Parents Sue Wilberforce U., Alleges Hazing Led to Daughter’s Death
“Her family’s lawyer writes she was carried back to her dorm room across campus, where she was left and where she died hours later.”
This is just awful. From WHIO:
Savanna Jones’ family is now suing over her on-campus death at Wilberforce University in April.
Jones was wrapping up her freshman year at Wilberforce University this spring.
In the new lawsuit filed in Greene County, the family’s lawyer said Jones died because she was hazed on campus.
The court document states Jones was going through initiation with “a social drinking club” known as “the turtles” on a campus where alcohol is not allowed.
Jones was required to drink a bottle of liquor that night as a part of a ritual called “crossing turtles,” the lawsuit states.
It alleges that “she became visibly and dangerously intoxicated to the point that she could not stand.”
Her family’s lawyer writes she was carried back to her dorm room across campus, where she was left and where she died hours later.
The civil wrongful death lawsuit names the university, its housing director, a student, and 30 Jane and John Does as defendants.
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Comments
She made the decision to drink an entire bottle of alcohol. The uni had nothing to do with that decision.
Raising a child to have common sense is on the parents.
In this case, more grizzly than gentle.
If some part of the university or some person was violating university rules or the law, some consequences are warranted.
The problem is that the university does not allow this or recognize this “club”. They are a dry campus. They are listed on the suit only for monetary reasons rather than actual fault. If she was carried back to her dorm as alleged and no university employee knew about it then it would be a difficult burden to prove liability/negligence.
Via Wikipedia:
Wilberforce University is a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio, United States. It is one of three historically black universities established before the American Civil War. Founded in 1856 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, it is named after English statesman and abolitionist William Wilberforce.
Me:
This is not why William Wilberforce fought to abolish the slave trade.
Whether it was his intent or not, Wilberforce’s activism led to the possibility of this awful situation. With freedom comes responsibility.
My heart goes out to her family. I only hope that the responsible parties are bankrupted and then imprisoned for the rest of their unnatural lives.