Virtually every fraternity chapter, at Southeast Missouri and elsewhere, says the practice has been abolished. Hazing is now banned by all national Greek organizations - including Kappa Alpha Psi - and is a crime in 38 states. The incident at Southeast Missouri, though it is at the most brutal end of the hazing spectrum, has once more focused attention on the behind-closed-doors behavior at college fraternities. Davis was wearing the last night he was beaten. One student charged with manslaughter has also been charged with tampering with evidence: The police say he hid pledge books documenting the hazing and threw away the clothes Mr. Davis in his apartment, called paramedics early in the afternoon when Mr. The final occasion apparently was early in the morning of February 15. The police have not released many details about the hazing, but say it took place over a week-long period. (The other fraternity members who were charged could not be reached.) He did say his clients had told him that no fraternity member had knowledge of anyone striking Mr. “At this point we don’t know much about what the state is saying happened, or the sequence of events,” he says. Taylor, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and hazing, and Keith Allen, who is charged with hazing - says his clients will also plead not guilty. Louis lawyer who is representing two of the fraternity members - Laimmoire D. One man charged with hazing, Ronald Johnson, has entered a plea of not guilty. All the students arrested so far have been released on bond. The police say more fraternity members may be arrested as their investigation continues. Hazing, a misdemeanor, carries a maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. The maximum punishment for involuntary manslaughter in Missouri is seven years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Eight others associated with the fraternity - four students and four former students - have been charged with hazing Mr. Seven Kappa Alpha Psi members, all of them students at Southeast Missouri State, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and hazing in connection with Mr.

“He was convinced that if he kept the right mindset, they couldn’t hurt him.” Taylor, who graduated from the university last year. “He was determined not to let them affect him mentally,” says Ms. His girlfriend, Felicia Taylor, said in an interview that in the week before his death he told her that members were subjecting pledges to withering verbal abuse, demanding cash from them, and beating them. Last month, the 135-pound journalism major and reporter for the student newspaper died from a head injury after being beaten by fraternity members in a hazing ritual. He pledged the fraternity in 1991, but its members decided not to admit any new people that year - apparently because the national office of Kappa Alpha Psi began investigating a tip that members were physically hazing pledges. 'We are a community that promotes mutual respect, dignity and genuine concern for the well-being and safety of others, and we will not tolerate behavior on our campus that directly opposes our most basic institutional values.Michael Davis had tried once before to get into Kappa Alpha Psi, the fraternity at Southeast Missouri State University that he most respected. 'We have placed our trust in you, as Pitt Panthers, to act responsibly, to treat others with respect, and to practice care and compassion for one another,' he said in the letter. Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon Bonner said in a letter to the student body that the future of the school's fraternity and sorority life was being evaluated as a result of the incident.īonner also said he was 'disappointed' that an investigation of a possible hazing incident must take place. Message from University of Pittsburgh's Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kenyon R. He said the investigation, conducted along with university police, may be delayed because many students are leaving campus as part of spring break, which officially starts Sunday.Ī university spokesman said hazing and intimidation are contrary to Pitt's core values. If they don't want to be victims there's not a heck of a lot we can do with that.' 'We've got a lot of girls who don't want to talk about it.

'During the course of this, they were maybe hit with a paddle of some sort,' Burton said.

Kappa alpha psi hazing