Chico State rethinks party life after death

Chico --

- The fraternity and sorority houses scattered along the streets by Chico State University were quiet and dark Friday, with no takers for the requisite thrift-store couches on porches and roofs.

At the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house, the American flag hung at half-staff.

A day earlier, every Greek social organization at the school had been suspended after the alcohol-related death of Mason Sumnicht, a 21-year-old senior and fraternity pledge at Sigma Pi.

It was the latest episode - the worst-case tragedy - at a state university unable to shake off a long-held reputation as a top-tier party school, one popular among Bay Area kids, who make up 20 percent of the campus' 16,500 students.

Too often, fraternity and sorority houses are at the center of the party-school problems.

Hazing, assaults, raucous parties and binge drinking are the most serious issues. Academic failure and neighborhood complaints are also on the list.

"It's got to change," said Joe Wills, a university spokesman. "They have got to change."

Like every 21-year-old Chico State student, Sumnicht would have received an official university birthday card, wishing him well and warning him of the dangers of too much drinking.

And like every undergrad, he was required to take an alcohol education course.

See original here:
Chico State rethinks party life after death