BOWLING GREEN — An unreported member of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity at Bowling Green State University is in the process of donating his organs after an alleged incident of alcohol-related hazing at an off-campus event, according to the family’s attorney.
Stone J. Foltz, 20, of a Columbus suburb, was identified by the family’s attorney, Sean Alto, on Saturday.
The fraternity headquarters initially provided a statement to The Blade on Saturday that Mr. Foltz, a sophomore at BGSU, had died following the incident. The statement was later retracted as Mr. Alto said it was incorrect.
“Right now he is going through the process of organ donation,” Mr. Alto told The Blade on Saturday.
Mr. Foltz’s family did not immediately wish to comment.
“They’re working through this. They’re gathered together with their son, with their brother, with their family. They’re working through it. When they’re ready to, they’ll provide a further comment,” the attorney said on Saturday.
Mr. Alto said once the process is completed and further information about the incident is available, he would be able to provide more information.
Mr. Foltz was identified as an “unreported new member,” or someone who has not gone through the initiation process. He was seeking to join Pi Kappa Alpha’s Delta Beta Chapter at BGSU — commonly known as “Pike.”
The fraternity has since been placed on interim suspension, meaning the institution cannot participate in regular activities, according to the Memphis-based fraternity spokesman Aranda Gehringer.
“The international fraternity is horrified and outraged by this incident,” Ms. Gehringer’s statement said. “The fraternity has a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal activity, substance abuse, bullying, and hazing of any kind. Let us reiterate in the strongest terms: We refuse to defend or condone any behavior that creates dangerous environments or situations for our members or the larger campus community at any of our 200+ chapters in the United States and abroad.”
"They are living every loved one's worst nightmare, and we owe them the utmost respect and privacy at this time,” according to the university’s statement. "We strongly encourage those who are sharing their opinions and potentially misleading details on social media to cease and recognize that the student’s family and friends are in those same spaces reliving the trauma and grief from these comments.”
The university said the investigation has been turned over to local law enforcement. Law enforcement also declined to provide an update on the student’s condition on Saturday.
“We are aware of an incident, and we are investigating,” Lt. Dan Mancuso of the Bowling Green Police Department said. “There is nothing else I can tell you at this time.”
Among the information he declined to disclose was the hazing incident’s actual location.
The on-campus Pi Kappa Alpha house in BGSU’s Greek Village complex on East Wooster Street was dark Saturday afternoon and there was no answer at its front door. Several pedestrians who walked by the complex declined to comment about the incident.
As part of a stream of postings to its Twitter account early Saturday afternoon, the university said a review of campus Greek-letter organizations’ status had already begun.
“This morning, we began to meet with our student leaders to decide the short and long-term future of fraternity and sorority life at BGSU,” one particular tweet stated. “In the days to come, we will also be reviewing all other student organizations.”
Late Saturday evening, BGSU announced it has suspended Greek life activity in a letter posted to its website.
“While fraternity and sorority life has been woven into the fabric of higher education, we must act and respond today to this tragic incident. All day, student leaders from the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, College Panhellenic Conference, Undergraduate Student Government and the undergraduate student representative to the Board of Trustees worked with staff members to begin to address the short- and long-term future of fraternity and sorority life at Bowling Green State University,” the letter said.
“Planning and dialogue continue, and more decisions need to be made. However, together, we made progress today. Effective at midnight, the University is interimly suspending all new member intake processes and on- and off-campus social events of chapters in all four Greek councils stated above. Understanding the impact this has on chapter operations, the University will be meeting with their student leadership,” the announcement said.
This most recent incident follows failed attempts by Ohio lawmakers to increase penalties for hazing.
In December, 2020, members of the Ohio Senate’s Education Committee opted not to vote on House Bill 310, also known as Collin’s Law: The Ohio Anti-Bullying and Hazing Act.
Named after Collin Wiant, a freshman at Ohio University from Dublin who died after collapsing on the floor of an unofficial, off-campus fraternity house in 2018, the bill would’ve expanded the definition of hazing in Ohio to include the forced consumption of drugs or alcohol.
It would also have increased the criminal penalties for hazing, which in Ohio is now a fourth-degree misdemeanor, to a second-degree misdemeanor for general hazing and a third-degree felony for any hazing involving drugs or alcohol.
In 2018 several students were suspended from the BGSU Pi Kappa Alpha chapter after social media posts showed them dressed up as Mexican-American gang members on Halloween and mocking cultural appropriation.
At the time a university spokesman said he could not confirm which fraternity was involved because of federal student-data privacy laws. However, BGSU’s Pi Kappa Alpha’s Delta Beta chapter acknowledged in November, 2018, that those involved were members.
"We are not ignoring your voices and have been working intensely to deal consequences to those involved in the incident," the chapter wrote Nov. 7. "This type of behavior is unacceptable and does NOT reflect who we are as a chapter or citizens to the community."
The chapter, which with a 1942 founding year is the oldest on the BGSU campus, had placed the nine on administrative suspension.
The chapter also agreed to name a diversity and inclusion chair, to do community service in the Latino community, and to invite a speaker to talk about diversity and inclusion.
In 2015 another BGSU fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi, was investigated after two members were seen hitting recruits at an off-campus apartment where a fraternity member lived.
Bowling Green State University has an online incident report form for incidents of misconduct, which can be found at cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?BowlingGreenStateUniv.
First Published March 6, 2021, 6:53 p.m.
