Death of a Pi Kappa Alpha Pledge

[SigmaJoy]

UNR freshman drowns in Manzanita Lake

Steve Timko
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
10/10/2002 11:57 pm

An 18-year-old University of Nevada, Reno freshman drowned early Thursday while swimming in a campus lake with other fraternity pledges, authorities said.

The circumstances of Albert Jerome Refuerzo Santos’ death were under investigation, authorities said.

The Las Vegas resident was with a group of pledges to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, when he went into the southeast end of Manzanita Lake between 1:15 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., authorities said.

Police are examining whether the death was the result of hazing or fraternity initiation, university police Lt. Todd Renwick said.

“We’re not going to comment on that until we rebuild what happened before, during and after that incident,” Renwick said. “We have numerous witnesses involved (whom) we’re still interviewing.”

Emergency dispatchers got a call about 2:05 a.m. that Santos was missing. The Reno Fire Department responded, and university police were called at 2:11 a.m. Washoe County Sheriff’s Office divers recovered Santos’ body about 4 a.m.

Renwick said indications were that other members of the group had been in the lake, but he did not know how many. Temperatures were in the mid-50s.

He said witness interviews were expected to continue through today and possibly into Saturday.

The investigation is not being handled as a criminal case, Renwick said. He expects within five to 10 days to receive toxicology reports showing whether alcohol was involved.

“It is a tragedy,” Shannon Ellis, vice president for student services, said in a written statement. “We are cooperating with police and offering support to the family and students touched by this incident.”

Santos is a biology major who lived off-campus. The university released no further details about him.

Pi Kappa Alpha was established on campus in 1986 and does not have a fraternity house, said UNR spokesman John Trent.

“As far as we know, they’ve never had any major violations,” Trent said.

Josh Wenner, Interfraternity Council president, said Pi Kappa Alpha won an award last week for its community service, and one of its members was named scholar of the year.

“They’ve been one of our best fraternities on campus,” Wenner said. “They do a lot of community service.”

Nationally prominent Pi Kappa Alpha alumni include Donald Regan, chief of staff under President Ronald Reagan, newscaster Ted Koppel, actor Fess Parker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth, according to the fraternity’s Web site.

In October 1975, initiation rites resulted in the death of Sundowner pledge, UNR football player John Davies, 23.

To join Sundowners, Davies went on a drinking binge that included guzzling 190-proof Everclear grain alcohol. Davies died of acute blood alcohol poisoning when his blood-alcohol content reached .421 percent.

In 1999, the Nevada Legislature made hazing illegal in high school and college.

Wenner said the Sundowner incident and movies like “Animal House” put an image of fraternities in the public’s mind that is not accurate today.

“It’s very hard for us as a whole Greek system to change that image in the community,” Wenner said. “It’s not like it used to be when Sundowners were around.

“As of right now, it is an accident. I think we have been doing a good job of repairing our system.”

He described the university and its students as being in shock.

“We are a very tight student body as well as a very tight Greek system,” Wenner said. “We’re going to be there for each other, as well as other students who are not Greeks.”