Panel Urges Fraternity Be Punished

A student committee at Cal State Northridge has recommended that the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity be placed on a year’s “social suspension” on the grounds that fraternity members hazed a pledge into drinking so much he stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated at a hospital.

Newly disclosed information showed that someone in the fraternity house canceled a 911 call seeking medical help for the 20-year-old student, although he was unconscious and vomiting at the time, witnesses said.

A subsequent call summoned paramedics to the off-campus fraternity house on Keswick Street in Reseda.

The fraternity has 10 school days to appeal the decision to the Inter-Fraternity Council executive board. But the ultimate authority rests with Assistant Vice President for Student Life William Watkins, who can increase or decrease the penalty.

According to a fact summary released Friday by CSUN’s Inter-Fraternity Council, the pledge estimated he consumed up to 10 alcoholic drinks in an hour at a

pledge class party at another location before arriving at the fraternity house about 9:30 p.m. April 29.

“The event included the pledges being directed to undertake different tasks, including drinking alcoholic beverages that were handed to them,” the report said.

The CSUN student, whose name has not been disclosed, collapsed at the fraternity house.

At the hospital he had convulsions and stopped breathing. He was resuscitated and hospitalized overnight.

“Even after various treatments, his blood alcohol level tested at .33%,” the fact summary said.

That’s just over four times the legal threshold for drunk drivers.

The student recovered and has since become an active member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said Alex Berger, spokesman for the Inter-Fraternity Council.

The binge drinking incident is by far the most serious disciplinary issue the CSUN fraternity and sorority system has faced in recent memory. It comes at a time of nationwide attention to the perils of binge drinking among college students and renewed efforts by universities to control it.

Believing the incident qualified as hazing, which is illegal, CSUN brought disciplinary charges against the fraternity.

At a closed hearing Thursday night that lasted more than six hours, the board found the hazing charges to be true. It also found the fraternity in violation of three sections of the campus Code of Ethics for organizations.

Chapter President Paul Landavazo and Bob DeMarco, the national fraternity’s regional vice-president, declined comment Thursday night after arguing their case to the board.

Eight fraternity members clustered outside the hearing also declined comment, saying they had not been involved but were there to lend support.

Administrator Thomas Piernik, who represented the university at the hearing, declined to answer questions Friday, including whether CSUN had sought stricter sanctions.

“Social probation” would mean the chapter cannot host social events for a year or participate in intramural sports, but does not prevent the fraternity from taking part in other school activities, such as the Inter-Fraternity Council. And the fraternity house would still be affiliated with CSUN.

Additionally, the fraternity must submit to the head of the Inter-Fraternity Council’s judicial board written reports about its compliance with sanctions imposed by the Sigma Alpha Epsilon national organization. Included are performance of 800 hours of community service, grade reports and minutes from weekly “risk management meetings.”

Initially, campus police pursued the case with an eye to possible criminal charges. But after a four-month inquiry, police decided not to go forward because of conflicting accounts of the event.

A spokesman for the national office of Sigma Alpha Epsilon denied the hazing charges, but acknowledged there was substantial drinking at the fraternity that night.

The national office has placed the chapter on probation and outlawed alcohol in the fraternity house.