Wow. Callous, negligent, selfish…none of these words seem adequate for what these young men did.
Eight of the fraternity brothers and the chapter itself were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Other charges include aggravated and simple assault, evidence tampering, alcohol-related violations and hazing.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-penn-state-frat-death-20170505-story.html
Heartbreaking. Not calling for help for 12 hours?!
So much for the much vaunted “brotherhood” in the case of this frat and others like it.
Heinously horrible doesn’t even begin to describe the actions of these 18 and the way they were much more concerned about covering up rather than immediately calling 911 for help for one of their pledges.
One thing apparent about their character beyond being selfish, callous, negligent that OP uses to describe them…wouldn’t recommend counting on them for anything…especially in a life-threatening emergency as they’ve amply demonstrated here.
The fraternity in question is Beta Theta Pi, or ΒΘΠ.
Maybe the brothers are more considerate and human when sober. 
I just read this story. So sad. I’m just wondering if the other boys were so wasted they didn’t notice he was missing (it sounds like he fell down basement stairs). It also sounds like he was trying to leave (he tried to get out the front door). This is so disgusting the amount of booze they made those boys drink. What a waste. Those poor parents.
Having studied the effects of alcohol in a Pharmacology course in HS usually taking by aspiring pre-meds, my own drinking experiences, and observing people I’ve known well sober and drunk…I’m of the view that IF they were drunk, that’s even more of a negative indictment as the reduction of inhibitions from alcohol use tends to reveal the true character of the person underneath. Something underscored by the old Latin proverb “in vino veritas”.
At least some were sober enough to shove another fraternity member to the wall when he said they needed to get help and when he persisted, cited it wasn’t needed because as kineseology/biology majors, they knew better than him and that he should drop the matter.
When will they ever learn?
I just will never understand the point of getting that wasted. After a certain point, you black out and don’t remember anyway. What’s the point of supposedly having if you’re not going to remember it?
It’s just sickening.
That said, I agree that they were probably too wasted to notice or know what to do. That in no way excuses or even lessens their culpability. They should face the maximum charges and sentences possible imo.
@cobrat I was joking.
So sad that the parents saw the videos of him falling several times with no help. That must have been heartbreaking.
How could anyone ever leave someone like that? How are kids brought up to behave this way? Alcohol is no excuse. You have to be a monster before you drink to behave this way when you drink. And these are supposed to be “brothers.” The whole thing makes me sick.
And I know it is just this group, and things happen everywhere yadda yadda yadda, but if you want honesty, it greatly impacts my view of Penn State, which wasn’t great to begin with since press hasn’t been good there for a long time. Something just isn’t right there.
17% of Penn State (http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/hub/greeks/) is involved in Greek life. Don’t blame the rest of us for it.
Bo is correct – the Greek system does not represent a majority of students, which is why it makes perfect sense to ban all the frats for at least several years, or permanently. All of them. Imagine the new paradigm if such a large institution just said " Nope, we’re done". They have had chances and chances and never seem to change (and I say that as a local). You will see this at every large school. The report came out and we knew it would be stomach churning, most of this was commonly known already here. But many workplaces were full of tears today. that poor family.
But that can’t happen, because one of the largest problems in frats are the adult alum, who come back and drink with abandon. another frat was banned a couple weeks ago for violating literally every rule IFC/PanHel and PSU has for them to follow. That included parents and alum furnishing alcohol and being publically drunk themselves. Blue-White was also notable as we watched large groups of parents with preschool and elementary children drinking for hours while the kids played.
THose adults have money, and universities are too cowardly to seize the moment to make a statement because they risk massive losses. But I ask, what is a life worth? when my kids were teens I used to read them the police reports : girls too drunk to walk hime, no one sober enough to help, lying in a driveway until morning. A boy who fell down stairs, drunk after a frat party, lost on campus. He died, too. They fall out windows, they walk into traffic, they assault and are assaulted. Enough. Enough. Don’t give me, “they’ll drink anyway”. Okay, they might. But a college frat has tacit approval of the college. We could at least remove the veneer of respectability. We owe this family, and others like them, something more substantial than sorrow and horror for a few days.
Not only leave someone like that but bully the one brother who recognized the boy was in trouble. My heart goes out to the parents left dealing with such a devastating loss.
My children went to colleges where it was drilled into their heads from day one that they will never get in trouble for calling a transport for a drunk friend.
I have read threads on CC over the years where the caller faces disciplinary action. That is just wrong.
The backpack on a drunk friend idea is beyond belief. I went to serious party school and I only became aware of this practice within the last year.
“You have to be a monster before you drink to behave this way when you drink.”
Not really.
I spent years (bar tender) being one of the few sober people in the room.
We all will do things drunk that we’d never do while sober. That’s one of the reasons people like to drink. If you suppress your regulators just a bit, you get bad karaoke. If you suppress the regulators a lot, you can get stuff that you literally can’t believe. IQ declines as BAC increases.
Penn State and the local ordinances do not penalize students for calling in an alcohol-related emergency, or bringing someone to the ER. Has been the case for many years.
Another black eye for Penn State on top of the child sex abuse scandal just brings the overall moral climate and role of the administration in setting and maintaining standards at Penn State even more in to question.
@MaterS could you explain how putting a backpack on a person prevents them from choking on vomit?