Leaders of Cal Poly’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) recently announced a new policy that will defer first-quarter students from joining a fraternity.

The changes will take effect fall quarter 2010 with the intention of giving new students a chance to adjust academically and socially before considering the demands of the greek system, according to Student Life and Leadership director Ken Barclay.

“The concern is that first-time freshmen aren’t given enough time to get comfortable with the university,” Barclay said. “Students will have a quarter under their belt to get to know leaders of a fraternity before rushing.”

The university’s new mandate makes it so incoming freshmen and transfer students will only be allowed to formally join a greek fraternity beginning their second quarter.

“I have to give credit to the IFC for taking the initiative to do this,” Barclay said.

The alcohol-related death of Carson Starkey in 2008 sparked questions about the pledging process. Starkey was part of an alleged hazing incident in Dec. 2008 while pledging Sigma Alpha Epsilon. He was a freshman finishing his first quarter at Cal Poly at the time of his death.

Assistant IFC director Matt Lancara said the climate in the greek system is definitely different after the Starkey incident, but there is not necessarily a direct relationship between the mandate and the tragic event.

“We are acting in a way that is responsible and proactive to shape the greek system to prevent tragedies like this from happening again,” Lancara said.

Since the IFC proposed the change from previous years, the rule only applies to the 17 fraternities. Sororities will still be allowed to have newcomers rush during fall quarter, but the Panhellenic council is considering the idea of deferring rush as well.

“We can better prepare men for what they are getting themselves into,” Lancara said. “They can get their bearings around campus … and when winter comes around, they can make a more educated decision.”

Deferring rush is not new to Cal Poly. It was mandated in the past but only for brief periods of time.

“It’s something that’s indefinite,” Lancara said. “We want to see if it will actually change numbers. It’s pretty much an experiment.”

Wishing to remain anonymous, a Cal Poly senior who has been in the fraternity system since he was a sophomore, said the majority of his fraternity and other people in the greek system he has talked to are not thrilled about deferring rush for fall quarter. Even alumni are upset, he said.

“It’s really unfortunate,” he said. “It’s going to force all the frats to impress people during fall quarter, which could mean even more parties without the structure of rushing. Fall rush is about 90 percent freshmen … so it makes our whole situation that much more difficult.”

Concerned about the number of available pledges, he said fewer members will also mean fewer people for fall philanthropy, such as food drives.

Barclay explained members of the greek system in the past have asked to have deferred rush reconsidered because of a fear of losing numbers. He believes the recent mandate won’t hurt membership.

“That’s just an assumption,” he said. “There is no data to prove that they lost members. I think this is best for everybody. It’s best for the greeks, and it’s best for the students.”

IFC President Andy Farrell said this is the right move for the fraternity system.

“I believe the good this will do is greater than the damage,” Farrell said.

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A San Luis Obispo judge delayed setting a date for the civil trial brought by the parents of Carson Starkey.

The wrongful death suit was filed against nine former members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the national Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at Cal Poly. Four of the former members are also currently being criminally tried.

The decision to set a trial date will be pushed back to March 18 after Douglas Fierberg, the lawyer for Julia and Scott Starkey, submits a case management proposal. The proposal is being required by judge Charles Crandall, after several of the defense lawyers raised questions about the conflict with the criminal proceedings, which are underway against four of the defendants in the civil trial.

Normally in a civil trial, defendants are compelled to testify about the events relevant to the case, but because of the two trial’s defendant conflicts regarding Starkey’s death, they may plead their fifth amendment rights in the civil case.

In court, Fierberg said that he thinks there is enough other evidence in the case to keep going with the civil suit. If judge Crandall does not agree with Fierberg after the case management report is submitted, Fierberg could delay the civil trial up to four years.

“We will not stop until everyone who was responsible for Carson’s death is held responsible,” Fierberg said.

The civil complaint filed by the Starkeys claims the defendants should have known that fraternity traditions like the “brown bag night” have a long-documented risk of death and serious injury.

“(The) defendants deliberately/purposefully took no reasonable, effective measures to enforce risk management policies to stop long-standing and dangerous pledging traditions … conscious of the dangers posed to pledges like Carson,” the complaint read.

Carson Starkey died on Dec. 2, 2008 after allegedly attending a fraternity event the night before. It was alleged fraternity members forced him to drink a large amount of alcohol. Starkey died from respiratory arrest due to acute ethanol toxicity or alcohol poisoning. Starkey’s blood alcohol concentration was between 0.39 and 0.45.

