LSU Fraternity Loses Charter After Roswell Native's Death

BATON ROUGE, LA — A Louisiana State University fraternity's charter has been revoked just days after a pledge died following an incident police are investigating as possible hazing. Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters said Monday that it has revoked the charter from its Louisiana Beta Chapter at LSU.

The move comes four days after 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver of Roswell, Georgia, who was seeking membership into Phi Delta Theta, died after he was taken to a hospital from the fraternity's house early Thursday morning.

“We continue to keep the entire Gruver family in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time,” said Bob Biggs, executive vice president and CEO of Phi Delta Theta. “This is a very tragic situation that should have never happened.”

Phi Delta Theta made the decision following preliminary findings that revealed that some of its chapter members were violating its risk management policies, including the Alcohol Free Housing policy, it said in a statement (Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

Gruver, a freshman at the university, was taken from the fraternity house to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital on Thursday where he died shortly after arriving, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Beau Clark previously told Patch. CNN.com previously reported that Gruver's death is being investigated as stemming from a possible hazing incident.

Biggs said in a statement that Phi Delta Theta will continue to help in the investigation into Gruver's death and encourages "authorities to prosecute those involved to the fullest extent of the law." The fraternity, he added, will also continue its internal investigation to understand how the events unfolded in an effort to hold those who violated the fraternity's polices accountable.

“This tragedy furthers our belief that one of the biggest problems on college campuses today is the abuse and misuse of alcohol,” Biggs added. “In 2000, we implemented Alcohol-Free Housing to address this issue, but this incident serves as a stark reminder of why we need to continue to educate our undergraduates on the dangers of alcohol, hazing, and be constantly vigilant to ensure our risk management policies are fully implemented.”

The CEO also noted Phi Delta Theta will also launch a thorough review of the fraternity's health and safety policies and educational programs and is open to rolling out new initiatives that could prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.

The autopsy's preliminary findings revealed Gruver, a Blessed Trinity Catholic High School graduate, suffered "marked cerebral and pulmonary edema," or swelling, and blood and urine tests conducted at the hospital show "highly elevated blood alcohol level" and the presence of THC in the student's urine. THC is the chemical compound in marijuana that causes the feeling of euphoria.

A funeral mass for Gruver will be held at 10 a.m. Sept. 19 at St. Peter Chanel Catholic Church in Roswell. According to his obituary, Gruver graduated from Blessed Trinity Catholic High School and was majoring in political journalism at LSU. He is survived by his mother, Rae Ann; father, Stephen; brother, Alex; sister, Lily Kate; grandmother, Charlene Feldner; grandfather, Eugene Gruver and a slew of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.

Image via Facebook