Here’s what’s happening at colleges across the U.S.
Michigan
More than a dozen Michigan State University (MSU) students were arrested after March Madness celebrations got out of hand.
After MSU’s Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight victories, 13 students were charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly:
- standing too close to a fire, and
- tossing bagels into the crowd.
If convicted, the students could spend up to three months in jail.
South Carolina
Yet another hazing incident has led to legal headaches.
In this instance, the parents of a student who died have filed suit against Clemson University, the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and three members of the local chapter.
Tucker Hipps was pledging the fraternity when he fell to his death during a run, which the suit claims was a hazing ritual.
Tucker and older members of the frat got into an argument, allegedly over the pledges’ failure to bring McDonald’s biscuits for breakfast as instructed.
During the run, Tucker went headfirst over the railing of one of the bridges of Lake Hartwell.
The suit claims it’s a known longstanding tradition for the fraternity to require pledges to jump the bridges and swim to shore. Tucker was missing for seven hours before anyone reported him missing, the suit claims.
Turns out, the water was shallow, and Tucker died. The suit seeks more than $25 million in damages.
Virginia
A former James Madison University (JMU) student has filed suit, claiming the college failed to support her after she was sexually assaulted and failed to appropriately punish her attackers.
In 2013, Sarah Elizabeth Butters was sexually assaulted by three fraternity members during spring break.
While she was intoxicated, she was cornered in a restroom by the men. They recorded the incident on a cell phone. The footage showed the men groping Butters’ bare breasts. Butters said she repeatedly told the men to stop.
When she arrived back at school after spring break, the video had been widely circulated around campus, the complaint said.
Butters reported the incident to JMU’s associate director of judicial affairs. But the director discouraged Butters from proceeding with the complaint, according to her suit.
After the assault, Butters struggled academically. Her financial aid was revoked in December 2013.
In January 2014, Butters started a formal complaint against the frat members who assaulted her. After three hearings, the men were found responsible and the school handed down its sanction: “Expulsion after graduation.”
Butters claims she was told she’d still be subjected to her attackers on campus – and her only recourse to remedy further problems would be to call the police. She withdrew.
Ultimately, her attackers were “expelled” after they finished their education.
The suit claims the school “deprived Ms. Butters … to learn, grow and mature, by denying her full and free access to the educational, social, recreational and personal benefits and opportunities afforded by the university.”
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