How much of this was his own decision?
That is true but the fraternity members should have known better. There are all kinds of warnings against this kind of hazing. They should also be very aware of alcohol risks.
At least a few of them should have stood up and said it was a bad idea.
I think the answer “the system” rendered is “about half” given the fact none of the will spend a day in prison.
That said, probation is no cake walk. I’ve heard people say they wished they had just done the time.
Hope the parents are ready to lawyer up and sue the pants off the university, the fraternity, and all the boys and their families!
Solely his decision. I’m a frat boy myself and I knew what I was getting into. Sorry about the kid but don’t place blame on the entire frat culture except for 22 nimrods who couldn;t control themselves. and quit this nonsense about .40 alcohol level. I’ve seen countless pledges, especially the Filipinos who could drink 12 beers and feel nothing. They call it Fridays’ there...
They are getting off with a slap on the wrist.
He was underage and they were providing him alcohol.
They should be doing hard time.
It is hard to feel sympathy for someone who actively consumes enough booze to kill himself.
Tragic. An extra wince out of me when I read the dead boy was one of a set of triplets...
I think the sentences are about right. I don’t believe anyone was truly malicious or trying to kill anyone. It was a rowdy, reckless party that got out of hand, but not something that hasn’t been done (probably) many times before at fraternities across the country, right up to and including the death of a pledge.
I even feel a little sorry for those convicted. They have the misfortune of having thrown a party right at that point in history when society decided to finally make an example of someone. C’mon, how many of us never laughed and cheered at that age when one of our friends guzzled down a large quantity of booze at a party?
Band members at FAMU killed one of their own, and they ended up with felonies.
Privileged white dudes in Yankeeland kill one of their own, and they end up with slaps on the wrist - wouldn’t want brand them for life.
Which victim got justice?
I attended NIU for two years. Like many schools, drinking and partying is a big part of school life for some. For many of these, being in a frat house is the best way to party hard with new friends who won’t judge you but actually enable you to binge drink and engage in other hazardous activities for fun. It’s the primary reason why they join.
It’s too bad the kid died and this doesn’t lessen the guilt of the reckless idiots who put him up to it, but he did know what he was getting into and why. He gambled that he could handle a night of absolutely reckless drinking and lost.
All of it. No one forced him to down the booze. But the perpetrators lacked the judgment to know their own foolishness in leading him on. They slimed the PiKA reputation and their own.
"How'd ya like to be a Pie Kay Aye
To wear the Shield and Diamond ev'ry day,
To wear our colors, the garnet and the gold
Which all with honor hold
Since chivalrous days of knighthood bold
(My dearie)
Come and join the best fraternity.
Bear the sign of the Dagger and the Key
For "Phi Phi Kay Aye" will mean a lot to me
'Cause I'm a Pi - Kay - Aye!"
(Teddy Koppel's college frat, and mine. I'm one of the guys that put him through Hell Week, about 57 years ago.)////,p>