The case was filed on Sep. 22, 2009 to coincide with the beginning of the school year, said Ivo Labar, another lawyer representing the Starkeys.

The amount of money the Starkeys are suing for will be determined later.

The Starkey family has started a non-profit organization called With Carson, which aims to educate students about alcohol. A bill was also passed in Texas, Starkey’s home state, called the Carson Starkey Alcohol Awareness and Education Act.

“We will continue to honor Carson by doing everything we can to end wide-spread misconduct by fraternities,” Scott Starkey said in a press release last fall. “By bringing this lawsuit, we hope to bring attention to the dangers of hazing, cause fundamental change in fraternities and prevent other families from suffering as we have.”

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A San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge denied a motion to dismiss the cases against Zachary Ellis and Haithem Ibrahim, the two former Sigma Alpha Epsilon members charged with felony hazing causing death of former Cal Poly freshman Carson Starkey.

On Monday Ellis and Ibrahim’s lawyers moved to dismiss the case due to insufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing in August. Their lawyers plan to appeal Monday’s decision not to dismiss the case in California 2nd District Court of Appeals in Ventura, which they must do by Jan. 26.

Both Ellis’ attorney, Richard Conway, and Ibrahim’s, Michael Burt, have argued that each pledge at the event on Dec. 1 voluntarily chose to drink the amount of alcohol he did.

Starkey died Dec. 2, 2008, of respiratory arrest due to alcohol poisoning; his blood alcohol concentration was between 0.39 and 0.45. The previous night he attended Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s pledge event called “Brown Bag Night,” where the 18-year-old was given copious amounts of alcohol to drink as part of a hazing ritual for the fraternity.

Ellis, Ibrahim, Marszel and Taylor were taking Starkey to the hospital the night of the pledge event but turned the car around when he vomited.

Marszel and Taylor  pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges for hazing causing death and furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death. Ibrahim and Ellis are also being tried with misdemeanor charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death.

Carson’s parents, Scott and Julia Starkey, filed a civil lawsuit against the national fraternity, the local chapter and nine individual former SAE members on Sept. 22. In addition to five officers of the local SAE chapter at the time of Starkey’s death, Haithem Ibrahim, Zacary Ellis, Adam Marszel and Russell Taylor are being charged in the suit. A judge will  set the schedule for the civil trial on Jan. 26.

“You were handed a bag of alcohol and you were supposed to finish it all together. Some bags had hard alcohol, mine just had beer … We were drinking for like an hour,” Sauer said.

Tom Sauer, now a business junior, was a fellow Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) pledge of Carson Starkey. He attended the pledge event called ”Brown Bag Night” on Dec. 1, 2008, the night before Starkey died from respiratory arrest due to acute ethanol toxicity or alcohol poisoning. Starkey’s blood alcohol concentration was between 0.39 and 0.45.

“I definitely got close to him in those couple weeks,” Sauer said. “I think it was a little different for me because I was a second year; I thought of it as more of a party. I didn’t feel pressured to drink.”

Now, a year after the death of 18-year-old Starkey, there is a civil lawsuit, criminal charges and numerous changes to Cal Poly greek life.

Starkey’s parents, Scott and Julia Starkey, filed a civil lawsuit against the national fraternity, the local chapter and nine individual former SAE members on Sept. 22 this year to coincide with the start of the academic year. Four of the nine individuals named in the suit include Haithem Ibrahim, Zacary Ellis, Adam Marszel and Russell Taylor. The night of the SAE pledge event, they were taking Starkey to the hospital but turned around after he vomited in the car. The other five people named in the lawsuit were officers of the local SAE chapter at the time of Starkey’s death.

All of the parties of the civil suit will appear in court on Jan. 26 and the judge will then set a schedule for the trial.

Ibrahim and Ellis are also being charged with felony hazing causing death and misdemeanor furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death. Marszel and  Taylor pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges for hazing causing death and furnishing alcohol to a minor causing death. When asked for comment, Ibrahim and Ellis said they were not to talk to the Mustang Daily by their legal counsel.

“It became clear that they (the students) supplied minors with alcohol,” said Stephan Lamb, assistant director of Student Life and Leadership.

Ivo Labar, one of the attorneys representing Starkey’s parents, was involved in the writing of Matt’s Law, a California anti-hazing law. It rules that those charged with hazing can be charged with misdemeanor and felony charges rather than lesser penalties, under which Ibrahim and Ellis are being charged.

