10 arrested in death of LSU student tied to fraternity hazing

Ten current or former students at Louisiana State University were arrested Wednesday in connection with the death last month of an 18-year-old freshman who became severely intoxicated during a fraternity hazing ordeal, the latest in a series of student deaths following such rituals.

One of the students, Matthew Naquin of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, faces a felony charge of negligent homicide in addition to a misdemeanor charge of hazing. The other nine face misdemeanor hazing charges, according to the university’s police.

On the morning of Sept. 14, Maxwell Gruver, an aspiring sportswriter, was taken by two fellow students to a Baton Rouge hospital, where he was declared dead. He had passed out on a couch at the fraternity house.

A toxicology report on Gruver, of Roswell, Ga., revealed that his blood alcohol content was 0.496 percent, more than six times the legal limit for driving, and that he had aspirated vomit into his lungs. The cause of death was listed as “acute ethanol intoxication with aspiration.”

“Today’s arrests underscore that the ramifications of hazing can be devastating,” the university’s president, F. King Alexander, said in a statement. “Maxwell Gruver’s family will mourn his loss for the rest of their lives, and several other students are now facing serious consequences — all due to a series of poor decisions.”

The hazing at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, where Gruver was a pledge, or prospective member, involved a question-andanswer game called “Bible study,” in which pledges were forced to drink “a pull” from a bottle of alcohol if they answered questions incorrectly, according to an arrest warrant.

Pledges had received text messages ordering them to report for Bible study at the chapter house on the evening of Sept. 13. The 18 to 20 pledges who showed up were told to get Solo cups of lemonade that would be used as chasers.

“Naquin was yelling, ‘Are you ready for Bible study?’” the warrant said.