Special Section
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
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Student’s death five years ago still resonates on campus HAILEY R. BRANSON Projects Editor
‘A hall party, in essence, out of control’
The memory is fading from the OU campus. It is an effect of time, an effect of an ever-changing presence on a four-year campus. But that memory of what happened five years ago today is far from gone. Early Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004, OU freshman Blake Adam Hammontree, 19, was found dead in the Sigma Chi fraternity house at 1405 Elm Ave. Hammontree, a Sigma Chi pledge, died of alcohol poisoning, the medical examiner ruled, according to Norman Police Department Capt. Leonard Judy. “It, to me, was one of the most difficult things I’ve gone through as president of the university,” OU President David Boren said last week. “It was so painful.”
The night before Hammontree was found, the fraternity was having its big-brother, little-brother party, an event during which pledges were matched with older members as mentors. The event became a raucous party, and alcohol was served out of members’ rooms, according to an affidavit written by Detective Jim Parks of the Norman Police Department, and cited in The Daily in October 2004. An anonymous student cited as “a former Sigma Chi pledge who wished to remain anonymous” told The Daily that pledges were pressured to binge drink during such parties. “It was a hall party, in essence, out of control,” Boren said last week. “And the whole scene was such that it reflected the
chaos of what had gone on.” At some point, Hammontree laid down in a second-floor bedroom belonging to his Sigma Chi older brother, John Frame, a sophomore. Hammontree was believed to have been drinking beer and Hot Damn, a cinnamon schnapps shot, Tim Kuykendall, the district attorney at the time, said a week later. Hammontree had been helped to a bathroom, where he vomited multiple times, according to the affidavit. At about 10:30 a.m. the next morning, Sigma Chi members found Hammontree “cold, stiff, purple and beyond resuscitation,” the affidavit stated. Norman police received a call from the house at 10:48 a.m. Thursday morning for a “possible medical call,” according to the police incident report filed afterward. Police found FIVE YEARS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
PHOTOS SUBMITTED
Blake Adam Hammontree is shown in family photographs with his father, Jack; his mother, LeAnn; his sister, Olivia, and as a child. Hammontree died at age 19 as a freshman at OU in September 2004.
Remembering a Son ‘He was sincere, genuine and just fun’ JAMIE HUGHES Editor-in-Chief
In September 1997, the OU football team defeated Syracuse University and won its first home game in nearly two years. The crowd stormed the field, and, in the process, Jack Hammontree lost his 12-year-old son. Jack searched for a few hours before calling the OU Police Department. “[I] said, ‘I think I lost my son,’” Jack said recently. “They said, ‘You wouldn’t be Mr. Hammontree, would you?’ And he was in there playing ping-pong and eating donuts.” Seven years later, in the same month, Jack would lose his son, Blake, again at OU. But this time would be different. There would be no happy reunion in the police department.
High school Blake Adam Hammontree never had to try hard in school. He tested well but never wanted to be in the gifted and talented programs his elementary schools tried to place him in. “He hated that stuff,” Jack said. “He would test off the charts on all the verbal stuff, but it wasn’t important to him to prove it to anybody.” Blake’s younger sister, Olivia, now 19 and an education sophomore at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, also said school came naturally to Blake. “School was easy for him and a little tougher for me,” she said. “[We were] just complete opposites.” Still, Olivia and Blake were close friends, even if they did fight like brothers and sisters do. Blake finished his sophomore year at Enid High School before he and his family moved to Medford, a small town just north of Enid. His mother, LeAnn, said she and Jack had told Blake he could commute to Enid High School every morning, but he passed on the opportunity, LeAnn said, because “he wasn’t much of a morning person.” Blake was not a serious athlete, but he played almost every sport until junior high school. When he arrived in Medford, he started playing baseball again. A lot of his friends talked him into playing again, Jack said, but it was a light-hearted game for him. “They had a good time,” Jack said. “They teased him about having the record for walks.” “It was more to just have fun,” LeAnn said.
Becoming a Sooner Blake took the residual ACT at OU and made a 24, which was then the qualifying score for acceptance to OU. “He got exactly a 24,” Jack said. “He was so excited it was funny.” Nearly three decades after his father had done the same, Blake moved into Walker Center in fall 2004. “It was like a time capsule,” Jack said. “We’re talking 30 years, and it was just like the same. A little bit of paint here, but just the same.” Blake never got to declare a major at OU. He had thought about law school but did not get a chance to commit to it. “We always knew if he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, he could do it,” LeAnn said. “He just wasn’t real serious about it yet.”
