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Kappa Sigma Fraternity & the death of Chad Meredith By: Terrion Lowery. http://hazing.hanknuwer.com/2001deaths.html. Who is Chad Meredith?. Chad was an 18 year old baseball player from Indiana. In 2001, he enrolled at the University of Miami.
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Kappa Sigma Fraternity & the death of Chad MeredithBy: Terrion Lowery http://hazing.hanknuwer.com/2001deaths.html
Who is Chad Meredith? • Chad was an 18 year old baseball player from Indiana. • In 2001, he enrolled at the University of Miami. • Not long after arriving to UM, Chad became a "pledge" for the Epsilon-Beta chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. http://www.stfblaw.com/NoteworthyCases52.jsp
The Incident My notes: • Travis Montgomery, pres.; Timothy Williamson and David May. • Blood alcohol level was nearly two times the legal limit. • Felt obliged to follow. • which was cold, dirty and dark. • The group swam across, but Chad fell behind and tried to turn around. • But it never came. • Chad drowned 34 feet from the shore in six feet nine inches of water. • The fraternity protested that the incident was not a fraternity-sanctioned hazing event. • On the night of November 4, 2001, Chad was in company of the fraternity president and two other fraternity members. • Chad consumed a large amount of alcohol, until he was drunk. • Chad was urged to jump into the campus lake. • Unable to swim because of the alcohol, cold and fatigue, Chad screamed for help. • Brothers kept going and hours later Chad was pulled from the bottom of the lake. http://www.studentsreview.com/student_photo.php3?uid=305
The Investigation • Initially,the police said that the incident was not a result of hazing. • David Bianchi, a partner with the Miami law firm Stewart Tilghman Fox & Bianchi, filed a lawsuit after he conducted his own investigation. • The fraternity was sued on four different accounts: negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of duty to aid and/or rescue, and default on obligations. • In 2007, True Hollywood Stories produced a documentary on "Hazing," that mention the hazing incident that caused the death of Chad Meredith. • His family was awarded a $12.6 million verdict in a negligence suit based on hazing.
The "Chad Meredith Act" • The Chad Meredith Act became a law in Florida on July 1, 2005. • Persons convicted of felony or misdemeanor hazing are subject to imprisonment.
PR Lesson Learned • University needs to re-inform students on hazing and te consequences. • The university leaders should have addressed the incident publicly to the student body and media.