Anti-hazing lobbyist Eileen Stevens, whose son was killed in a fraternity hazing incident in 1978, urged an audience of more than 110 students to prevent hazing at Dartmouth during her presentation at Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity Monday evening.
Stevens, has lectured Greek organizations at over 500 colleges around the country and has pushed through anti-hazing legislation in 37 states.
She began her talk by telling the tragic story of her oldest child, Chuck, who was killed in February of 1978 at Alfred University in upstate New York.
When the dean of students called Stevens to inform her, all he told her was that her son had attended a party and probably died of an alcohol overdose.
According to the pathologist, Stevens said, her son had died of acute alcohol poisoning and exposure -- "a bizarre, grotesque mixture of alcohol," he said.
Stevens said the pathologist told her Chuck's lungs had filled with fluids since he did not vomit because he was unconscious. Chuck then went into shock and his heart stopped.
"That was the most dreadful, devastating moment of my life," she said. "I did not comprehend what had led my son to drink enough alcohol to kill him."
Stevens said the dean of students still had little information for her about what had happened to Chuck. He told her Chuck attended a party at a fraternity, and some other men who were at the same party had been hospitalized -- two were still in critical condition.
The dean said the university and the police were investigating the incident. Stevens said she had not heard from anyone who had been at the party.
A few days later, she said, Chuck's roommate called her, and after she pleaded with him to tell her what had happened that night, he uneasily and hesitantly began to explain.
"I was not prepared to hear what I did," Stevens said.
She said the roommate told her on the afternoon of his death, Chuck had decided to pledge Klan Alpine fraternity, a local fraternity with many athletes as members.
According to the roommate, all events for "hell week" were secret, so the pledges did not know what to expect. That day, they were all assembled in a parking lot, then told to get into car trunks three and four at a time.
Stevens said each pledge was given a pint of Jack Daniel's, a six-pack of beer and a wine mix, and was told to finish it all.
"I'm sure you're thinking what I was when he told me," Stevens said to the audience. "'Surely he refused.' Who would attempt to drink such a ludicrous mixture of alcohol?"
According to the roommate, who was a member of the fraternity, this event was a tradition all pledges do.
He continued to tell Stevens that after driving around for about 30 minutes, the pledges were taken to the fraternity house and "left to sleep it off" on a mattress. Most pledges were vomiting or unconscious at this point, he said.
Stevens said the roommate told her when they were checked on later, "all pledges were having labored breathing and two could not be revived. Chuck was blue."
Fraternity brothers called an ambulance, and when it arrived, Chuck was pronounced dead on that floor, Stevens said. The two other pledges that could not be revived were hospitalized for several days, but lived.
"This was hazing," Stevens said. "I'd never heard that word before."
She said the administration of Alfred University issued brief statements to the press, and she heard them from a reporter. The district attorney said it was an isolated incident and no one was responsible.
Stevens said she thought disciplinary action was needed because what happened to Chuck was a planned event, not an accident, and it was not an isolated incident -- she said her family received numerous letters from people with similar hazing stories, some involving death.
To channel her grief in a positive direction, Stevens formed CHUCK -- the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings. At the time of Chuck's death, only three states had anti-hazing laws.
She said many colleges had regulations about hazing, but due to the secrecy involved with many hazing incidents, they could not control them.
Stevens lobbied in New York to pass anti-hazing legislation, and with the support of thousands of signatures, New York Congress passed the bill almost unanimously.
But then-Governor Hugh Carey vetoed it, saying a law was not the way to address hazing, Stevens said.
About a year after Chuck died, a freshman at Ithaca College in New York died from a hazing incident. The student was deprived of sleep for three days, then forced to vigorously exercise and placed in a steam room with other pledges. He died of heat stroke.
A grand jury demanded the governor sign the legislation.
Stevens said Greek organizations stand for honor, trust, friendship, brotherhood and sisterhood -- "not hazing."
She said the three main components of hazing are secrecy, intense peer pressure and alcohol, which is involved 98 percent of the time.
"I'm not here to offend," Stevens said. "I just want you to think."
She said students have told her hazing is a rite of passage, a tradition that unifies a group and makes people value their membership.
But Stevens said hazing is not a tradition founded with fraternities -- they were "founded on all the right reasons."
She said at least 70 students have died in hazing incidents since Chuck's death, and although experts say harsh physical hazing is on the decline, mental hazing is still evident on most campuses.
But Dartmouth students said they did not think hazing was a problem at the College.
"It is all in good fun," Theta Delta Chi fraternity brother Dylan Karczewski '99 said of pledge activities in his house. "Anybody who decides to participate is totally in control."
Chi Gam brother Paul Costello '99, who arranged for Stevens to come to campus, said he learned about her through Assistant Dean of Residential Life Deb Reinders, who heard Stevens speak at a conference.
"She told me about her, and it all clicked," Costello said, and he remembered seeing a television movie called "Broken Pledges" about Chuck Stevens a few years ago.
He said he thought now was a good time for Stevens to speak at the College, since members of the Class of 1999 will be taking on new pledges in the fall.