A wealth of friends Blake was known for making friends easily. That is what his family remembers most about his high school years. When his family moved to Medford, he “made every friend over there,” LeAnn said. She said she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what drew people to Blake but that he made friends wherever he went. And when he came to OU, that did not change. “He just attracted friends,” LeAnn said. “He was sincere, genuine and just fun.” Blake’s parents knew his outgoing personality would draw him to a fraternity. LeAnn was a member of the Delta Gamma sorority while she attended OU, but Jack never joined a fraternity. “We assumed he’d do a fraternity, but we never knew which one,” Jack said.
The call In September, Jack was preparing to visit Norman for Dad’s Day festivities. Blake’s fraternity, Sigma Chi, had a father-son Atari tournament scheduled. Jack had mastered Atari in law school. But a tragic turn of events would bump up his visit by a week. Jack was at his office in Medford, where he is an associate district judge, when a family friend called to tell him Blake was found dead in the Sigma Chi house. “I got a call from Dennis McIntyre,” Jack said. “His son was Blake’s longtime friend, and David’s the one who found Blake. His first comments were, ‘Jack, you need to sit down.’
“Then he said, ‘They found Blake at the fraternity, and he’s dead.’” Jack said the feeling was surreal. LeAnn had been to the doctor earlier that morning for a blood test and decided to return home because she had a sore throat. She was starting to get into bed when the home phone rang. It was Joan McIntyre, Dennis’ wife. LeAnn said she does not remember the details of the conversation, but she said Joni kept her on the phone. She told LeAnn to get dressed and pack a bag. Jack came home shortly after he was called. He and LeAnn still had to tell Olivia. “We got her out of school and just headed out,” LeAnn said. Blake’s family arrived at the roped-off Sigma Chi house in about two-and-a-half hours. They spent the night in the Sooner Hotel and Suites, about a block east of the fraternity house. The next morning, LeAnn collected Blake’s belongings from his dorm room. Blake’s parents decided to bury their son outside Medford but had his funeral service at Central Christian Church in Enid. “I’ve always been happy with that choice because that’s where Blake grew up,” LeAnn said. But the church was not big enough to hold all the lives Blake had touched. “Between Enid and Medford people and people at OU, it was overflowing,” LeAnn said.
No bitterness The Hammontrees did not want to have a large part in developing OU’s alcohol policy, which was implemented as a result of Blake’s death. “It was very traumatic because the drinking policy was so drastic,” Jack said. “I mean, oh my gosh, people were upset. In all honesty, Blake wouldn’t want to be the poster boy for sobriety. He’d want to be responsible about it, nobody getting hurt, everyone having a good time.” He was surprised at his feelings toward those involved with his son’s death, he said. “I never had any of that bitterness,” he said. “That’s amazing I didn’t, probably. It was funny — I guess because I’m a judge everybody just assumed there’d be a big lawsuit, but it was never a consideration.” REMEMBER CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Five years
Continued from page 1 Hammontree’s body in the room. It was later determined that his blood alcohol level was .42, or five times the legal limit for drunken driving. A blood alcohol level of .35 is comparable to surgical anesthesia, according to information from OU Health Services. “In this case, no one thought to take him to the emergency room,” Boren said last week. “No one called a medical professional. You wish that they had.”
The aftermath
“What’s disconcerting to me is how little impact (Hammontree’s death) seems to have,” Boren told The Daily that November. Boren announced on December 2 a 15-point policy to curb alcohol abuse and underage drinking, developed with the input of the committee. Major points within the policy included making fraternities and residence halls dry, a mandatory “three strikes” policy for students and organizations, the elimination of unregulated summer rush activities by fraternities and the establishment of the SafeRide voucher system through a local taxi or public transportation company. Boren said in an interview last week that campus is not completely dry because there are still events held on campus in which third party vendors are allowed to sell drinks to those 21 and older. He said he understands that there are people who drink responsibly.
