a canoe with another person in the middle of the lake away from the campsite.
Officers said the canoe's other passenger told officers the boat turned over and the two tried to swim to shore.
"The one that made it back to shore went under, and when he came back up, the other was gone," said Jackson County Sgt. Dave Nichols.
The sergeant said the group camping near the lake said they were too far from the canoe to realize it had capsized.
Burns said the canoe, as well as items that could have been in the canoe, was recovered from the water. He declined to comment on what those items are.
Sheriff's Deputies, officers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois State Police, the Rend Lake Search and Rescue Team and U.S. Forest Service members have assisted in the search for the missing student since early Sunday morning.
This incident marks the third national drowning of a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member in the past two years.
Albert Santos, 18, a pledge at the University of Nevada Reno, drowned in 2002 following an attempted swim at Manzanita Lake with his pledge brothers on campus.
George Rocha Jr., 21, of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Tx., also drowned in 2002 during a fraternity event, but Pi Kappa Alpha members were cleared of charges.
Forest Service officials scoured the wooded area surrounding the lake Sunday with all-terrain vehicles.
The sheriff said he has talked to Johnson's family and said they are well aware of the conditions the divers are going through to find their son's body.
"The family, we've talked at length," Burns said. "They understand the conditions that the divers are in, so there's really not much you can say to them.
"We're going to take this one day at a time."
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