A greek tragedy, one year later

Former student's death impacted Greek system

By Crystal Russ
The Collegian

One year ago this month, a former Fresno State student met an untimely death in a fraternity house after a night of heavy drinking. The aftermath of this tragedy has brought some noticeable changes to Greek life on campus.

Samuel Arciniega, a Nu Alpha Kappa senior, said this was an eye-opener for many students. “Everyone needs to be more careful,” Arciniega said. “Someone needs to stay sober to oversee everyone else.”

The Greek presence at Fresno State is sizeable, with more than 800 members spread among 38 different chapters. The entire community was placed under a microscope after the death of former Fresno State student Danny Daniels, Jr. at the fraternity house of Phi Gamma Delta, often called FIJI.

Daniels, who was 19, was at the FIJI house Jan. 7 and was found dead the next day. He had a blood alcohol level of .34, which is more than four times the legal limit.

After Daniels’ death, and because of previous violations, FIJI lost its house and the chapter was suspended for five years from the university. The FIJI house underwent extensive renovations last year by its landlord, and has been the home of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity since September. The bedroom that Daniels was found in has been converted into an apartment that is being occupied by two members of the fraternity.

Pi Kappa Alpha President Nolan Bauer said the opportunity to have their own house was exciting, although the fraternity did receive some criticism for accepting the offer.

“We don’t let it get to us,” Bauer said. “We don’t dwell on the tragedy. We are trying to make it into a positive thing. Let’s start making changes and come together as a group to accomplish them.”

Six months after Daniels’ death, Laura Williams was brought on board as the Greek Life and Activities Adviser to educate the different chapters about risk management and alcohol abuse.

“The thing that is a strength of the Greek system is that they are holding their own members accountable,” Williams said. “We are getting the students to see the bigger picture, not just recruiting and staying out of trouble, but how can we better ourselves. The community seems to be moving on in a positive way.”

Bauer concurred. “We are all trying to make a positive impact on the campus,” he said. “We cannot prevent everything, but we need to know how to handle situations.”

Williams described her job duties as advising the Greek governing council, including aspects of leadership development, as well as understanding national Greek issues. Another priority for Williams has been to implement this semester the “Plan for Excellence,” which is a benchmarking system for the chapters to realize the minimum standards to be beneficial for the campus.

Bauer, an active member of the California Air National Guard, said the continuing education that has been done since last year on alcohol abuse, and other issues such as date rape, have made an impact. “To have ‘sober brothers’ is a common policy amongst all fraternities here,” Bauer said. “I’m usually the sober one myself to ensure all of the rules are being followed. The reason is that the eyes will fall upon me as far as responsibility goes if something happened.”

Arciniega said this rule is also followed by Nu Kappa Alpha. “We have implemented a new rule,” he said. “Whenever socializing, someone needs to stay sober. They have to be responsible for the night, like a designated driver for the house.”

In both fraternities, the sober positions get rotated among members.

Although drinking continues in frat houses, Bauer said there are a lot more rules than there used to be.
“We don’t advocate hazing practices with alcohol,” Bauer said. “To ensure responsibility, we will turn people away if we have to.”

There is also a zero-tolerance policy in place for underage drinking. “We are not handing out alcohol to underage people,” Bauer said. “How can you say that you have this reputation as leaders if you are handing out alcohol to minors?”

Bauer finds it unfortunate that the hard-partying stereotypes that are associated with frat houses often overshadow the good that fraternities and sororities provide. “We have a community service committee that gets overlooked,” Bauer said. “I find myself wondering what I can do to improve our image and the image of all fraternities.”

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