Within hours of police finding Hammontree’s body, Boren announced the closure of the Sigma Chi house and the suspension of the fraternity’s activities. Policy approved among string of The next week, police arrested Cody Barrington, a 21-year-old Sigma Chi member. Barrington was alcohol-related incidents charged with a felony count of The OU Board of Regents apfurnishing alcohol to a minor. proved Boren’s policy on Dec. 6, The alcohol he purchased was “What’s disconcerting to me is believed to be the same kind how little impact (Hammontree’s 2004, one day after a freshman, Charles David Palmisano, was Hammontree was drinking the death) seems to have.” taken to the hospital after police night he died. found him intoxicated in Walker The Cleveland County disCenter. —OU PRESIDENT DAVID BOREN, NOV. 2004 trict attorney’s office later issued Three days before the policy subpoenas to other witnesses to was approved, December 3, a Hammontree’s death, some of different student, an unnamed male, was sent to the whom were Sigma Chi members. Kuykendall told The Daily at the time that the wit- hospital from the Gamma Phi Beta sorority house after nesses were given subpoenas requiring them to tes- police found him intoxicated and vomiting. Sources told The Daily days later that the student tify before the Oklahoma Multi-County Grand Jury because they were uncooperative with the investigation was a former member of Sigma Chi. On December 8, another student, a 21-year-old into Hammontree’s death. Couch Center resident, was sent to the hospital after Testifying would serve the primary purpose of bringing more details to light, rather than incriminating the being found by police in a lounge. He had drank a lot of alcohol while taking prescription pills, he told the individuals, Kuykendall said. Four members of Sigma Chi testified before the police. The enforcement of the new alcohol policy began on grand jury on November 16. Jan. 18, 2005. Several amendments to the alcohol policy have Alcohol committee and a new policy been made in the years following its enactment. Boren said last week that he is happy with the steps On Oct. 6, 2004, Boren announced the creation of a he took with the committee and the policy and that if 20-member committee of student group leaders, faculty, staff and alumni as well as Kuykendall (who also he had to do it all over again, he would do it the same was the Phi Delta Theta adviser) to report to him about way. alcohol abuse and underage drinking on campus. Sourcing: A variety of archival information, includKuykendall later was replaced on the committee being past reporting and information from The Oklahoma cause of his involvement in the investigation. Less than a month after the committee was formed, Daily, police and court records were used in combinaon October 28, police sent a member of the Delta tion with recent interviews for this article. Upsilon fraternity to the emergency room after finding him intoxicated in his dorm room.
Remember
Continued from page 1 LeAnn said she shared Jack’s sentiments. “That wasn’t part of our thing — blaming or being mad at somebody for letting that happen,” she said.
Coping with tragedy The Hammontree family received hundreds of cards, plants and other condolences after Blake’s death. Jack said they received about $10,000 and put the money into a scholarship fund. Each year they give an OU-bound Medford High School graduate a $1,000 scholarship. “Our criteria’s pretty loosey goosey, but we’re going to give it to ... kind of the underachievers we know can make it,” Jack said. “The ones like him, not the top, they’re going to get their scholarships. Not the low and the poor because they’re going to get their help, too, but those in the middle like we were.” LeAnn said giving the scholarship has helped her deal with the loss of her son. But that loss is still too
difficult to talk about. “It feels good to do it, but I don’t talk about it,” she said. Jack wrote a book he gave to LeAnn for Christmas that he calls “The Blakester,” his nickname for Blake. “That helped a lot,” he said. “It’s kind of like therapy. Other than that, the football season’s cool for me. It’s hard, but it’s cool.” Jack said he still feels the closest to Blake when he attends OU football games. LeAnn just tries to get through each day, she said. “When you ask about what we’ve done the past five years, it’s more a matter of survival,” she said. “Ask your mothers if they can imagine just suddenly you not being here. “I have thought I would have to move away to start over, and that is why I think we ended up in Medford those few years before he had to leave, so I could start over,” she said. LeAnn said she still does not like going back to Enid and rarely does. “I can’t do it,” she said. “I think I was sent to Medford for a way to help me survive.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Jack Hammontree helps his son, Blake, tie a necktie.
