LSU suspends frat after alcohol incident

Louisiana State University has temporarily suspended the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in the wake of an August 25 off-campus fraternity party that resulted in the death of LSU student Benjamin Wynne and the near-death of several other students from over-drinking, the school's chancellor announced yesterday. Chancellor William Jenkins said he was "suspending recognition and all activities of the Louisiana Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon until further notice" because of its role in what he described as "the recent tragedy that has beset our campus." He also announced that Dean of Students Tom Risch will investigate the behavior of SAE members and that he will name a Chancellor's Task Force on Greek Life and Related Issues next week to investigate the conduct of the school's fraternities. Students at the Louisiana Epsilon Chapter of SAE declined to comment and staffers LSU's Office of Greek Affairs were unavailable for comment last night. The suspension is the latest development in the on-going controversy. Last Tuesday, Wynne's roommate, Donald Hunt, sued the university, the fraternity and the tavern that held the event, for unspecified damages, accusing them of negligently allowing the party to continue after several pledges began passing out from alcohol. Hunt contends that at the party, SAE pledges were forced to drink numerous pitchers of alcoholic beverages, and that vomiting stations were set up at the bar to "accommodate the large number of pledges vomiting." The suit alleges that the fraternity failed to provide assistance to the nearly two dozen pledges who went to the SAE house to sleep off the alcohol, and that the university failed to regulate or discourage the pledge night. The following morning, students called paramedics when they discovered that Hunt and Wynne were not breathing. The paramedics were able to revive Hunt, but Wynne was pronounced dead at a local hospital from asphyxiation. At the time of his death, Wynne's blood-alcohol level of .588 was nearly six times the minimum level required to be considered intoxicated, and nearly 30 times the legal level for a minor. Authorities estimated that he may have consumed between two and three dozen drinks Hunt and his attorney were also unavailable for comment for last night. SAE's national organization put the fraternity's LSU chapter on probation August 28 over the incident, according to College junior John Zurawski, the president of Penn's SAE chapter. Zurawski stressed that the LSU chapter is liable for the incident because it rented out the bar using a chapter check, and he criticized them for making their pledges consume "ridiculous amounts of alcohol." He said the national organization did the right thing in suspending the LSU chapter, adding that the safety of all fraternity brothers is "obviously the most important thing." Alumni volunteers from SAE's national organization are currently running the LSU chapter, Zurawski said. Officials from the national SAE board are also in Louisiana interviewing the chapter's brothers to determine if they abided by the rules of the fraternity. Zurawski said he is concerned that the events at LSU will give the Penn chapter of SAE a bad name. "What one chapter does may be completely different from another."

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