Ongoing Chico State Pledge Death Situation...

[Glitter650]

Originally posted by PhiPsiRuss
Its not just that one fraternity that has issues.

That entire greek system has issues. I'm not saying that every single chapter in that greek system is a risk management nightmare. There are, however, a disproportional number of major risk management issues that have come from Chico over the years, arguably more than any other greek system in the nation.

Actually that is true. Off the top of my head, another fraternity pledge died in 2002 or 2001, and that whole incident with the pregnant sorority woman etc.
However I don't believe it is completely the fault of the greek system. Honestly Chico is known as probably one of the biggest party schools in California, and for good reason. It's a college town in the middle of NOWHERE, there's nothing to do there but party. If you have a whole campus that is known to have party all the time, some of those partiers are going to be greek, some of those greek partiers are not going to be doing so safely. Only if the university and the GLOs work together is the atmosphere in Chico going to get better.

[AXiDTrish]

So, I just read an article on another thread about the mother of this poor student suggesting to stop (fraternity) recruitment because it was degrading to men.

I saw this woman on the Today Show (2/5/05, I think) and she is obviously upset, rightfully so, because it was horrible and unacceptable what happened to her son...BUT...she said on national TV that her son told her about the hazing he was going through for this local org and she said he thought it was fun!

So, we can blame the chapter...yes,
we can blame the individual students.....yes,
we can blame the university, but.....

HELLO!!! Mom KNEW her son was being hazed!!! She also admitted that he stopped talking about the hazing as he got farther in his new member period. Wouldn't that throw up a red flag to a parent to talk to their kid about telling these people that the org isn't worth it?? Calling school administrators???

Just a thought...though unpopular as it may be...shouldn't she as well as the student hazed...hold some responsibility for this tragedy? When I talk to PNM's and hazing comes up, I always tell them to tell hazer to go to hell and leave. In this day and age...you are able to do that!!!

Ok..got this off my chest.
(Edited...left out a word! Oops!)

[texas*princess]

It's always sad to hear these stories

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by AXiDTrish
So, we can blame the chapter...yes,
we can blame the individual students.....yes,
we can blame the university, but.....

Just a thought...though unpopular as it may be...shouldn't she as well as the student hazed...hold some responsibility for this tragedy?

Sure. Well, maybe.

What if the young man had survived?

When Mom steps in, folks yell that the son is old enough to take care of himself.

When the university intercedes, the shout of "In Loco Parentis" is heard.

The bottom line is always this: Hazing is illegal.

It shouldn't happen.

Ever.

Chapters and people who haze should be ready to face the consequences.

[AXiDTrish]

And hopefully those involved will be severely punished!!!!

The bottom line, however, he lost his life.

If mom got in his business, the university jumped in, whatever...he would be ALIVE! He would have a future.

We might be fuming about the hazing, bad PR, and the stupid fraternity, but at least the guys life might have been spared.

Hazing might stop if people stepped up when they know it's happening.

[33girl]

If this jackass thought getting hazed like this was fun, I'd say it's a pretty good example of natural selection.

[DeltAlum]

That's a little harsh.
There might be some other considerations.

[roqueemae]

Originally posted by AXiDTrish
So, I just read an article on another thread about the mother of this poor student suggesting to stop (fraternity) recruitment because it was degrading to men.

Since this is a local, operating without the influence (is that the right word?) of IFC, how would stopping fraternity recruitment have kept this from happening. They are not IFC. Stopping IFC recruitment does not make sense.

[James]

Damn, i love you 33girl.

I was just about to type: In a world when almost everyone can breed with no survival skills there has to be some extreme cases of darwinism left . . ..

Originally posted by 33girl
If this jackass thought getting hazed like this was fun, I'd say it's a pretty good example of natural selection.

[AlphaPhiBubbles]

a pledge of a non-recognized fraternity at the CSU Chico campus has died recently....here's an article:
Matthew Carrington

This 21 year old died from water intoxication, which I'm sure many of you have heard of (unfortunatley) in hazing practices. Our entire greek system had to attend a meeting where the president of our school spoke, and we watched a movie about a situation eerily similar to ours.