Sooner Sampler » THE DAILY’S MEREDITH MORIAK ASKED STUDENTS WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT OU’S ALCOHOL POLICY
“I think it’s good that they make us do the three classes, especially if you’re greek. They just gave you a little more information than you already knew.” -ALISON BAYLIS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FRESHMAN
“I think it’s good. I like that you have a chance to test out the waters, in that you have three strikes and then you’re out.” -JOHN GAGE, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING SOPHOMORE
“I think it’s the best policy for it being an academic setting, so I think it’s good that they adhere to that. But at the same time, I don’t really know how many people follow that so I think it’s hard to determine if it’s effective.”
“I honestly don’t have too much of an opinion on that because I didn’t drink too much before I was 21 ... I figure most of the colleges out there nowadays have some sort of anti-alcohol policy except on game days.”
-TAYLOR OVER, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE JUNIOR
-DEREK RILEY, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS SOPHOMORE
Years of Consequence From left: Blake Adam Hammontree; Norman police officials leave the Sigma Chi house the morning Hammontree was found; OU President David Boren announces the close of Sigma Chi within hours of police finding Hammontree’s body. ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Sept. 30, 2004: Blake Hammontree is found dead in the Sigma Chi fraternity house.
Oct. 3, 2004: A memorial for Blake Hammontree is held on the lawn of the Phi Gamma Delta house.
Sept. 30, 2004: OU President David Boren suspends all Sigma Chi social activities and announces the house will be closed
Oct. 5, 2004: A member of Sigma Chi is arrested and charged with a felony count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
Oct. 4, 2004: Boren announces the creation of a 20-person alcohol advisory committee.
Nov. 15, 2004: Four witnesses to Blake Hammontree’s death testify before a grand jury.
Nov. 18, 2004: The last meeting of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Problem of Underage Drinking is hosted.
Dec. 6, 2004: The OU Board of Regents approves Boren’s Student Alcohol Policy.
Dec. 2, 2004: Boren presents a 15-point plan to combat alcohol abuse at OU, which included a three-strike policy.
Jan. 18, 2005: First official day of new alcohol policy at OU.
GRAPHIC BY JAMIE HUGHES
Special Section
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
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Recolonized Sigma Chi tries to move forward CAITLIN HARRISON Daily Staff Writer
The president of Sigma Chi has said his fraternity is trying to move forward and get past several years of trials. Sigma Chi now seems like any other fraternity on campus. It has a strong brotherhood, a house and philanthropies. But that was not the case just a few years ago. Sigma Chi was suspended from campus in fall 2004 after a freshman pledge, Blake Adam Hammontree, was found dead in the fraternity’s house, the result of alcohol poisoning during a house party. “Even though (Hammontree’s death) was five years ago, it seems like every new year people still hear and know about it,” said Sean McLaughlin, Sigma Chi president. “And we’re trying to change that perception.” The fraternity was recolonized at OU in fall 2007. Such a quick return is almost unheard of for suspended fraternities, said Robert Williams, alumni supervisory committee chairman and former chapter adviser.
An early return Suspended fraternities are typically off campus for a minimum of four years, Williams said. OU approved Sigma Chi’s return to campus about a year ahead of what was originally planned, OU President David Boren said in an interview last week. Sigma Chi’s national organization’s involvement and cooperation with OU aided in allowing the fraternity to return so soon, Boren said. “But had their nationals not gotten that involved, had their nationals not worked in close partnership with us, and if they had declined to do a person by person, every single individual background check and interview, we would not have let them back on,” Boren said. Each student who was a member of the fraternity at the time of Hammontree’s death was carefully evaluated, and the national organization did a chapter review that was conducted in partnership with alumni. Only 13 members were involved with Sigma Chi’s recolonization. The members, McLaughlin said, pledged in 2004, were initiated in 2006 at Oklahoma State University and remained close during the fraternity’s three years away from OU. “Once they’re back, recolonized, in essence, we regard them as having made a fresh start,” Boren said. “So they’ll be treated like everyone else.”
