Education

LSU Smacks Frat With 15-Year Ban After Pledge’s Death

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Rob Shimshock Education Reporter
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Louisiana State University smacked a fraternity with a 15-year ban from campus after its involvement in the death of a pledge, according to a Wednesday press release.

The university’s Associate Dean of Students Jonathan Sanders stipulated the restrictions of Phi Delta Theta’s ban in a March email to the LSU chapter, according to an LSU press release obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

“[The fraternity] violated … LSU’s Code of Student Conduct, specifically violations of the alcohol, hazing and endangerment policies,” Sanders told the organization. “The University rescinds the registration of Phi Delta Theta at LSU, effective immediately, and continuing through no earlier than December 31, 2032.”

Gruver, a Phi Delta Theta pledge, died in September from alcohol poisoning and aspiration after drinking too much during a game in which frat members tasked him with remembering the organization’s history.

Police arrested 10 individuals, eight of whom were active Phi Delta Theta members, in October for hazing after the death of LSU freshman Maxwell Gruver. One of the 10, Matthew Alexander Naquin, who reportedly disliked Gruver because of Gruver’s frequent tardiness to pledge events, was also arrested for negligent homicide. The national Phi Delta Theta chapter suspended the LSU chapter after the incident.

A Louisiana House committee voted Wednesday to alter hazing from a misdemeanor to a felony crime in the event of the death or serious bodily injury of the victim, reported WWNO. The Maxwell Gruver Act would ramp the sanction in these scenarios from a $100 fine and 30 days in jail to a $10,000 fine and five years in prison. The bill proceeds to the House floor.

The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to the national chapter for comment but received none in time for press.

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