The situation here, to summarize, is there is a fraternity on campus that had been here for a very long time. They began local and got nationally recognized, only to get their charter taken away and then to lose their recognition with IFC and the university due to many infractions including alcohol violations, sexual assault, and MANY fights... yet they continued to remain on campus. So they were completley unregulated and this tragedy has happened.

my question to GCers: have you had similar problems at your schools? what do you think we can do to stop this?

[DeltAlum]

Greek system under fire: Chico State's Zingg delivers strong warning

By MELISSA DAUGHERTY - Staff Writer

Chico State University President Paul Zingg gave a blunt warning to a
majority of Chico's Greek system Sunday evening on the Chico State campus.

Calling the hazing death of Chico State student Matthew Carrington the
"last straw," Zingg put the organizations on notice.

"The university has no intention of waiting around for another death,"
he told about 850 fraternity and sorority members in a packed Bell
Memorial Union auditorium.

Though he didn't outline exactly what the university was willing to do
to stop future incidents, he did say the entire Greek system is under
review.

Policies and procedures, and essentially every other aspect of the
organizations, will be scrutinized before the end of the semester.
That's because, fair or not, incidents of hazing are primarily within
the Greek community, he said.

Himself a former fraternity member, Zingg told students hazing has to
stop if they want the Greek system to survive.

"You are either part of the solution - collectively and every day - or
you are part of the problem," he said.

Urging students to evaluate themselves and their behavior, Zingg said
values, friendship, leadership and integrity are what the
organizations should promote.

They're attributes no one celebrates more strongly, Zingg said.

"And no one will hold you more accountable than I will," he added.

Zingg's warning comes just weeks after Carrington died from water
intoxication, a condition attributed to a hazing ritual in which he
consumed massive quantities of water.

The 21-year-old junior business major was pledging Chi Tau - a
fraternity that lost its university affiliation in 2002 but continued
to operate on its own.

Carrington's death was on the heels of the hazing-related alcohol
poisoning of a Butte College student in another fraternity that is
recognized by Chico State and the Interfraternity Council - the
governing body for Chico State fraternities.

In that case, a 19-year-old Sigma Chi pledge survived a 0.496 percent
blood-alcohol level when he was placed on a ventilator at Enloe
Medical Center.

Sunday's meeting was organized by the IFC. President Nick
Hollingsworth said Zingg was invited to the event to get students'
attention. And his summary of the Greek system was right on target.

During the meeting, students watched a documentary film about a 2003
incident, in which an 18-year-old Plattsburgh State University
student, like Carrington, died from a water-ingestion ritual.

Hollingsworth said he never thought the method would take place in
Chico. Now that it has, the IFC is working on ways to keep that
ritual, and any other types of hazing, from happening again.

He said that 75 percent of each chapters' members, and all new
members, were required to attend the meeting. The message to students
in the Greek system is clear, he said.

"You're either with us or against us," Hollingsworth said. "And if
you're against us, get out."

(Bold type added by DeltAlum)

The University essentially put the Greek System on notice, and the IFC has responded to help. This will be interesting and important to watch to see if Greeks can step up to the task of cleaning up a system that even Greeks on this board have indicated is out of control

[hoosier]

(Anybody know what GLO the pres belongs to?)


No room for error among fraternities


Fraternities are in danger of being eliminated at Chico State University, figuratively taken out behind the barn and shot in the head by the university, just like Pioneer Days nearly 20 years ago.

The Greek community has been warned. But is it listening?

In the wake of one hazing death and one near-death this semester, fraternity and sorority members were summoned to the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium on Sunday night. About 850 showed up, many dressed respectfully in their Sunday best, some perhaps expecting the death penalty.

In a 10-minute speech that was the oratory equivalent of a firm spanking, university President Paul Zingg unloaded. He came across like an angry father, and the students listened attentively. It was so quiet you could hear the other shoe drop.

"I'm not here to give a lecture, or preach a sermon, or deliver a warning," said Zingg. "I'm here to tell you how it is."

He called the death of Matthew Carrington on Feb. 2 "the last straw," but stopped short of delivering perhaps a deserved but perhaps unenforceable penalty eliminating fraternities entirely.

Instead, Zingg said the university will spend the rest of the semester reviewing the Greek system. That task force may indeed decide to get rid of fraternities, though we'd bet the fraternities will get a reprieve. Three months will only dilute the pain and urgency. But we hope harsh changes are in store, because they're needed.

