 "Photo: Nicole Aizaga")
On Sunday night, friends of Brett Griffin held a candle passing ceremony in Thomas McKean Hall to commemorate the one year anniversary of his death. Earlier, some gathered around the tree outside McKean dedicated to Brett by his First Year Experience class. Bouquets of flowers dressed the tree and a single candle illuminated the plaque inscribed with his name.
Many who came to speak lived on the second floor of McKean with Brett when he was a freshman. Almost every student spoke about Brett’s friendly smile and positive personality as the candle passed multiple times around the group of students sharing stories in the dark lounge of McKean. Brett died last year at an off-campus party.
Sophomore Laura Healy became emotional as she spoke about Brett’s willingness to help others, remembering how he always offered to walk with friends and make sure they returned home safely from a party.
Sophomore Marcus Spera said he still uses the string Brett suggested to him to use for his guitar and also still plays songs he suggested.
It was big-little night for Sigma Alpha Mu on Nov. 8, 2008, when Brett died from alcohol poisoning while pledging.
In April, the Griffin family filed a wrongful death suit claiming fraternity members did not make an attempt to help Brett after excessive alcohol consumption. Brett’s mother, Julie Griffin, said both lawsuits are still pending.
“It was supposed to be done by the end of this month, but the wheels of justice don’t seem to move very quickly,” Julie said.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the national fraternity and the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu. The complaint charged the national fraternity with failing to supervise the local chapter and neglecting to institute meaningful anti-hazing policies.
The suit claims Brett was pressured into consuming an extreme amount of Southern Comfort during a mandatory “family drink” with the fraternity. The court document said a number of pledges passed out as a result of hazing, while fraternity brothers watched over an incapacitated Brett, examining him for hours.
“None of them [the fraternity brothers] made the slightest effort to dial 911 during this extended period of time to summon the emergency services Brett needed to survive,” the suit read.
The suit did not name the university as a defendant.
Julie said no one from the fraternity made contact with her after her son’s death. She said some of the brothers were from their home town of Kendall, N.J.
“I was very disappointed that none of the kids came forward, you know?” she said. “Nobody came forward to tell us anything.”
She said after the incident, she spoke with the university a few times about instituting a medical amnesty policy at the school. Julie said she is happy the policy has passed because she believes it is very important to the safety of students.
“That was the first thing that we were told – that the kids were afraid they were going to get in trouble,” she said. “Now, if anybody calls for help for somebody, then I think it’ll be worth it.”
Under the new policy, implemented earlier this year, students who seek help when they or their friends are in danger of alcohol poinsoning can apply for amnesty to avoid punishment for alcohol offenses.
Sophomore Matt Robertson, who was Brett’s roommate at the time, said Brett seemed really determined during pledging.
“He kept his eye on the prize. You could tell it was hard for him, but he just kept going,” Robertson said. “He tried to keep a positive outlook on things.”
Brennan said Sigma Alpha Mu's charter was pulled by the national chapter, and is no longer recognized by the university. Matt Lenno, assistant director of student centers, said Sigma Alpha Mu was suspended by the university until Fall 2013. Lenno said Sigma Alpha Mu no longer exists as a fraternity.
Sophomore Alyssa Brown said she was happy to see flowers covering Griffin's memorial tree Sunday night.
“It's nice to know no one forgot about him, but you think about it everyday, especially today, but it’s nice to know everyone still remembers and still cares,” she said.
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(2) The party referenced to was not a fraternity/hazing event. It was an off campus party that included girls and guys not belonging to the fraternity - kind of hard to believe he was forced and/or pressured in that kind of setting
(3) The idea that Brett was "pressured" to drink is an allegation that is far from a conclusory fact as one would think from reading this article - the nature of whether Brett was pressured has to do with the entire notion of big campus fraternities (the idea of proving yourself in order to be accepted in a popular group) - it can be argued that Brett agreed to this kind of pressure by pursuing acceptance by a group like thisI am not a party to this action, but I know many of the parties involved on both sides. It's a tremendous tragedy, but I just hate to see other students' lives ruined. The amnesty law could save many lives in the future and is a least one positive to draw from this horrible situation.
There are three links below this article. One of them enumerates the students arrested due to their involvement in Brett's death. Those six are simply versions of Brett that didn't die. Oh, right I forgot. The one you know is always the outlier.