Wake-Up Call: The frat pack

Even as Jason Wren's family was mourning the Littleton freshman's tragic death at a Kansas frat house, Leslie Lanahan, the mother of Lynn "Gordie" Bailey, a pledge who was found literally dead-drunk in the the Chi Psi fraternity house in Boulder in 2004, agreed to settle her lawsuit against the...

By Patricia Calhoun

March 18, 2009

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Even as Jason Wren's family was mourning the Littleton freshman's tragic death at a Kansas frat house, Leslie Lanahan, the mother of Lynn "Gordie" Bailey, a pledge who was found literally dead-drunk in the the Chi Psi fraternity house in Boulder in 2004, agreed to settle her lawsuit against the national Chi Psi organization -- avoiding a trial that would have started this week.

The settlement includes an unspecified monetary amount that the family will put in the foundation they started in Gordie's name. Alpha Psi Delta Corp. has also agreed to change the fraternity's alcohol policy nationwide: By 2012, all chapters will have a live-in house director, adults will be present at pledge functions -- and no alcohol will be served at those events. The fraternity also agreed to admit that Bailey was hazed.

Good moves, but all too late to help Jason Wren.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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