Eight charged after fraternity hazing death on US campus

Eight students associated with Bowling Green State University are facing criminal charges after a classmate died from being prodded into excessive drinking in a fraternity initiation ritual.

The victim, Stone Foltz, died several days after he and others seeking to join the Bowling Green chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were pushed to consume the equivalent of 40 shots of liquor, US prosecutors said.

Most of the eight current and former students face involuntary manslaughter charges. One of them, described as having direct supervision of Mr Foltz at the event, faces charges that include reckless homicide.

The lead prosecutor for Wood County in the state of Ohio, Paul Dobson, said Mr Foltz drank nearly all the alcohol provided to him and died after reaching four times the legal level of intoxication.

“This office prosecutes things you would never want to have happen to yourself,” Mr Dobson said after a grand jury approved the indictments. “Never more so than in this case.”

The deaths this year of Mr Foltz and Adam Oakes at Virginia Commonwealth University mark a resumption of fraternity deaths at US colleges and universities after a year-long respite during Covid-related campus shutdowns.

Alcohol poisoning is the most common cause of death in such cases, although criminal charges are rare, with repercussions often limited to suspensions of students or their fraternity chapters.

Bowling Green State, in a brief statement of response to the indictments, offered thanks to the prosecutor and grand jury. The university earlier announced the permanent expulsion of Pi Kappa Alpha, calling it “filled with dishonesty and disrespect for our community”.

The family of Mr Foltz, however, issued a statement saying academic and government leaders needed to take more aggressive action against fraternity hazing.

“We are living every parent’s worst nightmare,” the family said, “and will not be at peace until fraternity hazing is seen for what it truly is – abuse.”

Seven of those indicted were current Bowling Green students and one was a former student. The most serious charges await Jacob Krinn, described by prosecutors and the family as a friend of Mr Foltz from the same hometown in Delaware, both aged 20, who Mr Foltz trusted to be his guide in the initial ritual. If convicted on all charges, Krinn would face up to 19 years in prison, Mr Dobson said.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com