More than a year after the hazing death of a student, Baruch College announced a three-year ban on rushing and pledging activities for all its fraternities and sororities.
According to the Washington Post, the school's ban adds to the interim suspension of such activities announced in the wake of Michael Deng's death in Dec. 2013. Deng, a 19-year-old freshman, died of a head injury while pledging for the school's Phi Delta Psi fraternity at a retreat in the Poconos.
Swiftly removed from campus, the fraternity members allegedly had Deng and other pledges stand - blindfolded - outside in the snow while holding a large bag of sand. While they stood, fraternity members tackled the pledges at random. The coroner later ruled the death a homicide, but the police's investigation remains open and no one has been charged at this time.
"After careful consideration and consultation with the Undergraduate Student Government, members of the existing social Greek clubs on campus, the Office of Student Life, and the College President and his cabinet, Dean of Students Art King and I have come to the difficult decision to extend the moratorium on pledging and rush activities in all Baruch social fraternities and sororities for a period of three years, effective June 1, 2015," Baruch provost David Christy said in a statement. "Our overriding interest is in ensuring the safety, well-being, and development of our students; while we know this outcome is not what the members of our fraternities and sororities had hoped for, we firmly believe this course of action is in the best interest of the aforementioned goals."
The school faces a $25 million wrongful death lawsuit from Deng's family in which Michael's mother, Xiu Fen Liu, claimed personal injury, DNAinfo.com reported. Liu previously filed suit against Baruch, but was rejected for her paperwork being ruled incomplete.
"Baruch College knew about dangerous traditions and hazing in the Pi Delta Psi fraternity and failed to stop such traditions, warn incoming pledges such as Michael, or undertake other duties required by the law," the lawsuit states.
"[Michael] was a very nice boy," Kenny Choi, a 70-year-old neighbor of Liu's, told DNAinfo.com. "He said hello all the time. He worked very hard. He studied all the time.
"It's a tragedy. [Michael's mother] is still very sad. She's having a hard time living in the house. This is all very sad."