‘Darn sure’ some stayed away Boren said the major perpetrators in Hammontree’s death were not involved in the recolonization. “They weren’t back as members of that fraternity,” Boren said. “And some of them kind of grouped together in some of the apartments and so on around town, and some of the bad behavior continued. “We made darn sure that those people were not part of the recolonization.” To return to campus, the university required that Sigma Chi present a business plan for chapter operations and activities, as well as form an alumni supervisory committee composed of fraternity alumni who would oversee the chapter’s activities. The committee is still in place, Williams said. Boren said much thought went into whether the university should allow Sigma Chi back on campus. “We consulted with the Interfraternity Council, too, because, in many ways, some
ARCHIVE PHOTOS
Above: The body of Blake Adam Hammontree is taken from the Sigma Chi fraternity house in September 2004. Right: Randall Smith, sophomore Sigma Chi member, and his attorney outside a courtroom in November 2004. Bottom right: Members of Sigma Chi sit outside the house as the state medical examiner arrives.
‘We do understand that we are still under a microscope of criticism.’ Sean McLaughlin, Sigma Chi president of the other fraternities, and I can see this, felt like, ‘Well, we’re under stricter rules today because they were irresponsible,’” Boren said.
The effect of time The fraternity also returned on the condition of a one-strike policy, as opposed to the three strikes allowed for other greek organizations. “One infraction can cost us the charter forever,” Williams said. “I’m very pleased to report that we have not had that strike. Young men like Sean have done an admirable job representing the values of Sigma Chi.” McLaughlin, who pledged during Sigma Chi’s first semester back, said he and his pledge class learned a great deal from the 13 members who helped recolonize. “Because we were trained and taught by the guys who came back, those 13 guys, we try to pass that along, that what we have is very special and we can lose it very quickly,” McLaughlin said. The suspension has not affected the fraternity’s rush or kept potential new members from pledging, McLaughlin said. “Pretty much everyone we wanted, we got them,” he said. “During recruitment, we have so much to offer.” Tim Kuykendall, Cleveland County district attorney at the time of Hammontree’s death, said it has been just long enough that many OU students are not aware of what happened in 2004. “The students that were there at the time have graduated and moved on, and new
students coming in have never heard of Blake Hammontree,” Kuykendall said. “I think it had an impact at the time. I think it has less of an impact now because students have forgotten that drinking can lead to death.”
Alcohol precautions Sigma Chi takes as much precaution as possible in terms of underage drinking, McLaughlin said. “We really try very hard,” he said. “The culture of the campus currently can get outof-hand sometimes, and especially during things like recruitment and game days.” “But we really make a conscious effort to try to keep that stuff away from the house, and if we do have things off campus or with third-party vendors, they are very well-regulated and monitored, because we do understand that we are still under a microscope of criticism.” Although OU has instituted a stricter alcohol policy since 2004, it is not enough to curtail underage drinking, said Michael Dunn, executive director of Sigma Chi International fraternity. “It’s certainly an appropriate measure to take, but we don’t live in a bubble,” Dunn said. “I don’t think a fail-safe method has been invented yet. Does it take a tragedy like Blake’s to make us wake up and realize what’s going on here?” Dunn said Sigma’s alcohol education program is also a step in the right direction, but that ultimately individuals must make their own decisions. He said it is unlikely there will ever be a permanent solution to the problem.
“For us, we know it’s a goal that may never be accomplished because as we get these young people through the underage part, there’s more underage people that are going to come through behind them,” Dunn said. “All we can do is be vigilant with the education process.” Williams said if nothing else, the men of Sigma Chi learned something valuable from Hammontree’s death. “We have learned,” he said. We have taken that and turned it into something positive. I think we have a fine group of quality young men that gained from that tragedy, that are more mature [and] more respectful of society.”
Years of Consequence Left: Three subpoenaed OU students walk through the halls of the Oklahoma County Court House in November 2004 on their way to testify before a grand jury in the Blake Hammontree case. Right: Dean Spears, then UOSA president, and Norman Police Chief Phil Cotten, far right, listen to Rennie Cook, center, director of the Center for Student Life, speak during a panel discussion on alcohol in Dale Hall in November 2004. ARCHIVE PHOTOS
March 2, 2005: Four OU students are charged with felony counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor in relation to Blake Hammontree’s death.
April 20, 2005: Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the first fraternity at OU to receive a strike under the new alcohol policy.
Nov. 9, 2005: Triangle Fraternity refuses to sign an agreement to comply with the new alcohol policy and is suspended from the Interfraternity Council.
Sept. 30, 2005: The first National Hazing Prevention Week is recognized at OU.
