14 San Diego State University Fraternities Are Suspended Amid Inquiry Into Student’s Death

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/san-diego-sdsu-fraternity-death.html

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San Diego State University has suspended 14 fraternities amid allegations that “possible misconduct” at one of them may have been linked to the death of a 19-year-old student over the weekend, the authorities said.

The student, Dylan Hernandez, was found without a pulse by his dormitory roommate and was hospitalized on Thursday after reportedly attending a fraternity event the night before, according to the San Diego County medical examiner’s office.

On Friday, the San Diego State University Police Department opened an investigation and the university president, Adela de la Torre, suspended the Interfraternity Council and its 14 affiliated fraternity chapters.

“Each of us, including our students, must uphold the highest standards that do not put the health and safety of anyone at risk,” Ms. de la Torre said in a statement about the suspension.

The university declined on Monday night to release further information about Mr. Hernandez’s death, the name of the fraternity or any details about the allegations implicating the fraternity. The Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Efforts to reach Mr. Hernandez’s family on Monday night were unsuccessful. The council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ten fraternities affiliated with the council were already facing elevated scrutiny from the university before the suspensions.

The university said it had imposed “interim sanctions” — penalties that may have affected some but not all fraternity functions — on six of them for “a range of reported incidents and alleged policy violations” this fall. Four others were under investigation.

A university spokeswoman could not immediately provide specifics about those cases on Monday night.

“While the interim suspensions address concerns for health and safety, the reported incidents varied widely and did not establish a concern for the health and safety of all members of the Interfraternity Council or the S.D.S.U. broader community,” the university said in a statement on its website.

The suspension, which was imposed on Friday, is a heavier penalty, “essentially a cease and desist,” the university said. The fraternities cannot hold activities, participate in university activities or recruit new members pending external review, the university said.

In April 2012, a San Diego State University student was found dead at a fraternity house after accidentally overdosing on drugs, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Mr. Hernandez’s death came roughly three weeks after Pennsylvania State University suspended a fraternity following the death of a teenager at an off-campus house where members of the fraternity were believed to be present.

Fraternities have long been criticized for wild parties and hazing rituals that have at times turned deadly. Schools in recent years have increased measures to crack down on misbehavior.

Prosecutors have also tried to toughen their stance, particularly in cases involving hazing deaths. In July, a former student at Louisiana State University was convicted of negligent homicide for his role in the hazing death of an 18-year-old fraternity pledge who became extremely intoxicated during an initiation ritual in 2017.

In July 2018, a former fraternity brother at Penn State was sentenced to three months of house arrest for his role in the hazing death of a pledge.

Aimee Ortiz contributed reporting.