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Frat Brothers Scrawled Slurs On Dying Pledge (Why Fraternities Should Be Banned)
Denver Post ^ | October 08, 2004 | Any Herdy and George Merritt

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 .


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Colorado
KEYWORDS: cu; fraternity; hazing
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To: Carling
Hmm, I'm pushing 30, I am a Sigmi Chi alumnus from Montana State University, and not a single brother of mine died in college. Many graduated with honors, and most I keep in touch with lead successful lives....

We ...rehashed old times, talked about our kids....

Yeah, these evil fraternities should be banned.

In hoc, Carling! Sigma Chi here, too, though I'm way past the 30 mark!

I went through two different Sigma Chi chapters - Florida State and Georgia Southern - and never, repeat, never saw any of this kind of shenanigans!

We had a big time, but by and large, most of us turned out OK. I had lunch just today with one of my alumnus brothers. Oh, he's one of several of us who ended up in the ministry. Go figure!

241 posted on 10/08/2004 5:43:32 PM PDT by Ulysses ("Most of us go through life thinking we're Superman. Superman goes through life being Clark Kent!")
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
This binge drinking process was part and parcel of these moron's initiation process. If this kid wanted in to their little club, he had to go along. It was their responsibility to look out after him.

I think they had a moral obligation to look out for him but I don't see any legal obligation beyond rendering aid once you understand he is in trouble (I imagine the rest of the group wasn't particularly sober either).

FWIW, I dont reflexively think much of frat boys either but have known some decent ones.

242 posted on 10/08/2004 7:01:04 PM PDT by AdamSelene235
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To: Twinkie

Man, half our chapter was "un-cool" guys. We had long haired hippie types, dope-smoking rockers, khaki-wearing sterotypical guys. Our criteria was simply "cool".


243 posted on 10/08/2004 8:03:05 PM PDT by Rocky Mountain High
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker

So your answer is no.
College was fun, OC. I'm sorry you missed it.


244 posted on 10/08/2004 8:05:06 PM PDT by Rocky Mountain High
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To: MineralMan

You bet!


245 posted on 10/08/2004 8:05:43 PM PDT by Rocky Mountain High
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To: Rocky Mountain High

No regrets here.


246 posted on 10/08/2004 8:09:10 PM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker (When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker

Wrong question. If you found one of your twin sons (clothes on, by the way) with obscenities scrawled on his body and the other dead without any obscenities on his body, which would you be most upset about?


247 posted on 10/08/2004 8:37:47 PM PDT by PeoplesRepublicOfWashington (Kerry fled while good men bled.)
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker

OC - check your private messages - Is this OC JOW?


248 posted on 10/08/2004 8:39:23 PM PDT by Monolight
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To: Cactuspete
IF IF IF. He was at a drinking initiation at a frat house. People pass out. The vast, vast vast overwhelming majority wake up with nothing more than a headache.

They had no reason to think he would die period.

249 posted on 10/08/2004 10:18:00 PM PDT by Nov3 (They knifed babies, They raped girls, They forced children to drink their own urine)
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
Have you ever had to deal with a stone cold drunk?

Nope never touched the stuff. < /sarcasm>

250 posted on 10/08/2004 10:20:23 PM PDT by Nov3 (They knifed babies, They raped girls, They forced children to drink their own urine)
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To: leadpenny
Another good argument for the Draft.

You have a point. And in the military, they are in the presence of older males who keep them in line. They learn a lot from that.

Too many young men, now, have been raised in fatherless families and are lost souls, full of aggression and lacking in willpower.

251 posted on 10/09/2004 12:14:40 AM PDT by BlackVeil
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
"These little boys clubs are run by upper classmen who are, for the most part, losers with no true leadership ability and no backbone"

I could not have said it better. The upper classmen tell the pledges that they are "brothers". They convey a false sense of security only to be secretly considered "new meat".

252 posted on 10/09/2004 7:21:51 AM PDT by Orange1998
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker

You seem a little bitter towards college grads in general but especially toward fraternity men.
Don't let your own unhappiness cloud your judgement.


253 posted on 10/09/2004 7:22:42 AM PDT by Rocky Mountain High
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To: sinkspur
StopHazing.org
254 posted on 10/09/2004 7:26:00 AM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace (Michael <a href = "http://www.michaelmoore.com/" title="Miserable Failure">"Miserable Failure"</a>)
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To: Rocky Mountain High

No one in my family ever graduated from college. I determined to change that starting with my family. Our three sons are on their way. The oldest enters law school in about 18 months. While none are in fraternities, they understand if they want to join they pay their own way. We discourage being a 'joiner' to anything, save a good church.


255 posted on 10/09/2004 8:22:09 AM PDT by O.C. - Old Cracker (When the cracker gets old, you wind up with Old Cracker. - O.C.)
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To: O.C. - Old Cracker
Why Fraternities Should Be Banned

Naaaaa..... Buying your friends is an old custom that goes back to the stone ages.

256 posted on 10/09/2004 8:27:22 AM PDT by Skooz (Any nation that would elect John Kerry as it's president has forfeited it's right to exist.)
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To: sinkspur

Frats should not be banned, but this has to be some form of crime. Maybe a form of manslaughter.

I'm not a tee-totaller, but we've had too many generations of people laughing off bing-drinking while thousands of young people die in car wrecks or idiocy like this.

No, they didn't want to kill him. But this kind of reckless behavior shouldn't be tolerated. Let's wake up and stop it.

-- Joe


257 posted on 10/09/2004 6:22:12 PM PDT by Joe Republc
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To: antceecee

Well, I respectfully disagree.

I agree that there were problems with Bonfire but the analogy I was making was that people are responsible for their own actions and, even knowing that there are dangers involved in certain activities, people should be free to assume those risks.

Nobody FORCED him to drink that much, he chose to. I would be surprised if the other pledges in the group drank as much as he did.

I do understand that it is a tragedy, but the person primarily responsible for preventing it was the victim.

I wonder where the "Lets sue em!" and "That should be banned!" mentality leads us. There are risks in life and I for one am willing to accept those risks.


258 posted on 10/10/2004 1:12:14 PM PDT by AggieCPA (Howdy, Ags!)
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To: MineralMan

Wimpy, spineless whining atheists, blech.


259 posted on 10/10/2004 1:14:28 PM PDT by AggieCPA (Howdy, Ags!)
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To: Twinkie

Yeah, there are a couple deaths every year. There are also deaths from being struck by lightning, having windows fall out of high rise buildings, from riding snowmobiles, from owning dogs, from leaving children in cars in the summer, from any number of things.

What you bleeding hearts don't seem to understand is that life is a risk. Unless you are cowering in a cave wearing a hardhat and wrapped up in a mattress you are a hypocrite.


260 posted on 10/10/2004 1:20:32 PM PDT by AggieCPA (Howdy, Ags!)
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