Moorhead PSK Fraternity Linked To Second Student Death

[hoosier]

Sep 28, 2005 5:24 pm US/Central
Fraternity Linked To Second Student Death


(WCCO) For the second time in 18 months, a Minnesota State University-Moorhead fraternity has been linked to a student's death.
The body of Stillwater, Minn. student Patrick Kycia was found in the Red River Tuesday following a four-day search.
Friends said Kycia, 19, had been drinking heavily at a Phi Sigma Kappa house party before he disappeared. He was not a member of the fraternity.
Police searched the Phi Sigma Kappa house at about 5 p.m. Tuesday and were seen leaving with several items, including a case of beer and a bottle of whiskey. The search also turned up a stash of psychedelic mushrooms, and a fraternity member was arrested Wednesday.
In March 2004, Jason Reinhardt was found dead at the same house after a bout of binge drinking known as the "power hour." The power hour ritual involves drinking 21 liquor shots in 60 minutes to celebrate turning 21.
The time limit enters into the equation as once a celebrant can legally drink at midnight, he or she has only an hour or two to drink before closing time.
Reinhardt celebrated his 21st birthday with fraternity brothers at a downtown bar. He made it to 15 shots before going back to the Phi Sigma Kappa house.
Reinhardt's friends put him to bed and found him dead the next morning. Investigators said Reinhardt's blood alcohol level was .36 when he died.
"He had had so much alcohol in such a short period of time that he didn't show any signs of intoxication," said Reinhardt's mother, Ann Buchanan.
Buchanan embraced her grief by crusading against student alcohol abuse. She was stunned to learn Kycia's drinking binge happened at the same fraternity her son was associated with.
"I couldn't believe it started at the fraternity house," Buchanan said. "I just couldn't believe it."
On Tuesday, Buchanan called on the university to shut the fraternity down.
University spokesperson Doug Hamilton said there would be a campus investigation into the fraternity, and potential sanctions could include kicking the fraternity off campus. Hamilton would not comment on anything more specific.
"I cannot speak to any specific investigative or disciplinary process involving individuals," Hamilton said.
The national chapter of Phi Sigma Kappa issued a statement saying Kycia "may have attended an informal gathering" that included fraternity members and denied the members provided Kycia with drugs or alcohol.
On its Web site, Phi Sigma Kappa says its fraternity members are expected to use alcohol responsibly and not to promote underage alcohol use.
Moorhead fraternity members would not comment.
Moorhead's Phi Sigma Kappa chapter, like most fraternities at universities across the country, is an officially recognized and sanctioned student organization.
The Phi Sigma Kappa house, which is located off the Moorhead campus, is considered a private home on private property, so the fraternity has the benefits of a college affiliation without rigid college control.
There is growing pressure for action in Moorhead, however. Moorhead's mayor is calling for the fraternity to be investigated.
Buchanan, meanwhile, is demanding to know why the lessons of her son's death have been ignored.
"It appears to me they have not learned a thing," Buchanan said.

[hoosier]

Letters from readers (to Minneapolis newspaper)
September 29, 2005 ELET0929

Questions about frats
Once again, college fraternities have proved themselves to be outdated and utterly useless ("Student's body found in Red River," Sept. 28).
I challenge any current member of Minnesota State University, Moorhead's Phi Sigma Kappa chapter to explain just what benefit he derives from his membership -- other than free-flowing booze, "friends" acquired through common membership, and a treasure trove of past years' exams to make cheating easier.
Better yet, perhaps the fraternity's executive director could explain exactly what his organization does to better the lives of these less-than-mature young "men," other than soaking up their dues payments and hooking them up with cheap rent deals and, you guessed it, more booze.
High school juniors and seniors, when it comes time to choose a college, remember how today's Greek system embarrasses the universities that allow it, and choose an institution that doesn't have fraternities or sororities.
Jim Cook, St. Louis Park.

