THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Friday October 9, 2015
Volume 128, Issue 38
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Burch family suing WVU, Kappa Sig by caity coyne city editor @caitycoyne
Nolan Burch’s family is claiming that West Virginia University, the Kappa Sigma fraternity and fraternity members, among others, showed negligence in Burch’s death, according to a lawsuit filed in the Monongalia County Circuit Court. Burch was found unresponsive in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house on Nov. 12, 2015, with a blood alcohol level of 0.493, more
than six times the legal limit to drive in West Virginia. He was only 18 years old when he died in the hospital two days later. “This tragic event is part of an epidemic of fraternity-related deaths that has plagued this country for years,” the suit reads. “Certain fraternities carelessly and recklessly pressure underage, first-year students to submit to hazing and alcohol abuse in connection with this sort of pledging event.” Burch was pressured into drinking the night he
was taken to the hospital, the suit claims. The lawsuit was filed against both the Gamma Phi chapter of Kappa Sigma and the national organization of Kappa Sigma, WVU, Richard Schwartz and Jordon Hankins, among others. Kappa Sigma, the national organization, acted negligently by failing to enforce rules that prohibit drinking and hazing within the Gamma Phi chapter of the fraternity, not providing adequate supervision of fraternity events and not
punishing the fraternity and its officers for drinking and hazing activities, according to the lawsuit. By allowing Kappa Sigma’s Gamma Phi chapter to operate as a student organization within the University and promoting the organization to students, WVU acted negligently as well, according to the lawsuit. “West Virginia University owed a duty of reasonable care to its students, including Nolan Burch, to prevent Kappa Sigma and/or Gamma Phi from causing
‘WE WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE’
them foreseeable harm,” the lawsuit reads. Also being sued are Schwartz, Burch’s “Big Brother” who allegedly provided Burch with a bottle of alcohol, and Hankins, the Grand Master of Ceremony who led events the night Burch was found unconscious. Burch, a freshman at the time, was a new member of the fraternity and was participating in a “Big/ Little” initiation event the night of Nov. 12. The event was mandatory as part of the pledging process for
Kappa Sigma, according to the lawsuit. The Burch family is also suing Thomas Richey and Linda Richey, the owners of the house the Kappa Sigma fraternity was occupying. “Thomas Richey and Linda Richey knew or had reason to know that their property would be used as a venue for fraternity— or college—related events involving misuse of alcohol, provision of alcohol to minors and/or hazing,” the lawsuit reads.
see BURCH on PAGE 2
Students embrace last fall break after Faculty Senate decision by rachel mcbride staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Judith Stitzel talks about her experience with the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at West Virginia University.
Andrew Spellman/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
WVU celebrates the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies’ 35th anniversary By Paige Czyzewski Associate City Editor @PaigeCzyzewski
Thursday afternoon in Elizabeth Moore Hall, West Virginia University celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Center for Women’s and Gender Studies with a reception highlighting its presence and increasing reach. At the event, the Center announced its first endowed professorship, a position established by Judith Gold Stitzel, the Center’s founding director, to recognize the field’s interdisciplinary nature. “The beauty of this field is that it really is fundamental to every discipline offered across this University,” said Jennifer Orlikoff, the Center’s current direc-
tor. “The more we can raise our profile... the more people can be aware of this and understand the integral aspect.” The professorship was created in honor of Harriet E. Lyon, WVU’s first female graduate in 1891, and is open to any faculty member who researches and contributes to women’s and gender studies. As part of a two-to-three year commitment, any professor at WVU or one of its satellite campuses can apply for the part-time position. The selected professor will teach one course at the Center related to their field of interest and be part of planning events and activities. They will also receive a salary supplement and a discretionary fund, in ad-
dition to their home academic department obtaining a gift for putting one of their own on loan. “It was very important to me and to Bob (Stitzel’s late husband),” Stitzel said, ”to do our part to guarantee our permanence, and establish the curricular significance and the legitimacy of women’s studies within, without and throughout the University.” Stitzel founded the Center for WGST in 1980. Although she started as an English professor, her passion and advocacy for women pushed her to coordinate an academic women’s program and share her ideals and perspectives with the world. “(My husband and I) knew women’s studies
wasn’t some fad, not some hobby or hobbyhorse of some uppity women, not the addition of a few women here or there in the curriculum,” Stitzel said. While at WVU, Stitzel hoped such a professorship would be designed, but thought she might have to add it in her will instead. The best part about the position, she said, is she “didn’t have to die to have it established.” Though the professorship has been established, the Center has only raised $300,000 out of the $500,000 needed. WVU Provost McConnell, who also presented at the event, said there was no question about this professorship.
