Poison Pill: I'd have to disagree. Pleges by definition do what they're told.
You can disagree all you want, but you're dead wrong. A pledge does only what he wants to do. I was a PiKA pledge ay Alpha Chiu Chapter 58 years ago, and if I didn't want to go through Hell Week, I could just pack my bags and walk out the door.
This guy could have done the same. In fact, rather than be depledged, I'll bet if he dropped a dime and talked with the Chapter's Alumnus Advisor, the SMC would have felt the axe for carrying the stress testing beyond a sane limit. And the pledge would not have been black-balled as a whiner.
But in any case, he was stupid to allow someone to convince him to poison himself with ethanol when walking away from it was certainly an option.
This wasn't social drinking among equals. The members had the upper hand. They were controlling the situation. They set up a round robin with drinks in each room. They knew what was coming. The pledges didn't. This was a coordinated effort.
So, they take him to the first room. They put a drink in front of him. Oh, one won't hurt. He downs it. Harass him some. Shake him up. Second room. He's flustered. 18 year old kid. Maybe his first shot of straight whiskey. I remember my first straight shot. It knocked me on my ass. By the second drink he's likely compromised. Were the members staying sober the whole time?
What a sandbag.