Pledges Outnumbered at Fatal Frat Ballgame

Members of a UC Irvine fraternity “poured it on” against pledges who were outnumbered 5 to 1 by the end of a weekend football game that led to the death of a 19-year-old student, a friend said Wednesday.

Kenny Luong, who died Tuesday apparently from head injuries suffered in the game, was one of 12 Cal Poly Pomona students who applied to join Lambda Phi Epsilon, a nationally recognized fraternity. The Sunday game at an Irvine park was supposed to be the final initiation ritual in nine weeks of pledging.

Luong and the others were trying to start a fraternity chapter at Cal Poly Pomona, where they were enrolled, and were encouraged by the UC Irvine Lambdas to become the “founding fathers” of that school’s fraternity, said Daniel Dai, Luong’s friend and fellow pledge.

“That’s why they poured it on at the football game. At one point we only had four guys on the field because all our other guys were injured and on the sideline” while the UC Irvine team had about 20 players on the field, said Dai, 21, of Alhambra.

Earlier Dai had described the event as “a hazing disguised as a football game.”

Irvine police are investigating whether Luong’s death was due to hazing. Sgt. Jerry Head said Wednesday that detectives interviewed about 20 witnesses Tuesday night who were “very cooperative.”

Lt. Mike Hamel said investigators were “trying to determine the exact nature of death and whether there is culpability.” He said that the investigation was continuing. An autopsy is pending, coroner’s officials said.

Members of the UC Irvine fraternity declined to comment Wednesday.

Luong, of Rosemead, was remembered as a high achiever at San Gabriel High School, where he graduated in 2004.

“He was one of those kids who was quiet and unassuming, but once you knew him he would open up,” said Gabriella Manchester, Luong’s conflict mediation teacher for three years.

Dai and the other Cal Poly pledges dropped plans to start a Lambda chapter. They’ll organize a campus community service group to honor Luong instead.

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News assistants Sheena Tahilramani and Andrew Greenstein contributed to this report.