Dallas Morning
News
November 17, 2003
A student at Southern Methodist University remained in critical condition Sunday after ingesting large amounts of water in what school officials said may have been a fraternity hazing incident.
Braylon Curry, 21, was admitted to
Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas early Saturday and had fallen into a coma by
midmorning. Doctors told police he is suffering from pulmonary edema, a condition
where water enters the
lungs, and hyponatremia, a sodium imbalance brought on by excess fluid consumption.
Officials at SMU said Mr. Curry, a junior pledge in Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, spent Friday night engaged in what appeared to be a water-drinking competition at an off-campus apartment. Paul Morris, spokesman for the Dallas Police Department, said an ambulance was called to the Village Apartments at 8 a.m. Saturday with a report that Mr. Curry had been "dazed and incoherent" since 5 a.m. Police said he was in poor condition when he arrived at the hospital.
Sgt. Morris said Mr. Curry's friends, who accompanied him to the hospital, told police the activity was not hazing.
An SMU police officer at the hospital told Dallas police the men were members of Alpha Phi Alpha, which has since been suspended by the university.
By law, hazing is defined as a potentially
harmful activity someone must participate in to get into an organization, SMU
officials said. Jim Caswell, vice president for student affairs at SMU, said
that it was
unclear how many men were involved in Friday night's activity. He said the fraternity
was suspended after a hazing incident three years ago and re-colonized on campus
a few months ago. The fraternity has seven members.
"Our primary concern is the young man in question," Mr. Caswell said. "We'll try to get to the bottom of this as the week progresses."
Adrian Barnes, a friend of Mr. Curry's
family, said Mr. Curry was an all-around guy, from the football skills he demonstrated
at Allen High School and Austin College to his close relationship with his brother
and
mother.
"He's just a great person –
a good athlete and a good person. He's involved in everything," Mr. Barnes
said.
Mr. Barnes said he was not aware Mr. Curry had pledged a fraternity.
Mr. Caswell said the fraternity had been suspended pending a police investigation. If the investigation proves the activity was hazing, he said, it is "very likely" the suspension will be permanent.
"We want those men to know they must cease and desist everything they're doing," he said. "We're trying to get to the bottom of who was responsible."
The university held an educational
anti-hazing event Friday before the incident and had published a half-page advertisement
of Texas' hazing law in SMU's daily newspaper that day, Mr. Caswell said. The
ads are printed
once a semester, he said.
"We're very clear, very vocal about our hazing policy. It's state law," he said. "For any student here, you've got to think, 'How could they miss this?' "
