Former member sues fraternity

A former UA student is suing all 117 1995 members of Alpha Tau Omega, alleging he suffered serious head injuries after drinking too much as a part of his initiation, the Tucson Citizen reported yesterday.

Robert Davis Jr. was pressured to drink whiskey at a pledge event Sept. 28, 1995, according to the civil suit filed Friday in Pima County Superior Court, the Citizen reported. He passed out and hit his head, the article stated.

Pima County Superior Court was unable to release records to the Daily Wildcat, since it takes seven to 14 days for the documents to be processed and sent to the records department, a court spokeswoman said.

TheWildcat was unable to reach the Davis, his lawyer or the defendants yesterday.

Despite the lawsuit, hazing is decreasing in the Greek community, said Bob Gordon, coordinator for Greek Life.

Gordon said he was never forced to drink or participate in hazing.

The Interfraternity Council President and the council's vice presidents of programming, public relations and membership all said at a meeting yesterday that they did not see anyone forced to drink as pledges.

IFC President Troy Zien said there are strict rules in place to prevent what happened to Davis in 1995, but "we're not a policing body."

As a pledging freshman, Gordon said he witnessed hazing, but that scrutiny was forcing such activites out of the fraterity system