March 27, 2006: Boren announces Sigma Chi can return to campus as early as the spring of 2007.
Dec. 6, 2005: The OU Board of Regents approves three amendments to the alcohol policy.
May 18, 2007: Boren announces Sigma Chi will be reinstated and will participate in fall rush.
Dec. 5, 2006: The OU Board of Regents approves a strike deferment policy.
Aug. 30, 2007: Boren tells The Daily third-party vendors can sell alcohol at greek houses on game days on a trial basis. GRAPHIC BY JAMIE HUGHES/THE DAILY
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Special Section
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2009
Boren reflects on implementation of alcohol policy
JEREMY DICKIE/THE DAILY
OU President David Boren answers questions during an interview regarding alcohol on campus Sept. 21 in his office. Boren has actively taken measures to curb alcohol-related incidents. CHARLES WARD Assistant Managing Editor
The number of OU students charged with drunken driving is higher than it has ever been since OU instituted its “three strikes” policy, according to information OU spokesman Jay Doyle provided. In 2008, OU received 261 reports from lawenforcement agencies about OU students charged with driving under the influence, 53 more reports than OU received in any of the previous three years of the three-strikes policy, and 96 more than OU received in 2005, the first year of the policy. OU President David Boren said two factors led to this increase: increased enforcement of drunken driving laws both by OUPD and Norman police, and students’ fading memories about the reasons OU implemented the policy. OU’s three-strikes policy took effect in January 2005, three months after the alcoholrelated death of Blake Hammontree “I feel like we have the right to be strict, and should be strict [about DUI enforcement], especially when we’re providing [help], like the SafeRide alternative,” Boren said. Norman hasn’t instituted any specific crackdowns on drunken driving since Hammontree’s death or since OU implemented its alcohol policy, but has increased its enforcement of drunken driving laws generally over many years, said Norman Police Department Capt. Leonard Judy. He also attributed the higher number of OU student DUI arrests to the passage of time after Hammontree’s death. “You could probably contact 100 students at random ... and say, ‘Have you ever heard of Blake Hammontree?’ And I would imagine a majority of them [would] say ‘Who?’” he said.
BY THE NUMBERS A greater spike was seen in the number of 17-20-year-olds arrested for all drunken driving offenses by OUPD, including DUI, driving while intoxicated and actual physical control. In 2008, 164 such arrests were made, 100 more than were made in 2005, according to information obtained in an open-records request. OU’s alcohol-related discipline charges are also down from where they were when the three-strikes policy came into being, according to information Doyle provided. The first full year, 2005 through 2006, 820 students faced charges under the threestrikes policy. In 2008 through 2009, that number dropped to 695. However, the low point under the policy, 601 cases, came in 2006 through 2007, the policy’s second full year. More of the OU’s first-time alcohol cases are being handled with deferred first strikes, 288 in 2008 through 2009, up from 240 the previous year. A student is eligible to defer a first strike for non-DUI offenses, allowing the strike to disappear completely from the student’s
record if he or she has no additional alcoholrelated offenses within a year of receiving the deferred strike and otherwise completes the conditions of the strike, such as mandatory education or counseling. “This ... is not a scientific survey, but just from my experience, when students get that first deferred strike or warning, so to speak, or they get a first strike, parents start to get involved. Friends and parents start to get involved,” Boren said. “I think you also have a lot of students who just say, ‘Oh, these are big risks for me, and I don’t want this to happen, and I don’t want this to be in my records, if it’s a strike that’s not deferred.’” Second strikes are up some, with 25 last chances being given in 2008 through 2009. OU issued 12 second strikes in 2005 through 2006 and 13 in 2006 through 2007, with 30 being the high water mark in 2007 through 2008. Only three students have taken third strikes, or automatic one-semester suspensions, since the program started in 2005, but two of those third strikes came last year. “When you get to the second strike, we’ve been very fortunate, we’ve had almost complete parental involvement and family involvement, or a family friend or an older friend of the student get involved,” Boren said. A final statistic shows the number of students using OU’s SafeRide system is increasing year after year. Ridership is up from 3,425 in the 2004 through 2005 fiscal year (JulyJune), the first year of the program, to 9,983 in 2008 through 2009. “Those figures are extremely encouraging to me, which makes me feel that the ... change in the culture is still strong, even though the DUI figures have been going up,” Boren said. OU converted SafeRide from a shuttlebus system augmented by taxi vouchers that served only a limited area near campus, to a system that allows students to call taxis to take them anywhere within Norman’s city limits on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights, according to both Boren and the SafeRide Web site. “We used to have what we called SafeRide, but it was a little bus that went around mainly the Campus Corner area,” Boren said. “It was not all over the city. It was not really very accessible, because you had to stand on a street corner, and wait for it to come.” The use of SafeRide is anonymous and OU administrators cannot bring charges under the three strikes policy for the use of SafeRide, Boren said.
