Four years later, has LSU learned its lesson?

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Do you remember Benjamin Wynne? Chances are, you didn't have a class with him and he was briefly at LSU before you enrolled here.

Despite his absence on campus, Wynne is still a fixture in the minds of many, but it was his untimely death, and not his life, that left a mark at LSU.

Wynne, a 20-year-old transfer student, died from alcohol poisoning at 1:10 a.m. on August 26, 1997, after a night of celebrating his acceptance into Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He was one of 12 students found passed out on the floor of the fraternity house that morning. Three other students were taken to the hospital.

In the weeks following Wynne's death, national media descended on campus and the finger pointing began. Who was at fault?

In an editorial from the week of Wynne's death, then-Reveille editor Linus Lee posed some questions that sadly we still don't have answers to four years later.

"Twelve members needed medical help on Monday night. Is it possible so many people all separately drank excessively of their own free will to that point, or does it make more sense that hazing could have been involved," Lee asked.

Who was at fault in Wynne's death is, in one sense, a matter of opinion. Some blame Murphy's Bar and Grill, the now-defunct bar where Wynne drank. Others point the finger at his new fraternity brothers, saying they forced him to drink heavily. Still others blame him, saying he drank excessively on his own volition.

In reality, a mix of those three ideas probably caused Wynne's death. No, Murphy's should not have served him large quantities of alcohol. Yes, "brothers" should watch out for and protect each other. Yes, Wynne, an adult, should have had enough self-control not to drink himself into a fatal stupor.

It is easy to imagine a new student at LSU accepted into a group of "brothers" who felt invincible and went out to celebrate. It is even easier to imagine that this new student felt pressured to do what his new friends did and wanted him to do, including drinking more than he should.

But the pressure to fit in isn't limited to the Greek community. Deep inside, many of us alter how we act to please those around us. We skip class so our new friends won't think we're dorks. We charge expensive clothes on our credit cards to impress someone we'd like to date.

More important than who, or what, killed Wynne is what did the LSU community learn and do we remember those lessons? LSU system president William Jenkins, who was chancellor when Wynne died, says he believes that while the name Benjamin Wynne doesn't register with all new students, LSU did learn a lesson from the death.

"I don't believe Benjamin Wynne died in vain," Jenkins said. He cites the Greek assessment and improved student awareness as evidence of this.

I wasn't at Murphy's the night of Wynne's death. But as students fill bars each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, I wonder if much has changed. I don't see people slowly drinking a few beers throughout the night. I see people downing hard liquor, chasing shots with beer and generally consuming large quantities of alcohol. I see people falling down drunk, vomiting outside of bars and stumbling to their cars to drive home when they shouldn't. Some people say drinking is part of college life. Others remind us that fewer LSU students drink excessively than we think. But as I stand witness to two drunken men slurring curse words at each other while they attempt to fight, I wonder if the problem is worse than we want to admit.

Four years ago, Wynne's tragic death opened the eyes of the campus and the community to what the end result of excessive drinking can be. We learned many lessons: alcohol abuse is a problem at LSU; alcohol consumption can be lethal; we are not invincible, and we must take care of ourselves and each other.

But four years later, as we leave our homes for a night of drinking with our friends, can we honestly say we've changed our actions based on those lessons?

I disagree. A major problem confronting greeks for the past few years has been a decline in adherence to standards...we've gone away from what we should stand for. SAE's own website promotes the following:

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity is dedicated to developing well-balanced undergraduate members through the teaching and emulation of four basic principles...scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and friendship.

I don't see anything here about binge drinking - forced consumption, etc.... At one time greeks were the leaders on campus in academics, atheletics, etc..... (look at any campus yearbook prior to the 60's)....since then, (there are, of course, MANY MANY exceptions to the rule) greeks are only portrayed as drinking clubs.

The blame rests with members and organizations not taking action until recently to truly confront the problem, but, also, with the press. When was the last time anyone saw a POSITIVE article about greek life?

The blame rests with members and organizations not taking action until recently to truly confront the problem,

I'm sorry but I have to ROFL this one. This happens so regularly it's become a canned story. Every three years same thing. All they press has to do is fill in the blanks: "victim", university, frat, bar, type of booze. This was an episode of 21 Jumpstreet (remember when Johnny Depp was all young and stuff) 12 years ago (based on a story that hit the year before).

The fact is frat's have been booze and part places for a long time, and no amount of alcohol poisoned yutzes are going to change that. People now join frats to get drunk, get laid, and maybe make a few useful job contacts for when they graduate. What's amazing is how few of them die.

The True Gentleman

The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others, rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.

History

For more than half a century, SAE pledges, actives, and alumni have recited "The True Gentleman," and no other words, save perhaps those of the Ritual of initiation, have more nearly represented the ideals of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. It may be that few members have ever been able to exemplify all the attributes set forth in the statement, but it does set forth the perfecting purpose of the fraternity.

Many years ago, Judge Walter B. Jones, Past Eminent Supreme Archon, came upon "The True Gentleman" and printed it in an Alabama Baptist Quarterly, which he edited. He sent a copy of the magazine to John O. Moseley, who was powerfully struck by the elegant words which accorded with his own philosophy of gentlemanliness. Moseley started using it in Leadership School in the 1930s, and it caught on quickly in chapters all across the land. Although Moseley never claimed authorship, many came to believe that he had composed "The True Gentleman." Because SAEs had no idea who the author was, The Phoenix indicated that the piece was simply "anonymous."

In the 1970s, Phoenix editor Dr. Joseph Walt discovered that "The True Gentleman" was also printed in a manual used at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis and that its author was John Walter Wayland. It turns out that many years ago, The Baltimore Sun conducted a competition for the best definition of a true gentleman. John Walter Wayland's submission was the winner. Thus, it was printed in the Baltimore newspaper and was repeated in many publications thereafter.

No matter who the author, "The True Gentleman" reflects a major part of the substance of the Ritual of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Pledges memorize it and are asked to recite it. Awards are given to brothers who are thought best to exemplify it. Why do we regard it so highly, and what's in it for you as a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon?

Every organization is strengthened by tangible forms of a ritual. Athletic teams have mascots, churches have written rituals, commercial enterprises have slogans, and countless private organizations of individuals, who have chosen to belong for any variety of reasons, have statements of philosophy that define and express their beliefs. Not only does "The True Gentleman" remind each brother and pledge of his fraternity's code of behavior, it also serves that same function for non-members. And since it is something every member and pledge of Sigma Alpha Epsilon has in common, it helps bond us, providing part of the glue that holds us together. After all, gentlemanliness is the starting point and the indispensable quality of lasting friendships.

This is another example (since the story initially refers to SAE, I'm using their "creed" as an example - this is not a smear to SAE - just a warning to greeks in general)

Members need to be held accountable to their ideals, standards, and beliefs. When any group goes beyond those boundaries, there are consequences. My greek experience has seen this happen all to often.

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