[hoosier]

(Next to the last paragraph tells the story)

Officials trying to stop off-campus drinking
by Bob Reha, Minnesota Public Radio
October 5, 2005
The Phi Sigma Kappa house has a reputation for being a party house. (MPR Photo/Bob Reha)Moorhead police continue to investigate the death of Patrick Kycia, 19, who drowned in the Red River last week. Kycia was a student at Minnesota State University, Moorhead. His death is the second in 18 months linked to a campus fraternity. Last March, a 21-year-old Fargo man was found dead at the same fraternity house. He died of alcohol poisoning. Patrick Kycia's death has revived calls to address the problem of binge drinking.

Moorhead, Minn. — It's a simple-looking house in an avergae neighborhood. Two stories with a deck out front. It could be a house in any residential neighborhood in Moorhead. But this home has a reputation for being a party house. Members of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity live here. It's the last place Patrick Kycia was seen alive.

Members of the fraternity have declined requests to talk about what happened to Kycia. The national office of the fraternity issued a statement saying Kycia was not given alcohol or drugs by any fraternity member. The fraternity also says it is cooperating with police in the investigation of Kycia's death.
Doug Hamilton.

Eyewitnesses say Kycia attended a party at the frat house. There are reports he was drinking heavily. Preliminary autopsy results list Kycia as a drowning victim. Police suspect when the final autopsy is released, it will reveal Kycia was intoxicated.

University officials say it's a frustrating time. Doug Hamilton, executive director of university enhancement, says school officials are investigating the incident, but they're limited by state and federal privacy laws about what they can say.

"What we can't do is give people a play-by-play and I think if the assumption is we're not doing anything, that is an in correct assumption," says Hamilton. "We have discussions about it daily and those discussions are ongoing and will involve other groups as necessary."

Hamilton says those meetings will include city officials and local police. MSUM is a dry campus; alcohol is forbidden on school property and not allowed at school functions. However, the Phi Sigma Kappa house is off campus, so the university has no authority there.

The Moorhead City Council may play a role. The city is updating its rental licensing codes. City Council member Dan Hunt wants to prohibit alcohol in any rental house that is home to a Greek organization.

"Whether it's owned by the fraternity or sorority or whatever, they have to be dry," says Hunt. "I don't believe any fraternity should be allowed to have alcohol on their premise unless every member of that fraternity is over 21."

City attorneys are researching Hall's idea to see if it can stand up to a legal challenge.

Doug Hamilton says the college needs help addressing the problem. He says landlords should report problem renters to the college. That creates an official complaint and only then, can the college investigate and take disciplinary action against the student.

"Then you have a complaint and that starts a disciplinary process," says Hamilton. "But you have to know first and that's the issue we've been wrestling with."

Kycia's death has left many people on campus stunned. Shana Levin, a freshman at MSUM, says the incident has gotten the attention of many students.

"I think one unfortunate event and people tend to think, 'well maybe it was an unfortunate accident, just a one time thing,'" says Levin. "But two events, I think, will start to change their minds because I thought the same thing last year. I thought, 'well you can't hold everyone else reliable for that.'"

There are other signs that attitudes are changing. Edward J.T. Brown, a student at MSUM, has petitioned the Student Senate to close the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

The Student Senate has not taken action on the request. Brown says there is a sense on campus that something must be done. Even when a student drinks illegally, he says, there are simple safety measures to take. If someone had gotten Patrick Kycia a cab, or escorted him home, Brown says Kycia's death may have been prevented.

"He probably would have woken up with a hangover if very simple things would have been done by his fellow students at that party," says Brown. "That is what has really infuriated students on this campus."

Binge drinking is becoming universal on campuses. In fact since Kycia's death, three other 19-year-olds have been hospitalized in Moorhead for over-consumption of alcohol.

No one has been charged or arrested in connection with Patrick Kycia's death. Police say it could be several weeks before final autopsy results are available.