A CHANGE IN THE CULTURE Boren said Hammontree’s death was one of the most difficult things he’s gone through in his nearly 15 years as president. “I vowed to myself that’s something I never want to do again,” he said. “It was so painful, obviously for his parents, for his sister. I spent a great deal of time with them during the aftermath of his death. I wanted to make sure it never happened again. I think that’s the best way we can pay tribute to him, honor
Number of strikes since 2005 800
his memory is to try to make sure that no life of an OU student is lost in the future through alcohol poisoning.” The three-strikes policy is just one measure OU took to address alcohol issues. Others included mandatory Web-based alcohol education for incoming students under the age of 22, the addition of an alcohol counselor to Goddard Health Center’s staff, alcohol education for students taking a first strike and alcohol counseling for students taking a second. “The University of Oklahoma can’t prevent students from drinking,” said Tim Kuykendall, who served as Cleveland County District Attorney at the time of Hammontree’s death. “Neither can local law enforcement. Now, they can deal with it as increased enforcement, but there you’re dealing with it on the back end. I think it’s more important to deal with it on the front end, through education programs. And that’s something I know the university is doing.” Kuykendall is also a former chapter adviser for Phi Delta Theta fraternity at OU. The number one goal of the new policy, though, was to eliminate binge drinking, Boren said. To that end, OU required residence halls and OU-recognized greek houses to be alcohol-free. This primarily affected fraternities, because sororities were already alcohol-free and students in residence were already subject to inspection, Boren said. Boren said OU took the step to eliminate hall parties, parties that took place behind the closed and locked doors of primarily fraternity houses, and binge drinking, which the Centers for Disease Control’s Web site states typically happens when men consume five or more drinks in two hours, or women who consume four or more drinks in the same time frame. “What we’ve found is that people who are in public, or in regulated situations, don’t tend to binge drink,” he said. “Most people don’t really want to be carried out of a public restaurant or public place. They don’t want the public embarrassment.” Boren said the alcohol-free house policy is enforced by inspections. However, fraternity houses receive a phone call 15-60 minutes prior to the inspection, Boren said. “Believe me, having seen photographs and having heard detailed accounts of what the Sigma Chi house looked like that night ... there was no way with 15 minutes notice or an hour’s notice, that that house, what happened there, could have been cleaned up and not been obvious to any inspector that stepped in,” Boren said. The announcements prior to inspection, though, are troubling to Kuykendall. “When they do things like that, it kind of defeats the purpose of random checks, when you call first and say you’re coming,” he said. “If the policy is to prevent the hall parties, then it’s working. If the policy is to keep alcohol out of the individual rooms, it’s not. Or to keep kegs out of the hallway or kegs out of the foyer, it’s not. Because in 30 minutes you can certainly haul the keg in the kitchen, or back room, or closet, or any individual room and the ... checks do not extend into going into those individual rooms.” Boren said he expects individual room doors to be “cracked” when inspectors arrive, but that he said OU inspectors would not go “to the extreme of going in and searching through everyone’s sock drawers in their rooms and everything.” Greek houses agreed to the inspection policy, since OU does not own most of the fraternity houses, Boren said. That prevented OU from imposing any search policy it chose to on fraternities. On the other hand, he said, OU would not recognize greek organizations that did not agree to being searched, which would prevent those houses from participating in rush, intramurals and the like. Additionally, OU’s Panhellenic sororities stated they would not socialize with houses that did not agree to the new policies, he said. “Our goal is not to entrap people,” he said. “Our goal is to stop dangerous behavior. So, we’ll try to strike a balance with you.” That balance may be tipping more toward increased inspections at fraternity houses and residence halls. “I think that it’s time for us to make sure that we have enough inspections and increase the frequency of them and maybe the thoroughness of them, to send a strong message again,” Boren said. “Remember, this policy’s here. Remember, we can be
