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 .
Same here. Before I joined my fraternity (Pi Kappa Alpha) I probably wouldn't have hung out with most of the guys in the house for admittedly superficial reasons.
That would have been my loss as they were/are a great bunch of guys.
Are you kidding? Do you realize how much of this stuff goes on in university housing and away from school? I was in a fraternity, and while there was plenty of partying on the weekends, we watched each other's backs as best we could and talked straight and firm to guys who went too far. Guys who didn't get the message got the boot.
There are collections of idiots everywhere. Find something else to ban, like selling or serving alcohol to minors--oh, wait, that's right--it has been banned. It appears that there is recourse on behalf of the unfortunate Mr. Bailey (if he was, in fact, underage).
If your point is that authorities should crack down on this kind of dangerous behavior, I am with you. If your point is to go beyond that--to ban fraternities--we are at odds.
I don't want these degenerate losers in my military !
We are not a reform school.
The problem is the colleges and universities. They should be brought under community control and reformed.
If no better idea comes to mind, start deporting liberal professors from other countries.
Voted for Gore, eh? Well THAT explains a lot.
Freedom of association. That is a good thing.
But lets face facts, how greeks behave depends on what campus they are on. It is the nature of the age (18-22 mostly) that they WILL get away with anything they can.
On the campus I graduated from (Mizzou '87) greek town collected the worst of the reprobate drunks into one place so they could be avoided by serious students. Most frats were about training for 'upper class twit of the year'. Lots of buisness majors, few hard workers. Engineering school saw members of only one or two chapters (after freshman year), their brothers frequently encoraged them to switch to an easier major so the frat GPA would go up (one of the most short sighted things I've ever seen).
In the years sense the University required the chaptures to carry a multi million dollar liability policy. Their insurance agents closed down the animal houses, (which went informal and moved off campus, so nothing changed).
I'm saying only that it seems the frat boys would learn to temper their alcohol imbibing initiation practices just a little bit so they don't execute their members. It is one thing to be accidentally struck by lightning and another to intentionally (as the older head) pressure a younger man to drink a lethal dose of alcohol. Alpha Sigma Stupid to keep doing it same time, same station every year.
Snobby little cliques? My sorority, ZTA at Chico State, California, had several philanthropies, one of which was the Association for Retarded Citizens. Before I was in the sorority, I was afraid of "retarded" people. Now I actively involved in some sports activities with them. Snobby cliques? I just had a reunion with them. Everyone I hung out with was down to earth. Maybe you're watching too much MTV.
"But around that time Playboy did rank us as the nations' only professional party school."
My alma mater, CSU Chico, in the early 80s also.
Such a fast response! I figured you'd be at that JC Penney sale today. (Bedsheets and jewelry 25% off).
Any other questions or comments from the South Punk contingent?
Yes. Would you pull the other one? It has bells on it.
Of course, some are snobby little cliques. I didn't say ALL were snobby little cliques. I've been on the receiving end of snobby little cliques, so I know about snobby little cliques firsthand. I don't even get MTV, don't watch much TV - am still poor and still don't fit into snobby little "who's who and what's what and who's got what" cliques.
And again, you miss the mark and rely on hyperbole. Are you sure you aren't from DU? The drama and hyperbole give reason to think so.
You clearly know little about the initiation practices of fraternities other than the isolated stories you read.
When you make general claims of "executing" members and "intentionally pressure a younger man to drink a lethal dose of alcohol" you show yourself as a kneejerk sensationalist, dare I say liberal? with no credibility. So sorry for you.
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