College student lands on life support after hazing incident
A Delaware County resident is on life support in Northwest Ohio after an alleged hazing incident at a fraternity at Bowling Green State University.
Stone Foltz, 20, was hospitalized early Friday after an incident at the BGSU chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity.
An attorney representing the Foltz family, Sean Alto, said Foltz was at an off-campus event organized by the fraternity where he was given “a copious amount of alcohol.”
Foltz was dropped off that night at his apartment by members of the fraternity, where he was later found by his roommates, Alto said, adding the roommates called 911 and Foltz was transported to a hospital where he is currently in “dire” condition.
Alto said the family is going through the process of donating Foltz’s organs.
“They’re focused on their son right now,” he said. “I expect they’re going to take it hour by hour, day by day.”
“We are aware of the incident and we are currently investigating,” said Bowling Green police Lt. Dan Mancuso. He would not provide further comment on the investigation.
The university issued a statement Saturday saying the fraternity has been suspended.
“We are working with local law enforcement, who are actively taking the lead in investigating this unfolding situation,” the statement said. “BGSU is committed to not just the student conduct and law enforcement investigations, but a full inquiry into each Greek chapter’s prevention and compliance responsibilities under University policies prohibiting hazing.”
The international Pi Kappa Alpha fraternal organization also issued a statement saying it is “horrified and outraged” at the incident. The national organization said it has also suspended the chapter and instructed chapter leadership to cooperate with all investigations being conducted. The statement also said the organization will pursue permanent suspension of the chapter as new details are learned, as well as expulsion of all chapter members from the international fraternity.
The statement said Foltz was an “unreported new member,” more commonly known as a pledge.
Foltz graduated from Buckeye Valley High School in Delaware County in 2019. He played multiple sports while he was in school.
Foltz’s injuries come months after a law designed to increase the potential criminal penalties for hazing stalled in the Ohio Senate.
Collin’s Law was named for Collin Wiant, a freshman at Ohio University from Dublin, who died after collapsing on the floor of an unofficial, off-campus fraternity house on Nov. 12, 2018. A coroner ruled that Wiant died of asphyxiation due to nitrous oxide ingestion after he inhaled a canister of the gas, also known as a whippit.
The law would have expanded the legal definition of hazing to include forced consumption of drugs and alcohol and would have increased the crime from a fourth-degree misdemeanor to a second-degree misdemeanor, with the potential of a felony if the offense involved drugs or alcohol.