Nolan Burchs night started out similar to any other college students. He went to a pledge event for the fraternity he was rushing at West Virginia University, Kappa Sigma. He hung out and partied with his future brothers, presumably having a good time. The night then quickly turned sour. Burch and the other pledges were then blindfolded, brought to a second location, and were forced to excessively drink by brothers as part of a hazing ritual. That had been the goal of the whole night, according to texts from another brother. Those texts from that night read, Nolans getting my family bottle of whiskey, and Im probably just gonna get him real (drunk). (OShei, 2018) When the pledges were brought back from the second location about 90 minutes later, Nolan couldnt even walk himself back into the house and was laid down a table by some fraternity brothers. The party raged on as Nolan laid there, completely still. Brothers took pictures and videos of him, danced on the table he was on, and continued on with their partying. (OShei, 2018) By that time, Nolans blood alcohol level had reach .493, more than six times the legal limit. (West Virginia Frat, 20
15) It wasnt until about more than half-an-hour later, when a brother who hadnt been in the room walked in and finally noticed Nolan. His face had turned blue and he barely had a pulse. On the 911 call placed from the house, you can hear the brother who found him trying to perform CPR on him and save his life, repeatedly saying, One, two three. Nolan, breathe for me, buddy! (OShei, 2018) But, it was no use, Nolan died two days later, only a week after his 18th birthday. Stories like Nolans happen to college kids every year on campuses all over the country. In fact, there has been at least one hazing death reported by a U.S. student/school organization almost every year since 1953. (Nuwer, n.d.) One of the most common places these deaths occur is in fraternities and sororities on college campuses. Because of this fact, traditional Greek organizations on college campuses, fraternities in particular, should be suspended until they seriously reconstruct how they run because they continually perpetuate cultures of sexual assault and violence, hazing, and alcohol/drug abuse, which is harmful to the college and its student body, even past college years.