9/25/2011- 11:15 p.m.
Virginia – Eight people were arrested Friday and three others charged after an investigation into the death of Adam Oakes, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University who died of alcohol poisoning at a fraternity party in February, authorities said.
All eight arrested are charged with unlawful hazing of a student, Richmond, Virginia, police said in a statement. Three of them are facing a surcharge for buying and giving alcohol to a minor.
Oakes’ family said the young man’s death, which drew national attention and new questions about hazing in Greek organizations across the country, occurred at an off-campus party on Feb. 26 at Delta Chi fraternity residence, where he a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and told him to drink it.
Oakes, 19, was found dead the next morning by Richmond police officers, authorities said.
Courtney White, the cousin of Mr. Oakes said on Saturday that while the family was “a little relieved” as the case was moving forward, it was still painful to know that nothing, including the charges, “would bring him back.”
“A lot of people say these guys are just guys,” said Ms. White. “But the fact is that Adam was only a boy, and they took full advantage of him. And if one of them had stood up and really acted like a man and cried out for help, Adam would still be here.”
The family said on Facebook that they were “grateful for a measure of justice that these charges and arrests can bring, as well as the hazing protections they can provide to young impressionable students.”
“The past 7 months have been painful for our family,” they wrote. “This is the first time these young men have been held accountable for their historically toxic and destructive traditions, manipulation of the VCU disciplinary systems and for Adam’s death.”
Richmond police did not say whether the accused were students of Virginia Commonwealth University, and the university did not immediately respond to questions on Saturday. But Mr Oakes’ family said all those arrested were current or former students at the university.
Police named those arrested Benjamin J. Corado, Quinn A. Kuby, Riley K. McDaniel, Alessandro Medina-Villanueva, Jason B. Mulgrew, Christian G. Rohrbach, Colin G. Tran, and Enayat W. Sheikhzad. They range in age from 19 to 22 years.
It was not clear on Saturday whether they had all eight lawyers. No one was immediately available for comment Saturday.
A website for Delta Chi listed Mr. Corado, Mr. Kuby, Mr. Medina-Villanueva, Mr. Mulgrew, Mr. Rohrbach, and Mr. Tran as part of the VCU chapter leadership team.
The university said in a statement that “VCU continues to mourn the tragic death of Adam Oakes and is grateful to the Richmond Police Department for its investigation.”
“VCU is committed to continuing its efforts, announced this summer, to promote a safe and welcoming culture of fraternity and sorority for all,” the university said.
VCU permanently kicked Delta Chi off campus in May after it hired a consultancy to study Greek culture. The company, Dyad Strategies, announced in an August report that while the university was not an outlier compared to other colleges’ Greek organizations, it still struggled to address concerns about binge drinking and hazing.
Seven of those arrested were taken into custody by the Virginia Commonwealth University Police and are being held at the Richmond Justice Center. mr. Sheikhzad was arrested by the Virginia State Police and released on bail. The other three are expected to turn themselves in soon, but their names have not been released, Richmond Police said in their statement.
Brotherhood organizations have come under intense scrutiny in recent years, following high-profile cases that have angered anti-hazing activists and victims’ loved ones who say the culture of Greek life is dangerous and shrouded in secrecy. In 2017, Timothy Piazza, a student at Penn State University, died after getting drunk, fell, and was left overnight by members of the fraternity who knew he needed help but didn’t seek it.
Chun Hsien Deng, an 18-year-old freshman at Baruch College, died in 2013 after suffering major brain trauma while participating in a fraternity initiation ritual.
“Bullying keeps you out of a group; hazing is having to prove yourself to be part of this group,” said Dennis Goodwin, co-founder of Anti-Hazing Collaborative, an organization that works to prevent hazing among young people.
While many members of the fraternity refer to each other as “brothers,” Mr. Goodwin said he doesn’t think students should be part of “families” that force them to “do something that could lead to death.”
Some anti-hazing activists said they hope prosecutions in cases like Mr Oakes’s will prove that these crimes are now being taken seriously.
Rae Ann Gruver, the founder and president of the Max Gruver Foundation, has spent years trying to end hazing on college campuses. Her son, Max, died in 2017 “as a direct result of fraternity hazing,” the organization says online.
“The more and more these kids are being prosecuted and charged and actually punished, and that prosecutors are willing to prosecute them, that’s going to really put these kids off,” Ms Gruver said.
Many states’ hazing laws are classified as felonies, she said, meaning less time in prison if convicted. If those laws turn into crimes, “no young adult would want that on their record,” Ms Gruver said.
In Virginia, where Mr. Oakes takes place, hazing is a crime.
“I think the fraternity HQ is starting to get more on board and really have a no-tolerance policy and are starting to get on it, but it takes time,” Ms Gruver said.
If someone misses, she said, “it’s against the law and you should be prosecuted like any other crime.”