The law came as a result of the death of Matt Carrington at Chico State University in February 2005 in series of events similar to what reportedly occurred in Starkey’s case. Carrington was forced to drink water from a five-gallon jug while doing calisthenics with fans blowing on him. The water intoxication was done as part of a hazing ritual for the unrecognized fraternity Chi Tau. Fraternity members did not call for emergency help for over an hour.

Since Starkey’s death, the Cal Poly greek community has undergone several changes. Although alcohol was never officially allowed in pledge events, Cal Poly officials are monitoring these events more closely.

Incoming pledges attended two sessions as part of their initiation into greek life. A panel made up of Cal Poly alcohol counselors, police officers and representatives from Sierra Vista Medical Center discussed hazing nationwide and how to handle it.

“We are trying to coordinate our efforts to educate the community,” said Mary Peracca, alcohol and drug specialist and panel member.

All pledges and new member educators were required to attend.

“They went over what could happen to you (consequences) and like when is a good time to take someone to the hospital,” said John Corgel, Delta Chi Associate member counselor in charge of new member education and journalism senior.

Pledge education and “Big Bro Week” have also changed as a result of last year’s incident.

After the indefinite suspension of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity by Cal Poly, Sauer decided to pledge again for Delta Chi in Spring 2009. During his recent “Big Bro Week” the activities included hiking to the Poly P, fishing and a scavenger hunt. When describing his pledging experience, he reiterated that there was no alcohol involved.

“I definitely feel like people are a lot more cautious,” Sauer said. “There is zero tolerance.”

Delta Chi wasn’t the only fraternity to see such changes. All fraternities and sororities officially chartered through Cal Poly’s Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic Association have adopted similar measures, according to Lamb.

Incoming IFC president Andy Farrell said he hopes to improve the “toxic relationship” between the community and college students, specifically greek members. The changes he has seen since last December include the community changing its outlook, greater awareness of brothers, more unity and camaraderie and eradication of alcohol and hazing in all new member processes.

The changes coming from the highest levels of greek life seem to have infiltrated the individual level as well. Starkey’s death serves as a reminder of the finality of certain events.

“You are going to have to live with the consequences,” Sauer said.

The Starkey family has also begun several projects in and around Austin, Texas, where they live. The Carson Starkey Alcohol Awareness and Education Act was unanimously passed April 30 and took effect Sept. 1. It requires Texas school districts to implement an “evidence-based alcohol awareness program” into middle school, junior high and high school curriculum. The bill was supported by the Starkey family as part of their effort to educate people about hazing and the symptoms of alcohol poisoning.

Starkey’s family also started a non-profit organization called With Carson. Their Web site, withcarson.com, features news, projects and events they are organizing, a blog, apparel, photos, information for donations and links to the Facebook pages. One Facebook page, called  ”I LOVE CARSON STARKEY,” is a forum designed to “spread love and awareness.”  It was created by a peer and friend at Cal Poly, Tatum Barnes. The other page is called “1 Mil Aware,” and was created to “bring awareness to the all too common fatal effect of alcohol poisoning.”

In an e-mail, Barnes said that she hoped people would learn from Carson’s life.

“I hope that no one would think of themselves as invincible, and that people would live their lives with purpose, joy and selflessness, the way Carson did,” she said.

Today there will be a commemorative display to honor Starkey from 9 a.m. until midnight on the second floor of the University Union. It  was organized by greek student leaders, who will hand out green armbands for people to wear as a reminder of Starkey’s life and death. The display will also feature pictures and an excerpts from the eulogy delivered at Starkey’s memorial service by his brother, Hayden Starkey.

“Never let Carson die. He is in all of us somewhere. Some part of him is in us and to just carry on with that part and never let it die,” Hayden Starkey said at Carson’s memorial service. “Take whatever part of Carson you have and just use it for some good.”

A San Luis Obispo County judge ruled on Tuesday that there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial of Zacary Ellis and Haithem Ibrahim. The two former Cal Poly students are standing trial for the fatal hazing of Carson Starkey. The ruling came after the testimony of other members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon who attended the social event where Starkey died.

The trial of both men will begin Sept. 17. They have both been charged with one felony violation of hazing resulting in death and one misdemeanor violation of providing alcohol to a minor.

Starkey died Dec. 2 after he was given large amounts of alcohol at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge event known as “Brown Bag Night.” Ellis and two other Sigma Alpha Epsilon members allegedly bought the alcohol. Ibrahim was Starkey’s “Big Brother” and reportedly selected the alcohol that he was required to drink for the event.

