Investigation into Hazing at Texas SAE

[LaneSig]

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...8/8hazing.html

Prosecutors investigating whether hazing preceded UT fraternity pledge's fatal fall
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is focus of probe after death of 18-year-old Tyler Cross.

This is the case where the pledge accidently fell from a 5th floor balcony of a dorm.

[exlurker]

Update August 17 '07: Investigation Continuing

Station KVUE has an article about the investigation on its site:

http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories....3e7f6663.html

Other Texas news sources, like the Austin American - Statesman and other stations, have stories too.

[Tom Earp]

"IF" they did and it is proven, how do they spell STOOPID in Texas?

Way to go guys!

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

"IF" they did and it is proven, how do they spell STOOPID in Texas?

Way to go guys!

Probably better than you.

[EE-BO]

I think this is a good time to remember these are two separate issues.

Tyler's death was an unforunate tragedy with known circumstances that happen periodically to Greeks and non-Greeks alike. This does not excuse potential liability of any of a number of persons for any role in this specific situation, but this particular event was not the direct result of something unique to Greek Life.

The hazing is another matter entirely- and that is the business of the chapter, SAE and the appropriate city authorities to deal with.

What bothers me is local media making use of Tyler's death to attack the hazing issue. It adds a sensationalistic edge to a legitimate issue facing all Greeks and it plays on the stereotype of the evil frat guy.

[macallan25]

Originally Posted by EE-BO

I think this is a good time to remember these are two separate issues.

Tyler's death was an unforunate tragedy with known circumstances that happen periodically to Greeks and non-Greeks alike. This does not excuse potential liability of any of a number of persons for any role in this specific situation, but this particular event was not the direct result of something unique to Greek Life.

The hazing is another matter entirely- and that is the business of the chapter, SAE and the appropriate city authorities to deal with.

What bothers me is local media making use of Tyler's death to attack the hazing issue. It adds a sensationalistic edge to a legitimate issue facing all Greeks and it plays on the stereotype of the evil frat guy.

You know as well as I do how the media (The Statesman, etc.) in Austin treats Greeks. They present articles and information with an extreme amount of bias and a general disdain for everything associated with us, especially the fraternities.

It's been an extremely long and difficult ordeal, we hope to get it resolved soon.

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by macallan25

You know as well as I do how the media (The Statesman, etc.) in Austin treats Greeks. They present articles and information with an extreme amount of bias and a general disdain for everything associated with us, especially the fraternities.

It's been an extremely long and difficult ordeal, we hope to get it resolved soon.

Brother,
You are all in our thoughts.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Probably better than you.

I do not doubt that a bit.

[EE-BO]

Originally Posted by macallan25

You know as well as I do how the media (The Statesman, etc.) in Austin treats Greeks. They present articles and information with an extreme amount of bias and a general disdain for everything associated with us, especially the fraternities.

It's been an extremely long and difficult ordeal, we hope to get it resolved soon.

I certainly wish you all well in that- and yes, I well remember how the papers treated us. Mostly the Daily Texan back in my day though- the involvement of city newspapers was less common.

When that young man died last fall who was in that newer GLO located over by 19th and Rio Grande, it not only got Statesman coverage but there were several articles in the Houston Chronicle as well.

Not sure why the trend, but my first theory is that city newspapers in general are moving in a direction where they pick up and sensationalize stories like this in an effort to emulate the more successful cable network format and try to hang on to their readership as the newspaper format becomes less relevant and relied on in general.

Back in my time, the Daily Texan ran articles for MONTHS because someone had been photographed indoors at a private fraternity party (not a Beta party, but one of the other big houses at the time) wearing blackface- and he was photographed by someone who illegally entered the party for the paper, thus violating one of those key risk management concepts (no open parties) that our critics like to think we ignore.

Granted, if I ever dropped by my chapter and saw someone in blackface I would be pretty pissed, but there is no grounds for such a thing done indoors on private property to be broadcast in the media.

Come to think of it, maybe I should not be so surprised about the ethics of many journalists considering what a lot of the student journalists at Texas were practicing in their formative years. (To be fair, the Daily Texan appears far more responsibly run now than it was back then.)

[macallan25]

Haha, yeah, The Daily Texas is nothing short of a terrible publication.

.....they hate us.

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by macallan25

Haha, yeah, The Daily Texas is nothing short of a terrible publication.

.....they hate us.

All GLos or just SAE?

[macallan25]

Everyone

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Tom Earp

All GLos or just SAE?

My Brother answered before I could Tom.
Given the tone of several of the posters in this thread, a very fair
guess would have been ALL GLO's.

[exlurker]

Update on Investigation (November 17, 2007)

Station KVUE has an update (November 16, 2007) about the investigation:

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stori....defda43.html#

Brief excerpts:
. . . the University of Texas has completed an investigation into the death of Tyler Cross.
The 18-year old freshman died November 17th, 2006 when he fell from his 5th story balcony . . . ..
. . . the U.T. Dean of Students told KVUE that the university has taken action against several members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, but . . . would not give specifics.

She did say the question now is what action if any the university will take against the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity itself.

This summer, an investigation by the Travis County Attorney's office discovered that fraternity members may have used a cattle prod on Tyler Cross before his death.

There's also a question of who provided alcohol for the teenager. His blood alcohol content was . . . more than twice the legal limit in Texas.

The Travis County Attorney says he's waiting on the U.T. Dean of Students to make a decision regarding Sigma Alpha Epsilon before his office takes any further action.

[exlurker]

Update April 15, 2008
The local newspaper in Austin has a fairly long article that describes the terms and conditions recently agreed upon by the university and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. A few quotes from various officials and representatives are included:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...agreement.html

Edited to add: The university's press release, which includes a link to the complete agreement (which I believe is also available from a source given in the next post in this thread), is at:

http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/04/15/sae-agreement/