Southeast, prosecutor differ in definitions of hazing

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FRATERNITY BAN

By Andrea L. Buchanan ~ Southeast Missourian

An event that caused a Southeast Missouri State University fraternity to lose campus privileges shows the difference between a drunken frat party and a violent hazing incident depends on who is examining the evidence.

A recent letter to Southeast Missouri State University public safety officers outlines why no criminal charges were filed in an incident that injured two Phi Delta Theta pledges.

Former fraternity pledge Michael Raleigh, 21, of Pevely, Mo., broke his wrist in three places last fall during a Phi Delta Theta gathering in which active fraternity members wrestled with pledges.

Officers from the Cape Girardeau Police Department broke up the Oct. 17 party, which was held on the lawn of the fraternity's Greystone House at 1405 N. Sprigg.

According to the university's Department of Public Safety records, Raleigh filed a campus police report six weeks after he was injured when he discovered the fraternity wouldn't pay his medical bills.

The resulting investigation revealed that another pledge received a concussion the same night when fraternity members bounced up and down on his head.

Last week, Southeast Missouri State University suspended the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and described the incident as a hazing.

Pledge's actions

Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle said what happened to Raleigh that night isn't hazing as defined by state law. He said he didn't feel he could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the pledge's participation wasn't voluntary.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast, said despite the prosecutor's decision, the university stands by its position.

"We have a zero-tolerance policy when there are incidents where people are required to do something that would lead to harm."

Wallhausen said the hazing ban applies to both psychological and physical harm.

"Even if there is no intent to harm someone, the harm comes as a result of an incident where pledges were forced to do something."

Whether or not the pledges were forced into wrestling is where the university and prosecutors disagree.

Homecoming wrestling

The students were hurt during a Homecoming week wrestling event that fraternity members say was part of a tradition that was strictly voluntary for pledges.

According to reports, the pledges were told to meet that night and learn a song for an upcoming lavaliere, when a fraternity member gives a pendant with his Greek letters to his girlfriend.

The couple is then serenaded by the entire fraternity. On that night there was a wrestling match which began as a contest between the smallest fraternity member and the largest pledge.

Participants said events quickly turned into a free-for-all.

University police reports, based on interviews with fraternity members and pledges, indicate that the pledges were told to stay, but not required to wrestle.

However, the events some of the of the pledges describe indicate they didn't think they had much choice about wrestling, with drunken fraternity members blind-siding them or tackling them from behind.

Another pledge told police he didn't attend at all, avoiding the situation by lying about his work schedule.

Raleigh told police that while he was wrestling, he fell backward with a fraternity member on top of him and both heard his wrist make a popping sound as they hit the ground.

Then the pair found a sober member of the fraternity to drive Raleigh to the hospital and told emergency room personnel that Raleigh had fallen while working on a Homecoming float.

University police turned Raleigh's written statement over to the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor's office for possible hazing and assault charges.

Swingle decided that the events that night weren't criminal.

"It would be difficult to prove that Michael Raleigh was being forced to wrestle," Swingle wrote in a letter to Southeast's Department of Public Safety explaining his decision.

"As to the injury to the arm as criminal assault, it does not appear to have been intentional. Nor would recklessness be enough under these circumstances," Swingle wrote.

Raleigh's explanation of his injury to hospital staff also hurt the credibility of the case, Swingle said.

Possible civil suit

The prosecutor said the lack of criminal charges wouldn't preclude a civil suit.

"Clearly, at a minimum, poor judgment and alcohol were involved," Swingle said.

Contacted at his home Wednesday, Raleigh referred all inquiries to his attorney, Daniel Rau of Cape Girardeau.

Rau said his client was forced to withdraw from Southeast due to his injuries.

"I wouldn't say he's recovered totally," Rau said. "He's on the road to recovery." Rau said. Raleigh's broken wrist required surgery.

The attorney refused to say whether a civil suit against either the fraternity or the university is in the works or if he represents any other former pledges.

Under the suspension, Phi Delta Theta can't operate on campus until the summer of 2003 at the earliest. Fraternity members were ordered to move out of the school-owned house by the end of February. The students will be allowed to stay in school.

Staff writer Mark Bliss contributed to this report.

abuchanan@semissourian.com

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