Family and friends described Lynn "Gordie" Bailey
as a talented athlete but not a big drinker.
Posted on 10/08/2004 2:46:06 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker
As the whiskey and wine he drank during a fraternity initiation began to kill Gordie Bailey, some of his fraternity brothers wrote racial, misogynist and sexual vulgarities all over his body as he lay passed out in the Chi Psi library.
Family and friends described Lynn "Gordie" Bailey
as a talented athlete but not a big drinker.
On the morning of Sept. 17, when it became apparent that the 18-year-old was not breathing, someone tried to wipe off the slurs written on his face. The University of Colorado at Boulder freshman was soon pronounced dead, and at the coroner's office, more markings were found on his arms, legs and body.
The phrases, which Bailey's father said he learned from the coroner, included "It sucks to be you," "Penis ankle" (written on his ankle) and "(Expletive) me." There were also drawings of male genitalia.
"Bitch" was written on the fingers of his right hand. Other phrases included an offensive six-letter racial slur.
"This reinforces the nearly unbearable pain of the whole thing," said Lynn Gordon Bailey Sr., 68, Bailey's father. "Was he dying while they were writing that?"
Local fraternity members declined to comment. Boulder police said the case remains under investigation.
Gordie Bailey's parents, who are divorced and each remarried, shared the responsibility of raising him and now are united in their desire to see reforms instituted after his death.
"This is not about binge drinking; it's about hazing at fraternities," said Michael Lanahan, 58, Gordie Bailey's stepfather. "How lucky is Chi Psi that 26 pledges survived?"
Donald Beeson, risk-management administrator for Chi Psi national, said Thursday that he had heard only that there were drawings on Bailey's face, not elsewhere on his body.
"No parent should have to deal with losing a son to a senseless accident like this," he said, adding that he understood why Lanahan would be upset over the "degrading and demeaning" comments.
On the evening of Sept. 16, Gordie Bailey and 26 other Chi Psi pledges were blindfolded and left in the woods near Gold Hill. They were told to drink vast amounts of Ten High whiskey and Carlo Rossi wine, according to police.
By the time the pledges were driven back to the Boulder fraternity house, police said, Bailey was "sick and visibly intoxicated."
By 11 p.m., fraternity members carried him to a couch and gave him a metal bucket.
Since he was passed out with his shoes on, tradition called for other fraternity members to draw on Bailey with a felt-tipped marker.
About 1 a.m., a pledge saw two fraternity members writing all over his body, according to the search warrant. Bailey never woke up during the process. The pledge "repeatedly told the members to stop writing on (Bailey). The members got angry with (the pledge) for telling them to stop."
Finally, the pledge asked another fraternity member for help, and the writing ceased.
Shortly before 9 a.m., Bailey was found face down on the floor next to the couch and could not be revived. An autopsy shows that he died from alcohol poisoning with a blood-alcohol level of 0.328 percent.
Lynn Bailey, his father, said the coroner told him that there was no sign of asphyxiation and that the alcohol had created a massive depressant that shut down his son's central nervous system.
Since that night, several fraternity members have refused to talk to police, and many have hired lawyers.
So has Gordie Bailey's family, who called the writing on the teenager "appalling" and says it depicts the fraternity members' irresponsible mind-set.
"To do something like that exposes those young men for what they are - thoughtless and perverse," said attorney David Berg of Berg & Androphy, a Houston-based firm.
The family has not yet decided whom to name in their suit, Berg said, but are considering the fraternity, the individuals involved and the university.
"We still don't see leadership from the university," said Lanahan, Bailey's stepfather. "They have not proposed any change in the system - but the system is killing our kids."
Officials at CU have been meeting with Greek officials since Bailey's death, and they have pledged to combat a culture of drinking. Meanwhile, Chi Psi's charter at CU has been revoked, although officials haven't ruled out its return.
"We ... are continuing to work with the fraternity and sorority leaders to assess all aspects of Greek life, including the role of alcohol in social activities," CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale said in a release Wednesday.
Beeson said Wednesday that the fraternity's investigation determined that the drinking trip to the woods was not an initiation ritual, as police have called it. Beeson said it was an "initial function" for the pledges.
Lanahan said he hopes the fraternity will release the results of its investigation into his son's death. So far, Chi Psi has said it will not release the records.
"If these things remain secret," Lanahan said, "then Gordie's death meant nothing at all."
Amy Herdy can be reached at 303-820-1752 or aherdy@denverpost.com . George Merritt can be reached at 303-820-1367 or gmerritt@denverpost.com .
Uh, from the sound of it, I don't think I'd have to ask.
;-)
Did any of your little buddies die as a result of your group binges? It's all fun and games until one of you dies, eh CPA? You just keep drifting through life. Maybe nothing too harsh will ever touch you.
That aside...I am sorry for this family's loss and this poor kid's death. It is a tragedy...
Ronald Reagan was in a fraternity (TKE). President Bush was in a fraternity (DKE). Get over your hate.
See post #116 . . on second thought, don't bother . . I see you don't read.
Well said.
While I would not universally condemn all frats, in too many of them, self abuse (drinking to excess) and abuse of others (i.e. hazing) occurs regularly.
These kids end up concluding that the real world regards fondly both drunks & bullies. And of course, that is hardly the case
We were a bunch of beer-swilling, prank-pulling, skirt-chasing yuksters. Guys in our chapters had parents who were loaded, parents who were dirt poor and parents who were dead.
We were hardly exclusive or snobby. Don't let your ignorance shape your judgement.
Actually, Fraternity life teaches you at an early age how to deal with drunks and bullies.
What a beautiful young man. What a waste!
Want to buy some friends? Join a fraternity.
Did Ronald Reagan and President Bush buy their friends when they were in a fraternity, too?
He's old enough to serve in the Army, he should be old enough to resist the suicidal suggestions of others.
And old enough to VOTE--thereby affecting the fate of others. Personal responsibility is what's lacking here.
I don't know, I wasn't there. I do know this, I didn't vote for Bush in 2000, he reminded me too much of his old man. 9/11/01 changed him though. All the fraternity probably did for him was encourage his drinking. He admits to having had an alcohol problem, you know.
Bill Clinton wasn't in a social fraternity either. He hated them as much as you do.
They are are not like that where I come from. Before I joined Theta Chi I had almost flunked out of college. After I joined OX I was on the dean's list every semester until I graduated. I then went on to graduate school and own a VERY successful business. Hazing is sad but I would have said to such stupidity!
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