Frat Known as 'Party House,' Ex-Pledge Says

The dangers of underage drinking flooded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last night as students reacted emotionally to a tragic incident Saturday involving a first-year fraternity pledge and alcohol.

Yesterday night, 18-year-old Scott Krueger of Orchard Park, N.Y., died, according to his cousin, William W. Burke-White '98.

Meanwhile, MIT vowed to reevaluate its social structure in light of the tragedy. The Inter Fraternity Council voted Sunday night to suspend alcohol consumption at all fraternities and sororities.

What happened to Krueger-who lasped into a coma after suffering from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity Saturday night-and its meaning for the future of fraternities at MIT has provoked a strong reaction from current and former students.

A member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, known commonly as "Fiji," refused to comment last night on the house's suspension by MIT administrators after Saturday's incident.

"All I can say is that our thoughts and prayers are with Scott's family," he said. The fraternity member would not give his name.

At least one former fraternity pledge, sophomore Pedro Fuentes, said the fraternity has a campus reputation for wild parties.

"They take pride in being a party house," he said.

As a first-year pledge, Fuentes said he had never drunk alcohol before. But that changed on a fraternity trip to visit frat brothers in Vermont.

"They gave us each a beer. But I didn't like beer, so they gave me gin, to chug it, to see who would finish first," he said.

Still, Fuentes said the MIT chapter did not pressure pledges to drink, and in fact, several fraternity members never took to drinking alcohol at all.

"They'd ask you, but if you just told them no they were cool," he said. "But if you said 'I don't know,' they'd work on you."

Alcohol was omnipresent at Fiji, according to Fuentes.

"If someone wanted to drink, there was alcohol everywhere," he said. "People had bottles in their room. We had a kegerator. There usually would be one or two. [Even during] the driest, there'd only be one or two kegs in the refrigerator downstairs."

"[At] every Fiji party, we'd never run out of alcohol, we'd take pride in [that]," he added.

Heavy drinking at the fraternity took the form of theme nights, Fuentes said.

"One time they put us in this room-it was 'Animal House' night, I think," he said. "They gave us 90 beers, two cases of 45 and told us to finish it before the end of the movie."But Fuentes said even those activities were voluntary.

By the beginning of his second semester as an MIT first-year, Fuentes depledged from the fraternity, saying the new fraternity president "hated" him.

"He didn't really like me and I didn't really like him," he said. "Plus, it was far away from college." The MIT chapter's house is located at 28 The Fenway in Boston. The chapter's president, Jon Loflin, could not be reached for comment last night.

Students at MIT had mixed opinions about fraternities and alcohol yesterday evening. "I don't think they should totally ban alcohol from campus, but obviously something has to be done," said junior Marisa J. Kirschbaum. "This kind of thing shouldn't ever have happened."

Kirschbaum, who said she does not drink, was a member of the Epsilon Theta living group last year. MIT's 39 living groups, fraternities and sororities are governed by the InterFraternity Council.

Other MIT students say they are not aware of any publicized incidents of fraternity hazing.

Junior Candice A. McElroy said that MIT fraternities "are essential to the MIT campus because the school doesn't have enough housing without them."

But McElroy said first-year pledges should know what they're getting into before joining them.

"Freshmen get swept up and think that nothing can hurt them because there's this idea of 'brotherhood,"' she said. "I think that this incident shows that there was some sort of breakdown."

McElroy said she expects MIT to take measures to prevent incidents like this from happening again.

"I think they have to," she said. "Public opinion of MIT would drop so severely if people see that MIT let this happen and doesn't take any action."

Although MIT offers alcohol-education programs to fraternities, sororities and independent living groups, Mcelroy and several other MIT students said they "do not recall attending" such orientation.

"The closest things are a couple of minor events during rush and then [first-years] are carted to social occasions," said recent MIT graduate Adrian Banard.

Banard said the students in the fraternity system are not as supervised as those living in the dorms.

"Alcoholism is a serious problem at fraternities and in the dorms," Banard said. "[But] in the frat system, there aren't as many safeguards against this."

Banard said MIT could do more to respond to complaints about alcoholism and date rape at fraternities.

