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American Morning

Hazing Death

Aired May 02, 2003 - 07:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Another disturbing story this morning. Eleven members of a fraternity at a New York state college are facing charges in the death of a freshman.
Police say 18-year-old Walter Jennings was subjected to a hazing practice called water torture, in which pledges are forced to ingest large quantities of water through some sort of funnel. The suspect students at Plattsburgh State College and members of the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity, are now charged with criminally negligence homicide. The school says that it does have a policy of zero tolerance when it comes to hazing.

And joining us now, Keith Tyo. He's the school's chief of communications.

Good morning.

KEITH TYO, DIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS, SUNY AT PLATTSBURGH: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: First of all, tell us what happened to this 18-year- old.

TYO: Well, unfortunately, this -- it's a very surprising tragedy. The student, from what we're understanding from the investigation from Plattsburgh City Police, he had been pledging the fraternity that is not recognized by Plattsburgh State, and went through a series of different events.

And the first that we knew of the situation was when he showed up at the hospital. He had been taken to the hospital by a couple of other members. And college officials were then informed of the student being brought there.

COSTELLO: I want to interrupt you. Just you talked about a series of events. Can you be specific with us?

TYO: Well, I think you alluded to it. There are many different things that go on with pledging that we think are healthy and wholesome. There's a series of events...

COSTELLO: But what happened in this instance?

TYO: Well, I really don't know, because I haven't looked at the information that's been provided to us by Plattsburgh City Police as of yet, but...

COSTELLO: Well, let me share some of that with our audience.

TYO: OK.

COSTELLO: Apparently, he was placed in a sort of torture room, and he was forced to drink quarts and quarts of water through a large funnel. He drank so much water that when he went to the hospital his brain had swollen, and that's what he died from.

TYO: That's what I understand, too.

COSTELLO: I understand the college had some trouble with this fraternity back in 1998 with alcohol. Why wasn't it shut down then?

TYO: It was shut down officially in 1998. We revoked their recognition. They were a local fraternity without a national affiliation and, as such, we determined that they would never exist here without national affiliation.

COSTELLO: Is the fraternity house on college property?

TYO: No, it is not. It's owned by the Psi Epsilon Chi Corporation, and, therefore, we have very little -- anything that we can do about that. It's a private residence.

COSTELLO: Was there any warning given to incoming freshmen about this particular fraternity?

TYO: We have a notification process, where we alert all students, and even their parents, beginning with summer orientation right through to the first day of moving in and throughout the semester, about those fraternities that we feel do not provide a healthy and wholesome environment. And this was one of those fraternities that was listed and sent out through notification, through letters, through workshops and seminars.

COSTELLO: I understand. So, what's going to happen to the fraternity house now? Quickly, I don't have much time.

TYO: Well, I really don't know. That's up to the corporation itself.

COSTELLO: Understand. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

TYO: Thank you, Carol.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired May 2, 2003 - 07:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Another disturbing story this morning. Eleven members of a fraternity at a New York state college are facing charges in the death of a freshman.
Police say 18-year-old Walter Jennings was subjected to a hazing practice called water torture, in which pledges are forced to ingest large quantities of water through some sort of funnel. The suspect students at Plattsburgh State College and members of the Psi Epsilon Chi fraternity, are now charged with criminally negligence homicide. The school says that it does have a policy of zero tolerance when it comes to hazing.

And joining us now, Keith Tyo. He's the school's chief of communications.

Good morning.

KEITH TYO, DIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS, SUNY AT PLATTSBURGH: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: First of all, tell us what happened to this 18-year- old.

TYO: Well, unfortunately, this -- it's a very surprising tragedy. The student, from what we're understanding from the investigation from Plattsburgh City Police, he had been pledging the fraternity that is not recognized by Plattsburgh State, and went through a series of different events.

And the first that we knew of the situation was when he showed up at the hospital. He had been taken to the hospital by a couple of other members. And college officials were then informed of the student being brought there.

COSTELLO: I want to interrupt you. Just you talked about a series of events. Can you be specific with us?

TYO: Well, I think you alluded to it. There are many different things that go on with pledging that we think are healthy and wholesome. There's a series of events...

COSTELLO: But what happened in this instance?

TYO: Well, I really don't know, because I haven't looked at the information that's been provided to us by Plattsburgh City Police as of yet, but...

COSTELLO: Well, let me share some of that with our audience.

TYO: OK.

COSTELLO: Apparently, he was placed in a sort of torture room, and he was forced to drink quarts and quarts of water through a large funnel. He drank so much water that when he went to the hospital his brain had swollen, and that's what he died from.

TYO: That's what I understand, too.

COSTELLO: I understand the college had some trouble with this fraternity back in 1998 with alcohol. Why wasn't it shut down then?

TYO: It was shut down officially in 1998. We revoked their recognition. They were a local fraternity without a national affiliation and, as such, we determined that they would never exist here without national affiliation.

COSTELLO: Is the fraternity house on college property?

TYO: No, it is not. It's owned by the Psi Epsilon Chi Corporation, and, therefore, we have very little -- anything that we can do about that. It's a private residence.

COSTELLO: Was there any warning given to incoming freshmen about this particular fraternity?

TYO: We have a notification process, where we alert all students, and even their parents, beginning with summer orientation right through to the first day of moving in and throughout the semester, about those fraternities that we feel do not provide a healthy and wholesome environment. And this was one of those fraternities that was listed and sent out through notification, through letters, through workshops and seminars.

COSTELLO: I understand. So, what's going to happen to the fraternity house now? Quickly, I don't have much time.

TYO: Well, I really don't know. That's up to the corporation itself.

COSTELLO: Understand. Thank you very much for joining us this morning.

TYO: Thank you, Carol.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.