LITTLE ROCK — Eighteen-year-old Nicholas Brown was beaten and forced to drink so much alcohol that he slipped into a coma after a fraternity hazing at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in November, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in Little Rock.
Attorneys Russell Wood and Ryan Allen filed the lawsuit on Brown’s behalf against three university officials, theinternational Phi Delta Theta fraternity and several former fraternity members. The suit does not name the university as a defendant.
Brown, his parents and his sister seek compensatory damages for medical costs and punitive damages, Wood said. Brown also seeks to have the university block the fraternity’s effort to re-establish itself on the campus, Wood said.
“The university and fraternity have a duty to protect these kids from this type of act,” he said.
Former fraternity members did not return e-mail and phone messages left Tuesday. All university administrators referred questions to Scott Varady, a university attorney, who said officials named in the lawsuit took proper action when addressing the fraternity’s violations.
“The lawsuit is really trying to second-guess officials,” Varady said. “I think their own complaint shows the university officially took responsive actions.”
The case recently was turned over to the Fayetteville city prosecutor’s office, university spokesman John Diamond said. University police began an investigation into the case in December, but later suspended their investigation because the victim did not cooperate, Lt. Gary Crain said at the time.
Wood said Brown gave police a statement, despite fraternity members asking him to stay quiet. University police did not respond to messages Tuesday, and the lawsuit did not include the police report.
The lawsuit says university officials ignored warnings that fraternity members were serving underage students liquor and forcing pledges to consume large amounts of alcohol.
On Nov. 12, during a “big brother, little brother” event, about 100 fraternity members took about 47 pledges to a windowless room in the fraternity house, hit them and forced them to drink alcohol, the lawsuit states.
Fraternity members forced Brown to drink whiskey and beer; members took bets on which pledges could drink the most without throwing up, the lawsuit states.
Disoriented, Brown called his girlfriend, who picked him up at the fraternity house and took him to Humphreys Hall, where he lived, according to the lawsuit. There he collapsed and, when found unresponsive, was rushed to the hospital.
Wood said Brown is still being evaluated for possible brain damage.
The lawsuit says Brown had a 0.68 percent blood-alcohol level, far exceeding the 0.08 percent Arkansas law recognizes as driving while intoxicated. Brown slipped into a coma for about two days in the hospital, Wood said.
No fraternity member was charged with providing alcohol to minors or for the hazing, both illegal under state law, despite video surveillance showing members taking alcohol to the event, Wood said.
“[Brown] was basically forced to drink,” Allen said. “There should have been criminal charges against individuals for hazing at the least.”
At the Fayetteville campus, the incident sparked concern among university and fraternity officials. The international Phi Delta Theta organization suspended the UA chapter on Dec. 3 because chapter members violated the fraternity’s risk-management policy, said Bob Biggs,executive vice president of the international fraternity.
“Our investigation, prompted by a recent incident that jeopardized the life of a new member, revealed numerous violations to our policies and Arkansas law,” wrote Jacob Kingdon, chapter services director, to parents in December. His letter was attached to the lawsuit.
However, the process for restarting Phi Delta Theta began immediately after new students and alumni expressed interest in starting over, Biggs said. New potential members began moving into the fraternity house in January. None of the former members were allowed to rejoin the fraternity, Biggs said.
Wood said the fraternity had been sanctioned previously and its members continued to abuse alcohol.
Since 2007, the university had charged the fraternity eight times with violating university policy, Diamond said. Four of those charges were dismissed when the international fraternity dissolved the chapter in December, he said.
The UA chapter was found not to be responsible in two incidents but was found to be responsible in two other cases, including alcohol violations, Diamond said.
Five days before the Nov. 12 event, Fayetteville police broke up a Phi Delta Theta party, held off campus, where underage people were allowed to drink alcohol. At another party in September 2009, a fraternity member who had been drinking slammed a door in the face of a university police officer, according to an e-mail from Lt. Matt Mills.
Student Affairs Vice Provost Danny Pugh acknowledged in an e-mail to top administrators that drinking occurred at the fraternity house in violation of the fraternity’s policy that forbids alcohol in the building. In the Dec. 3, 2009, memo, Pugh wrote: “We have been actively engaged in investigating numerous issues with this chapter, and they have a long history of incidents involving alcohol use and abuse. ... This is not about one student, but a culture inconsistent with ‘The Bond’ of Phi Delta Theta.” The e-mail was attached to the lawsuit.
Biggs responded that the fraternity had run 61 consecutive years without suspending its operations until December.
The Office of Community Standards and Student Ethics sanctioned the fraternity on April 30, 2009, for an alcohol violation. Members had completed some requirements to remove the sanction but had asked for an extension in October 2009, weeks before the party Brown attended, according to e-mails attached to the lawsuit.Monica Holland, director of the university’s Office of Community Standards and Student Ethics, granted the extension Oct. 27, 2009, according an e-mail attached to the lawsuit.
Diamond said officials took action when the fraternity was found to have violated policies. He could not say what punishment individual students may have had because of federal privacy laws.
He said university policies promote responsible behavior.
Among five students listed individually in court documents, at least two are enrolled at the Fayetteville campus, where Brown is also enrolled, according to university records.
The officials named as defendants are Pugh, Holland and Greek Life Director Parice Bowser.
“The allegations against the university officials are unfounded, and we are confident that they will be dismissed,” Diamond said.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 10/20/2010