Ellis allegedly told Starkey and 16 other underage pledges to finish the provided alcohol. The pledges were reportedly drinking in a circle with a trashcan in the middle for vomit. They were also given shots of 151-proof Everclear.

Police said that when Starkey was found unresponsive later in the night a few members of the fraternity started to drive him to the hospital but turned around after he threw up in the car.

Starkey died the next morning of alcohol poisoning. His blood-alcohol content was between .39 and .45 percent.

Tim Miller and Kate McIntyre contributed to this report.

Cal Poly will hire two staff members to educate the greek system about the dangers of alcohol and hazing. The decision was announced just hours after police arrested four students in connection to the death of freshman Carson Starkey.

President Warren Baker said the two full-time positions will directly advise student leaders about safety and responsibility.

The San Luis Obispo Police Department arrested four members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Thursday on charges of hazing and permitting a minor to consume alcohol in connection to the Dec. 2, 2008 death of Starkey.

The university is currently reviewing applicants from across the nation for the positions and decisions are expected to bemade by August.

According to Director of Student Life and Leadership Ken Barclay, the official titles of these positions will be coordinator and assistant coordinator of greek affairs. Their official duties will be to provide oversight to fraternity and sorority organizations by training student leaders on risk management, as well as serving as resource staff to address the concerns of the greek community.

Both staff members will report directly to Student Life & Leadership, under management of the Office of Student Affairs.

Barclay said the first position will be permanent and will focus primarily on fraternities, while the latter will deal with the Pan-Hellenic Council and for the time being is slated as a 12-month position pending future budgetary conditions.
The university is offering a yearly salary of $45,000 for the coordinator and $35,000 for the assistant coordinator, with a combined salary of $125,000 including benefits.

Many students not affiliated with the greek community have raised objections, questioning if student fees will have to pay for these salaries.

However, Vice President of Student Affairs Cornel Morton said that funding of these positions would not come from student fees, but out of the operational budget from the general fund.

Morton also pointed out that the university had someone in a position identical to the coordinator position until roughly two years ago and it has remained vacant since.

“What we are hopeful of is that we will have fewer instances where we feel we could have avoided problems associated with alcohol and social parties that get out of hand,” Morton said. “These counselors will provide that guidance and oversight.”

The university also plans to create training sessions for student leaders pertaining to pledge activities, as well as signed agreements by organizations to comply with a no-hazing policy and a risk management plan for alcohol-related events off campus.

University officials also conducted an internal investigation into the case, which resulted in nine SAE members being permanently withdrawn or suspended for at least one year from the school, according to Baker.

Coordinator for the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities Adrienne Miller said that she could not comment on the identities or academic status of SAE members involved in the case. She did confirm, however, that nine students have so far reached “a resolution” with the university and that the investigation is still ongoing.

“The students were sanctioned by the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities, the same office that would hear cases of plagiarism and academic fraud,” Student Life and Leadership Associate Director Stephan Lamb said. “That office has a lower standard requirement of proof where the criteria is ‘Is it more likely than not that something happened?’ In that context the university has more latitude than the courts in disciplining students.”

One of the four SAE members arrested last Thursday, computer engineering senior Russell Taylor, was still at his seat at the full ASI Board of Directors meeting yesterday Wednesday.

In light of recent events, some students have also raised questions as to why the university does not break ties with greek associations if they become a financial and safety liability.

“We have researched institutions that basically did just that,” Lamb said.

“The University of Santa Clara is one that took that measure and it turned out that the university ended up having no control, no relationship with the greek organizations. Staff will tell you the situation is much worse and they have had to hire additional staff to handle off-campus (problems).”

Since Starkey’s death, the relationship between Cal Poly and the greek community has changed, with the university clamping down on alcohol use and monitoring potentially dangerous situations.

“I think (the relationship) is certainly more intrusive,” Morton said. “The university has taken a more direct interest so that we do not see any bad environmental issues or abuses of alcohol. We will have to rely more on self-policing and self-governance. We can’t prevent a tragedy if the leadership does not show vigilance with regards to those issues.”

Lamb said he already sees these measures resulting in drastic changes in the attitudes of greek community members.
“I think from this tragedy, if anything good could come from it, it has in this case,” Lamb said.

“Students have engaged with us and reevaluated their organizational behavior. I’m very pleased with where we are now from six months ago. We’ve had some very difficult conversations but once again, Cal Poly students have emerged with responsibility and leadership. I think our students are very special.”