"MIT has a consistent refusal to crack down on problems that are frat related," Banard said.

Other students, such as senior Stacy S. Yu, see the tragedy as a wake-up call for private universities nationwide.

"I think the fact that something like this happened at a private university like MIT that has the reputation of being a reputable education institution kind of sheds light on the fact that underage drinking is a problem not only at state schools but at private schools," she said

"All I can say is that our thoughts and prayers are with Scott's family," he said. The fraternity member would not give his name.

At least one former fraternity pledge, sophomore Pedro Fuentes, said the fraternity has a campus reputation for wild parties.

"They take pride in being a party house," he said.

As a first-year pledge, Fuentes said he had never drunk alcohol before. But that changed on a fraternity trip to visit frat brothers in Vermont.

"They gave us each a beer. But I didn't like beer, so they gave me gin, to chug it, to see who would finish first," he said.

Still, Fuentes said the MIT chapter did not pressure pledges to drink, and in fact, several fraternity members never took to drinking alcohol at all.

"They'd ask you, but if you just told them no they were cool," he said. "But if you said 'I don't know,' they'd work on you."

Alcohol was omnipresent at Fiji, according to Fuentes.

"If someone wanted to drink, there was alcohol everywhere," he said. "People had bottles in their room. We had a kegerator. There usually would be one or two. [Even during] the driest, there'd only be one or two kegs in the refrigerator downstairs."

"[At] every Fiji party, we'd never run out of alcohol, we'd take pride in [that]," he added.

Heavy drinking at the fraternity took the form of theme nights, Fuentes said.

"One time they put us in this room-it was 'Animal House' night, I think," he said. "They gave us 90 beers, two cases of 45 and told us to finish it before the end of the movie."But Fuentes said even those activities were voluntary.

By the beginning of his second semester as an MIT first-year, Fuentes depledged from the fraternity, saying the new fraternity president "hated" him.

"He didn't really like me and I didn't really like him," he said. "Plus, it was far away from college." The MIT chapter's house is located at 28 The Fenway in Boston. The chapter's president, Jon Loflin, could not be reached for comment last night.

Students at MIT had mixed opinions about fraternities and alcohol yesterday evening. "I don't think they should totally ban alcohol from campus, but obviously something has to be done," said junior Marisa J. Kirschbaum. "This kind of thing shouldn't ever have happened."

Kirschbaum, who said she does not drink, was a member of the Epsilon Theta living group last year. MIT's 39 living groups, fraternities and sororities are governed by the InterFraternity Council.

Other MIT students say they are not aware of any publicized incidents of fraternity hazing.

Junior Candice A. McElroy said that MIT fraternities "are essential to the MIT campus because the school doesn't have enough housing without them."

But McElroy said first-year pledges should know what they're getting into before joining them.

"Freshmen get swept up and think that nothing can hurt them because there's this idea of 'brotherhood,"' she said. "I think that this incident shows that there was some sort of breakdown."

McElroy said she expects MIT to take measures to prevent incidents like this from happening again.

"I think they have to," she said. "Public opinion of MIT would drop so severely if people see that MIT let this happen and doesn't take any action."

Although MIT offers alcohol-education programs to fraternities, sororities and independent living groups, Mcelroy and several other MIT students said they "do not recall attending" such orientation.

"The closest things are a couple of minor events during rush and then [first-years] are carted to social occasions," said recent MIT graduate Adrian Banard.

Banard said the students in the fraternity system are not as supervised as those living in the dorms.

"Alcoholism is a serious problem at fraternities and in the dorms," Banard said. "[But] in the frat system, there aren't as many safeguards against this."

Banard said MIT could do more to respond to complaints about alcoholism and date rape at fraternities.

"MIT has a consistent refusal to crack down on problems that are frat related," Banard said.

Other students, such as senior Stacy S. Yu, see the tragedy as a wake-up call for private universities nationwide.

"I think the fact that something like this happened at a private university like MIT that has the reputation of being a reputable education institution kind of sheds light on the fact that underage drinking is a problem not only at state schools but at private schools," she said