 "Photo:")
Debbie Smith wants her son's death to serve as a reminder to keep pledges safe while fraternities get ready for spring recruitment.
On the two-year anniversary of Matthew Carrington's death, his mother and stepfather came to Chico to bring roses and candles to the house where their son died.
"We feel like we have to be here for him," Smith said. "It was his home when he died."
Carrington was a 21-year-old Chico State student pledging the unrecognized Chi Tau fraternity when he died of water intoxication in the fraternity's basement around 5 a.m. Feb. 2, 2005. He had been doing calisthenics and drinking water from a 5-gallon jug throughout the night, police said.
Smith said she wants students to know that rush is not a glorious thing.
"They get sucked in, and by the time it gets really ugly, it's too late for them," Smith said.
At 5 a.m. Friday, flickering candles sat outside the chain-linked fence that surrounds the boarded-up fraternity house at Fourth and Chestnut streets. Woven in the fence were red roses, white carnations and copies of a poem Smith wrote to celebrate Matt's Law being passed.
The law went into effect Jan. 1 and increased hazing's classification from a misdemeanor to a felony in certain cases. It also makes it possible for non-students to be prosecuted for hazing.
"In the beginning, they think it is all fun and games," Smith said. "But it's serious, it's scary, it's deadly."
By Friday afternoon, a bouquet of flowers and a paper banner reading "Phi Delta Theta supports Matt's Law" had been added to the fence.
Interfraternity Council President Jason Mora said members of the 11 university-recognized fraternities are excited to start recruitment Monday but will keep Carrington's story in their hearts to prevent a similar tragedy.
Alcohol and hazing have never been part of the original written rituals fraternities use for initiation, Mora said. The goal of recruitment is to make pledges' lives as rich and rewarding as possible.
"We are not here to humiliate or degrade in any way," Mora said.
All recognized fraternities have vowed to prevent hazing within their organizations and leave out any negative aspects or forms of humiliation, he said.
"We are not going to let the common stereotypical fraternity aspect come into play anymore," Mora said. "We are about positive changes."
Matt Koutney, a member of Delta Psi Delta, said Carrington's story has changed the ways fraternities operate.
"It's always in the back of your mind," he said. "You have to be really careful. You don't let things get out of hand."
Chi Tau's behavior was not typical among fraternities and its members were acting stupid, Koutney said.
Seven members of Chi Tau were sentenced in fall 2005 in Carrington's death.
John Paul Fickes, 21; Jerry Ming Lim, 26; and Gabriel John Maestretti, 24, received sentences ranging from six months to one year in the Butte County Jail on felony manslaughter and misdemeanor hazing charges.
Michael Fernandes, 21; Trent Stiefvater, 22; Richard Joseph Hirth, 24; and Carlos James DeVilla Abrille, 24, received sentences between 30 to 90 days on misdemeanor hazing charges.
The men have completed their sentences and agreed to do anti-hazing awareness with Carrington's family as part of their probation, said Mike Ramsey, Butte County district attorney.
Now should be a time for everyone to reflect on not repeating the past, Ramsey said.
"The time of hazing has ended at Chico," Ramsey said. "Matt's Law will serve us to take hazing out across the country."
Ashley Gebb can be reached at agebb@theorion.com
Be the first to comment on this article!