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 .
Please, don't tease us young men ;)...
It reminds me of a feature story on fraternity life by Rich Cohen, called "Pledge Allegiance." No one died, but his description of pledging left me wondering why the author or any of the more vigorously abused pledges put up with it.
We had several alcohol-based hazing events during my pledgeship and the key thing was to plot with your pledge brothers ways to pour out the excess liquor without getting caught. Pour it out the window. Into potted plants. Into couches. Etc. His pledge class let him down.
And the folks who over see the fraternities and sororities should make every pledge suffer an hour of "why we dont haze" film footage and movies.
None of these kids will ever be the same and one family will be devastated.
YEah, the last night of my first year in college, our last night together in the dorm, I passed out and my friends put my bed (with me on it) in the hallway hoping my mother and my brother would show up to pick me up to go home the next morning and find me there.
Actually it was my roomate's doing because we had pranked him with shaving cream and assorted goodies when he had passed out a couple of months prior. He had sworn revenge on me.
I agree though, check for breathing.
XENA! How's the RenFest?
Personally I think those who provided the alcohol should be prosecuted for contributing to a minor, and then prosecuted for manslaughter since they were partially responsible for his death. If you can prosecute a bartender for providing alcohol to a drunk who kills someone driving then why not prosecute an adult who provides alchohol to a minor that dies from alcohol poisoning?
Another stupid episode from the annals of American "higher education." NEVER had to happen.
What's wrong with punks like this?
If you're willing to pay a whole lot of money to join a fraternity just so you have friends, then doing stupid things they tell you to do is not that far fetched.
Paying for friends & drinking what they tell you. It's all the same flawed needy mindset.
Dick DeGuerin has represented a lot of sleazeballs, but he's no ambulance chaser. He wins cases by out-working,out-preparing, and out-performing the opposing counsel. Away from court he's as kind, modest and down-to-earth a gentleman as you could hope to meet.
As for Greeks, they've had ample opportunity to straighten up, but it's impossible because drinking and hazing are the reasons they exist. All their "good works" could be covered in a 30-min meeting each month at the student union. Greek houses are there to allow kids to do stuff they be arrested for in a dorm or apartment. Eventually, they'll be sued out of existence...and not a moment too soon.
exactly
Definitely. I myself was saved by my brothers when, completely voluntarily and not in any way part of pledging, I would drink too much. When I was first at school, I hadn't ever really drank and didn;t know my limit. They helped me out and I helped them out when I saw them getting too drunk (and believe me, if I thought someone was drinking too much, it was a really bad sign).
If the kid had got a bottle of JD and then drank alone and died, that's another story. But that ain't what happened.
I was in the same national fraternity as Ronald Reagan (TKE) - you think his house should be banned too?
Prior to bid day one semester, we had a prosepective pledge guzzle a bottle of vodka. This bone-head was 21, bought the booze himself and drank it down, not all at once, but over a few hours. Well this clown's heart stopped and we rushed him to the ER where they pumped his stomach and he lived. Thankfully, he took his punishment like a man and admitted to his parents and the university that he did it to himself.
Can you imagine what would have happened if he had died? "Hazing Leads to Death!" The guy wasn't even a pledge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.