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Four months after a drug-related suicide at a University of Cincinnati (UC) fraternity, the council that oversees fraternities and sororities has begun investigating the death and alleged drug use at the house.
Jacob Saylor, an 18-year-old freshman at UC, hanged himself Jan. 31 in a bathroom stall at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house several hours after taking hallucinogen-containing mushrooms.
Michael Enderly, director of Student Organizations and Activities, said that several steps would be followed in dealing with the fraternity.
“The fraternity is incorporated into the national fraternity, and it owns the property,” he said. “We are waiting for the national office to issue a report that we have asked for.”
Saylor was pronounced dead at 9:10 a.m. Jan. 31 at the fraternity house on Joselin Avenue in University Heights.
CityBeat reported Feb. 18 that Saylor’s roommates told police that Saylor had taken “mushrooms” at 7:30 the night before. They said they last saw him alive at 2:30 a.m., though others close to Saylor said he paged his girlfriend twice at about 6:30 the morning that he died.
The autopsy report, obtained May 13 by CityBeat, found that Saylor had psilocybin — the active hallucinogenic chemical in “mushrooms” — and cannabinoids, contained in marijuana, in his system.
Dr. Robert Pfalzgraf, chief deputy Hamilton County coroner, said he believed a problem in Saylor’s relationship with his girlfriend played a major role in the suicide. CityBeat’s attempts to reach the girlfriend were unsuccessful.
In the Feb. 18 story, a friend and fellow fraternity member who CityBeat agreed not to name said Saylor got the drugs from another fraternity member, which the fraternity president denied. The friend said the drugs played a large role in Saylor’s decision to commit suicide.
He also said the incident clearly illustrated problems with alcohol and drug use at fraternities and the amount of social pressures put on its new members.
Saylor was the youngest member living at the fraternity.
Greg Hand, UC spokesman, said there would not be an investigation conducted by the university.
“There are two triggers that could get us involved into a fraternity or sorority,” Hand said. “My understanding is that we don’t have a legal basis for getting involved unless there is a criminal finding or a serious complaint (made against the fraternity). … Largely, it has to do with student’s rights. We can’t violate those rights without cause.”
For example, a fraternity last week received a noise citation for playing music too loudly. Even though it was a minor citation, Hand said the university called the house “informally” to let them know to “behave themselves.”
“If there were criminal findings (in the Saylor case) we could get involved,” he said.
Enderly said that his office would evaluate the report that has been requested from the fraternity’s national officers to see whether the fraternity took appropriate action and whether the national office was conducting the appropriate follow-up.
“Unofficially, we have been told that several members that had been involved were expelled (from the fraternity),” he said.
Enderly said there had been similar incidents at Greek organizations in past years, one in which a member shot himself at a chapter house.
In all of the incidents, the Office of the Student Organizations and Activities followed the same procedure that it is following now, he said. There are precise guidelines that all Greek and other student organizations must follow, he said.
According to the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Council’s Greek Risk Management Policy, “The possession, sale and/or use of any illegal drugs or controlled substances at any chapter house, sponsored event or at any event that an observer would associate with the chapter, is strictly prohibited.”
The policy also says that any fraternity or sorority in violation of that policy, will be subject to review by the Greek Judicial Board, Office of Greek Affairs and the Office of Student Organizations and Activities. ©
This article appears in May 19-25, 1999.