Frat Defends Duct-Taping As Prank Fire Draws Attention To Incident; WSU Officials Investigating

A badly timed gag between two college buddies is being unfairly characterized as hazing, members of the burned-out Sigma Nu fraternity said Monday.

“It was a very minor, minor prank,” said Shane McKinnie, president of the Washington State University fraternity. “One guy did it to his buddy. They were both upperclassmen … and good friends.”

WSU officials still are investigating whether the incident constitutes hazing under university policies and warrants discipline.

The Saturday morning fire that started with a candle and spread through Sigma Nu’s old electrical system could have been a lot worse.

No one was injured, but firefighters said they found a man bound at the ankles and wrists with duct tape, Pullman Fire Department Capt. Richard Dragoo confirmed again Monday.

Firefighters cut the student loose, and he walked out of a guest room on his own, Dragoo said. There was furniture near the door of the room, but it was not blocking it from being opened, he said. Some fraternity members have said only the man’s ankles were taped.

As students and parents hauled their soggy belongings out of the charred house Monday, many expressed frustration that police, WSU officials and the media initially reported the prank as hazing.

Ron Craig, manager of Bridgeway Construction Co., said fraternity members told him the joke.

“They said it’s one of the pranks they pull when people get too drunk,” Craig said Monday.

The man who was duct-taped told WSU officials “`no big thing, we do this all the time,”’ said Al Jamison, interim associate vice provost for student affairs.

“From their perspective it was more of a prank than a hazing incident,” Jamison said. “It’s the modern-day version of short-sheeting.”

But even so, Jamison said, WSU is investigating the incident seriously. According to WSU’s policy, hazing includes any action, which, regardless of the location or consent of the participant, produces or is reasonably likely to produce bodily harm, significant impairment or endangerment of physical well-being.

The prank also could fall under WSU’s rules against “reckless endangerment,” defined as recklessly engaging in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical harm to another person.

The students involved could face suspension or other university sanctions depending on the outcome of judicial conduct hearings. Prehearing interviews have already begun.

Sigma Nu will be fined for two violations of fire code, Dragoo said. Two residents had been sleeping in rooms without windows, with only a single exit.

WSU officials are relieved the prank didn’t result in serious injury.

Last October, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the University of Nebraska had a duty to protect a fraternity pledge severely injured during a 1993 incident that also involved binding someone in a room.

The 19-year-old Phi Gamma Delta pledge at U of N was handcuffed to a fraternity radiator and forced to drink alcohol, according to court documents. He was later handcuffed to a toilet pipe in a third-floor bathroom. He suffered brain damage after falling while trying to escape through a window.

At WSU, police and fire officials have not said whether alcohol was a factor in the fire or prank.

Parents at the fraternity Monday said they wanted more balanced representation of the facts.

“There’s going to be pranks and stuff, but these kids are good kids, they would never harm each other,” said Sigma Nu father Jim Groves, of Redmond. It was bad timing more than anything else. The old hard-core hazing days? Those days are over.”

With a house grade point average of 3.3, most members were more concerned about their lost textbooks, upcoming tests and papers stored on their now damaged computers.

Groves’ son, Matt, is two months away from graduating, but much of his academic work was being stored on the hard drive of his laptop, which was damaged in the fire.

Approximately 14 students lived in the most heavily damaged third floor of the house’s west wing. Seniors’ basement rooms also received water damage.

WSU officials said they’re working with professors to offer Sigma Nus grace periods for outstanding course work.

Other Greeks rallied behind the burned-out frat Monday. Sororities invited them for lunch. Other fraternities offered them empty beds. WSU officials opened up sections of a vacant dormitory. And Kappa Sigma officials offered temporary shelter in their now vacant house, just up the street.

Craig, of Bridgeway Construction, said it will take 3-4 months to repair the fraternity, which sustained approximately $800,000 to $1 million in damage.

WSU officials said they will begin a “long-term project” to address fire safety at all fraternities and sororities.

Unsupervised candles are the biggest problem, said Jamison. The Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity suffered $2,000 fire damage earlier this month due to a candle.

Candles are prohibited in residence halls, but WSU officials are limited in what they can restrict at the private fraternities and sororities. Jamison said WSU wants to work with Greeks to “establish reasonable limitations” on such hazards.