Zingg made it clear that fraternities and sororities can help themselves.

"You are either part of the solution, collectively and every day, or you are part of the problem. ... You are either one, or you are the other. You really don't have a choice in the matter if you expect to survive here," said Zingg.

Zingg, a former fraternity member, apologized that a few fraternity members cloud the majority. He said he realizes fraternities are beneficial. Now is the time to prove it, he said: "If you are not who you claim to be, then you are frauds."

The words were strong, but that's what is needed.

The problem with fraternities is not just the university's battle. Carrington died while pledging a fraternity that's not recognized by the university, but is kept alive by alumni. The city needs the tools to shut down such fraternities. Alumni of all fraternities need to send a message that traditions that involve hazing must stop, rather than encouraging hazing by their silence.

Police and prosecutors need to have better tools to discover hazing and tougher penalties to shut it down.

But most important, students themselves need to speak out against hazing and then live up to their words. Somebody needs to have a conscience. Somebody needs to be the voice of reason. If one person had spoken up for Carrington, instead of allowing fraternity "brothers" to humiliate him, he may be alive. The sin of silence is difficult to bear.

As Zingg said, in more eloquent words, put up or shut up. Prove that fraternities are wonderful organizations by eliminating the pain and humiliation that upperclassmen try to pass off as "traditions." Do that, or disappear.

Zingg's speech was followed by the showing of a documentary on a hazing death in New York that was remarkably similar to the Chico incident another preventable, unnecessary death. As the crowd filed out of the auditorium, the mood was somber. The students seemed to get the message. We'll see.

To read past Enterprise-Record articles on the hazing death, see

RELATED

Feb. 21:
- Greek system under fire: Chico State's Zingg delivers strong warning

Feb. 12:
- Hits and misses: Our take on the week in news

Feb. 10:
- Fraternity may have known about risk

Feb. 6:
- A simple fix to stop hazing

Feb. 5:
- Investigation continuing in fraternity death as story gains national attention
- Vigil for Chico State student draws large crowd

Feb. 4:
- Water intake confirmed as major factor in fraternity pledge's death

Feb. 3:
- Police investigating death of fraternity pledge
- Fraternity has faced problems before
www.chicoer.com.

[DeltAlum]

Good post above.

New Threads are popping up on this story -- three just today, so I am moving them all to this thread...

[exlurker]

. . . and from the Feb. 22 San Jose Mercury News, plus similar stories on various TV stations' sites, including:

http://www.ktvu.com/news/4221085/detail.html

CHICO, Calif. (AP) - A freshman who collapsed from alcohol poisoning at a sorority party at California State University, Chico, over the weekend could face criminal charges, police said.

Chico police are also investigating who provided alcohol to Tara Johnson, who was recovering from the incident.

University police found Johnson, 18, a Sigma Kappa pledge, unconscious at another sorority house during a party Saturday night.

She was taken to Enloe Medical Center where her blood-alcohol level was four times the legal limit for intoxication. Johnson barely survived the overdose, officials said.

Sgt. Ford Porter said police have recommended that prosecutors charge Johnson with being drunk in public.

The incident is the second serious alcohol poisoning case this year at a Chico State fraternity or sorority.

In January, a Butte College student and pledge to Sigma Chi fraternity nearly died in a hazing ritual that raised his blood-alcohol concentration to .496 percent, more than six times the legal limit.

A 21-year-old pledge to Chi Tau, a fraternity that lost its university backing in 2002, died Feb. 2 from heavy water consumption and strenuous exercise during hazing.

On Sunday, Chico State University President Paul Zingg warned the school's Greek system that hazing must stop if fraternities and sororities are to survive.

*****

My personal opinion? Looks like it's time for GLOs to suspend operations at Chico, do hard core "membership reviews" of all chapters, and an inter-Greek campaign for major change, or else just yank the charters en masse and encourage the school to do without Greek life.

[AXiDTrish]

I am amazed that these students aren't being more cautious after the program they listened to!! If an administrator basically threatened my Greek system....I would be very, very careful not to make anything worse!

Then again, she's 18...probably a freshman and chances are she doesn't know her limit yet...though her sisters should have been watching out for her!