Story from NWAnews.com

A judge has ruled that Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity Inc. and its sponsor at Southern Arkansas University, J. Courson, weren’t responsible for the 2004 hazing beating of pledge Phillip Tyler “Ty” Keith.

Thirteenth Judicial District Circuit Judge David Guthrie said Courson and the national fraternity had no control over the actions of members of the fraternity’s Delta Iota chapter at SAU.

Keith, 22, died on Jan. 1 of this year when he was struck by a train, but his parents continued a civil lawsuit against the fraternity. In the suit the Keiths asked for compensatory damages for injuries their son received in the hazing incident and punitive damages for pain, suffering and mental anguish.

Despite a national fraternity policy against hazing and prior expulsion from SAU because of hazing, 14 members of the Delta Iota chapter paddled Keith and other fraternity pledges during April 16, 2004, initiation rites. As a result Keith was seriously injured.

“One of the pledges, Ty Keith, was paddled repeatedly and with such force and severity that he sustained serious injuries to his buttocks and kidneys. He was hospitalized for 11 days and had kidney dialysis,” according to state findings in Guthrie’s summary judgment.

Since a settlement was reached between Keith and chapter members in April 2006, the Keith family has exhausted its civil court options. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed. The chapter was suspended from SAU for a minimum of five years.

Court documents reported that Keith was taken to the fraternity house in Magnolia, where he was blindfolded and received more than 200 “licks” from a paddle. Keith also required skingraft surgeries as a result of the beating.

The national fraternity and SAU have policies prohibiting the use of hazing as a part of the initiation of new members. According to Guthrie’s findings, filed earlier this month, chapters receive guidance from the national fraternity through materials, workshops and annual visits from a representative.

The Delta Iota chapter was expelled from SAU for the use of hazing by paddling pledges in 1995. The chapter returned two years later, and the national fraternity provided education and guidance to the chapter on its policy against hazing.

“Chapter officers signed documents stating that the chapter complied with the anti-hazing policy. Nevertheless, the chapter reverted to its old ways,” Guthrie wrote in his ruling.

According to court documents, chapter members engaged in a conspiracy of silence through intimidation and peer pressure to hide their misconduct.

Guthrie didn’t rule on whether the hazing occurred. He made a judgment about whether the national fraternity and Courson, the fraternity’s sponsor at SAU, had a duty to enforce the antihazing policy.

“The structure of the national fraternity clearly establishes the fact that the national fraternity does not have the means to enforce compliance with its policies,” Guthrie ruled.

Because the national fraternity doesn’t have a duty to enforce policies, it can’t be held responsible for the actions of Delta Iota members, he declared.

“The national fraternity can only effectively set forth general principles of conduct and must rely upon the good faith and integrity of the chapter to operate within those guidelines,” Guthrie wrote.

The case, originally filed in 2004 by Keith, was continued by his parents, Phillip and Diane Keith, after the Magnolia man was fatally struck by a Union-Pacific train on Jan. 1 of this year — one week before a scheduled hearing in his civil suit against the fraternity.

Keith’s death, which occurred west of Buckner, was ruled an accident by Arkansas State Police.