Bowling Inexperienced State College reached a $2.9 million settlement with the household of a 20-year-old pupil who died in 2021 after a fraternity hazing incident, The Columbus Dispatch reported Monday.
Stone Foltz was a sophomore at Bowling Inexperienced State pledging the Pi Alpha Kappa fraternity when he attended an off-campus initiation occasion in March 2021 the place he drank a liter of bourbon, based on the Dispatch. Three days later he died of alcohol poisoning.
Foltz’s mother and father, Cory and Shari Foltz, filed a wrongful dying lawsuit in opposition to Bowling Inexperienced State in June 2022, alleging that the college knew Greek organizations on campus had been partaking in hazing rituals however did nothing to cease them.
A number of members of Pi Alpha Kappa had been criminally charged in Foltz’s dying and served between one and 6 weeks in jail, Cleveland.com reported, although they had been discovered not responsible of probably the most critical fees, involuntary manslaughter and reckless murder.
The settlement payout is the biggest by a public college in a hazing case in Ohio’s historical past, the household’s lawyer mentioned. The cash will probably be used to help the antihazing iamstonefoltz Basis.
As a part of the settlement, the college has additionally agreed to companion with the Foltzes to finish hazing.
“From day one, we’ve all the time wished the identical factor as Bowling Inexperienced—to eradicate hazing throughout the nation,” Cory Foltz mentioned at a press convention Monday. “So I strongly consider that right now, transferring ahead, we will work with Bowling Inexperienced, and Bowling Inexperienced will probably be one of many first universities to take the large step in the direction of eliminating hazing throughout the nation.”