see women on PAGE 2
Many West Virginia University students will enjoy this extended weekend with friends and family, but they might not realize this extended weekend is West Virginia University’s last Fall Break. Current WVU students may have noticed some changes in this year’s academic calendar, such as the overlapping of the homecoming game and Fall Break. While that change is merely circumstantial, changes in next year’s calendar were voted on by WVU’s Faculty Senate, a committee that includes 123 Senators representing constituencies from the main WVU campus, as well as the Potomac State campus and the WVU Tech campus. The purpose of the Faculty Senate is to “guide the academic pursuits of WVU.” The Faculty Senate votes on the academic calendars sometimes up to two years in advance. On June 8, 2015, the senate was presented with two different calendars, one with a Fall Break and one without a Fall Break, by Elizabeth Dooley, former associate provost for undergraduate academic affairs, and chair of the calendar committee. The calendar without a Fall Break won the majority vote of the senate. Although this removal of Fall Break is expected to receive negative feedback from most WVU students, both Robert Griffith, Board of Governors representative for the Faculty Senate and Richard Turton, Faculty Senate Chair and BOG representative feel that students’ academic performance will benefit from the removal of Fall Break in next year’s academic calendar. Both Griffith and Turton said important instructional class time is missed for all students as well as laboratory time for students in science related majors. They believe this classroom time is crucial to students’ academic success. “(Professors) feel it interrupts the flow of classes,” Griffith said. Turton agreed, stating Fall Break was originally introduced for the 2013-14 academic calendar as part of a three year pilot program. Turton said the Fall Break was never guaranteed to be a permanent fixture for future calendars. “We were going to try it (Fall Break) and see how it worked, evaluate its results,” Turton said. Turton said the evaluations of the effects of Fall Break were completed by the Provost Committee comprised of Faculty Senate staff, and Student Life representatives. Their results for the effects of Fall Break for the University were mostly negative. “One of the reasons this decision was made was because students seem to lose momentum after the break,” Turton said. “Many students used the break to take four days off, and that was never the purpose.”
see break on PAGE 2
WVU Sports to add ‘Hot Rod’ Hundley statue outside Coliseum by hollie greene staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Due to his lifetime of awards and accomplishments, Rodney Clark “Hot Rod” Hundley will permanently join Jerry West in Granite outside of the West Virginia University Coliseum this February. West Virginia University Sports has contracted local Morgantown artist Jamie Lester to construct a statue of Hundley executing his signature move, the hook shot. “Hot Rod was very much a
legend for Mountaineer basketball,” said Shane Lyons, WVU’s director of Intercollegiate athletics and associate vice president. “He represented us very well when he was a student athlete here, and he went on to have such a great career.” Lester, who also constructed the statue of West, will use the same materials to create the Hundley statue so there is some pattern of “uniformity” in front of the Coliseum. The statue will be placed outside of the Blue Gate directly across from West, said
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Lyons. Funds for the statue were generated largely after a singular, private donor, whose name has not yet been released, stepped forward following word of Hundley’s passing in March this year, according to Lyons. Bryan Messerly, WVU’s assistant athletic director, believes fans from all around will be able to appreciate the statue. “On any given day, there are people (at the coliseum) taking pictures with the Jerry West statue, and I think it’s going to be the same with
Hot Rod,” Messerly said. “I think it’s going to bring back a lot of great memories for people who were fortunate enough to get to see him play.” Hundley played men’s basketball for WVU from 1954 to 1957. He is one of only two men’s basketball players to have his jersey, number 33, retired. Over the course of three seasons, Hundley averaged 24.5 points per game and posted an impressive 72-16 record. He had 2,180 total accumulated points at WVU, sec-
ond only to fellow Mountaineer legend Jerry West, who had a total of 2,309 points, according to wvusports.com. Hundley was known on the court for his unorthodox playing methods that earned him the nickname “Hot Rod.” After graduation, Hundley was the first person to be taken in the NBA draft in 1957. He is the only player from WVU to be chosen first according to Messerly. Hundley played for the Minneapolis and Los Angeles Lakers from 1958 to 1963.
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After his career in basketball ended, he carried out another successful career as the broadcaster for the Utah Jazz. Hundley passed away on March 27, 2015 at the age of 80, according to an article from ESPN. “He’s part of our history and tradition…” Lyons said. “The things he did for the University, his playing abilities and skills, are things that we never want to lose focus of. It’s all apart of our history in the basketball world.”
CONTRACEPTIVES Male birth control is a future possibility
WVU looks to get back on track Saturday SPORTS PAGE 7
OPINION PAGE 3
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