Student DUI Violations 300
261
700
500 400
250
778
600
208 200
165
563 150
124
300
100
200
50
100 0
Deferred Strike One
Strike One
source: Jay Doyle, University Spokesperson
80
3
Strike Two
Strike Three
0
2005
2006
source: Jay Doyle, University Spokesperson
2007
2008
there inspecting at any time. And we will be. Early hours of the morning, and unexpected times, and so on. I think you’ll see inspections stepped up.” Opinions are split as to whether these changes have made a difference in OU’s alcohol culture. “I think it has,” Boren said. “I think it needs some reinforcing again.” Kuykendall said Hammontree’s death did cause a change in how OU, as an institution, views alcohol abuse and misuse. “I think it caused OU to take a harsher look at people and groups that violate the drinking policy,” he said. “I think it caused the University of Oklahoma to make some changes in their policy. I think it woke up students to the problems of excessive drinking.” However, he also said even with that awareness, the problem of binge drinking is growing, not shrinking. “I think binge drinking among students is out of control,” he said. “They don’t realize the dangers of drinking in excess. I think it’s a bigger problem than it’s ever been.” And Judy said he thinks the issues of underage and binge drinking are perennial problems, ones that won’t disappear anytime soon. “Students who come to the university in Norman, just as they do nationwide, frequently are on their own and left to their own devices and free of parental supervision for the first time in their lives,” he said. “In a lot of cases, they feel it appropriate for them to kind of spread their wings and do some things that they’ve heard about and that their peers are doing and they see going on.” Even Boren said completely eliminating alcohol issues on campus isn’t an achievable goal. “Will we ever achieve perfection? No.” he said. “I understand there’s no way that the university’s seeing eyes can be on everything 24 hours a day, and [on] every bit of behavior.”
ALCOHOL FACTS AND RESOURCES Signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning: • Unconsciousness • Slow or irregular breathing • Strong odor of alcohol • Cold, clammy, pale or bluish skin • Vomiting while “sleeping” or passed out Campus resources: OUPD: 911 or 325-1717 OU Health Services, Health Promotion: 3254611 ext. 41777 OU Counseling and Testing Services: 3252911 Anonymous Hazing and Alcohol Hotline: 3255000 SafeRide: 325-RIDE SafeWalk: 325-WALK SafeRide: A free taxi service for students with an OU ID available anywhere within Norman. Names and ID numbers are not recorded. The service is available Thursday to Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Facts about alcohol: • The liver removes alcohol at a constant rate of approximately one standard drink per hour • A standard drink is classified as a 12 oz. beer, a 5 oz. wine or 1 shot of liquor • 1 in 5 OU students choose not to drink Preventative measures to take while drinking: • Eat before and/or during the evening • Count the number of drinks while consuming them • Pace drinking to one or fewer drinks per hour • Avoid drinking games • Decide not to drink at a party Sexual activity and alcohol: • 90 percent of all campus rapes, including acquaintance rape, are alcohol-related. • 60 percent of college women infected with STDs were infected while under the influence of alcohol. • Students are more likely to have unprotected sex while intoxicated. • Alcohol is the most commonly used drug to assist in sexual assault. OU’s ideas and policies: • OU will not issue a strike if you act to get help for a medical emergency. • Each year an estimated 1,700 college students die in alcohol related deaths. What is binge drinking? • A high-risk activity that results in drinking alcohol that brings the BAC to .08 percent or above. • For a typical adult, the pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks for a male, or four or more drinks for a female in about two hours. Of college students surveyed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: • 25 percent reported academic consequences because of their drinking • 1,700 students die every year from alcoholrelated injuries • 599,000 were unintentionally injured during drinking • 600,000 plus were assaulted as a result of the consumption of alcohol • 97,000 cases of sexual assault or date rape were reported • 400,000 had unprotected sex while under the influence of alcohol • 150,000 plus developed alcohol related health problems • 11 percent reported that they damaged property while under the influence of alcohol • 5 percent reported being involved with police or campus security due to alcohol related violations