37 Fraternity Brothers Charged, 5 Facing Murder In Hazing Death Of Baruch College Pi Delta Psi Pledge

NY Times - Five fraternity members from Baruch College in Manhattan will face murder charges in Pennsylvania for their involvement in the death of a freshman who was hazed during a rural retreat in 2013, officials said on Monday.

A grand jury in Monroe County, Pa., recently recommended that five people face third-degree murder charges and that a total of 37 would face a range of criminal charges, including assault, hindering apprehension and hazing in Chun Hsien Deng’s death.

Those facing third-degree murder charges are Charles Lai, Kenny Kwan, Raymond Lam, Daniel Li and Sheldon Wong. The fraternity is also being charged, officials said. Third-degree murder, which does not involve premeditation or a specific intent to kill, carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

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There are plenty of times that I go to bat for frats and take their side against the people who overreact and blame them for all society’s problems. Plenty of times I defend them from administrators, feminist blogs, Rolling Stone magazine, etcetera who try to paint them as evil and have them banned from planet Earth.

This is not one of those times.

Mr. Deng was one of four pledges who joined members of Pi Delta Psi on an annual weekend retreat at a rental house in the Poconos, where he took part in a ritual called the Glass Ceiling.

The authorities said Mr. Deng, 19, known as Michael, died on Dec. 9, 2013, after he was blindfolded and made to wear a backpack weighted with sand while trying to make his way across a frozen yard as members of the fraternity, Pi Delta Psi, tried to tackle him. During at least one tackle, he was lifted up and dropped on the ground in a move known as spearing, according to the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department. He complained his head hurt but continued participating and was eventually knocked out, the police said in a news release.

After Mr. Deng was knocked unconscious, and the authorities said the fraternity members delayed in seeking medical help.

After he was seriously injured and unconscious, fraternity members carried him inside the house, where they contacted a national fraternity official, who told them to hide fraternity items, the police said. Some members left the house, while others changed his clothes and conducted searches to diagnose his symptoms.

At some point, it was reported that Mr. Deng was having trouble breathing, the police said. Three fraternity members put him in a car and drove him to a hospital a half-hour away. By the time he arrived, he was unable to be revived. He died the next morning of severe trauma to the head, officials said.

Bottom line, there is the harmless hazing that has gone on for decades and decades, the dumb stuff you have to do and eat just because everyone else did it before you. Then there’s making a kid wear a weighted backpack and walk across a frozen iced over yard blindfolded while everyone takes turns tackling him so hard all his vital organs fail and he dies. Googling “what to do about head injuries” and removing all his frat clothing and hiding incriminating stuff around the house instead of taking him to the hospital. Literally murdering a kid.

So yeah as much as 99% of the hate towards frats from PC warriors over stupid things like theme parties and late night drinking is annoying and unwarranted…it’s the absolute dumbasses like Pi Delta Psi at Baruch College who give all the hate some legitimacy.