Kentucky Kernel: November 17, 2022

kentuckykernel

SPECIAL EDITION

Rayleigh Deaton, editor-in-chief editor@kykernel.com

Jack Weaver, managing editor

Kaci McCarthy, audience engagement editor kmccarthy@kykernel.com Hannah Stanley, news editor news@kykernel.com

Kendall Staton, asst. news editor Emily Girard, features editor features@kykernel.com

Cole Parke, sports editor sports@kykernel.com

Samantha Money & Ali Cetinok, asst. sports editors

Karrington Aliyah, opinions editor opinions@kykernel.com Jack Weaver, photo editor photo@kykernel.com

Abbey Cutrer, asst. photo editor

Akhila Nadimpalli, lead designer Allie Hall, asst. designer

Kendall Staton, newletter coordinator Gracie Moore, Twitter manager Savannah Kennedy, Instagram/Facebook manager Raven Rolle, TikTok manager

Editorial: Hazing is life and death, not a game of semantics

By Kentucky Kernel Editorial Board opinions@kykernel.com

The University of Kentucky has failed to paint the full picture of the death of Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood.

Hazelwood, a new member of the FarmHouse Fraternity, gathered with his fellow members in the afternoon on Oct.18, 2021. Mere hours after his arrival, Hazelwood died due to alcohol toxicity, according to the Fayette County Corner’s toxicology report.

The University of Kentucky said be cause at least one new member present refrained from drinking during the ac tivity at the chapter house, the events of Oct. 18 leading to Hazelwood’s death are not considered hazing.

Failure of the university to classify the actions of FarmHouse Fraternity on Oct. 18, 2021, as hazing gives remaining student organizations room to continue engaging in unsafe practices.

University of Kentucky Administra tive Regulation 6:10 identifies hazing as any act performed for affiliation with a group that is negligent, reckless, humiliating, endangering or in terferes with academic and employment opportunities.

At the time of Hazelwood’s death, FarmHouse Fraternity held the status of registered student organization. This status brings with it the expectation to follow UK’s Code of Student Conduct.

prior to chapter serenade events.”

The university has not classified Hazelwood’s death as hazing based on a technicality. Public perception of the university cannot be considered more important than the condemn ing of dangerous actions by university associated groups.

Information is power.

To keep the campus community safe, the university needs to be more forth coming. The university needs to value student safety over its own image. The university needs to be better.

KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICES

9 Blazer Dining University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506

By refusing to say FarmHouse Fra ternity created an environment where destructive behavior felt like an obli gation — leading to the death of a new member — the university is continu ing to allow students to be exposed to unsafe practices.

UK has failed its students. It has failed to do its job. And it failed Hazelwood.

To bring real change to a campus where students are abused at the hands of their peers, administration must act loudly and with purpose to protect stu dents like Hazelwood.

A student conduct investigation following Hazelwood’s death found the fraternity to be in violation of 10 out of 13 actions that may constitute hazing, as listed in the above regulation.

The same student conduct report ends by calling the expected participation of members in activities of FarmHouse Fraternity as creating an environment with “significant impact on the Univer sity of Kentucky community.”

However, UK continues to maintain Hazelwood did not die at the hands of hazing.

In an email after Hazelwood’s death, the university said upon the completion of investigations, they would make pub lic “any findings and recommendations, subject to necessary redactions to pro tect the privacy of students.”

Over two months later, the university announced via email investigations had closed and further information would be made available later that day.

The university shared less than nine full pages of the completed 16page Student Conduct Report obtained through an open records request by the Kentucky Kernel.

On the front cover:

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AKHILA NADIMPALLI

Excerpts from UK's student con duct report outline instances of hazing in FarmHouse Fraternity, according to the Office of Student Conduct.

Hazelwood entered FarmHouse Fraternity as an 18-year-old, first semester freshman looking for a broth erhood. After about two hours of drink ing in a house Hazelwood thought had responsible parties present, he lost his life.

“Based on the information gathered through the investigation interviews, it does not appear that new members were coerced, forced, or required to consume alcohol on October 18, 2021, in the chapter facility,” the student conduct report said. “However, what is unclear is how an environment may have been created that made new members feel that they were expected to consume alcohol

Redactions made to protect student privacy should be limited to names and personal details. In the publicly shared reports, the university failed to include full paragraphs detailing findings of the investigations.

Quietly sharing minimal information with the campus community is jeopar dizing the safety of students.

The University of Kentucky is fail ing to tell its students what they need to know. It is failing to do its job. It failed Hazelwood.

'He’s not gonna make it to serenades.'

The missing details

By Rayleigh Deaton news@kykernel.com

They left him alone, on a couch, his blood alcohol concentration almost five times the legal limit.

Just a few hours before, he had been hanging out with his pledge brothers, drinking bourbon, play ing “Madden Football” and get ting ready for that evening’s sere nades with his fraternity.

Now, his life was slipping away in an empty second floor bedroom.

“He’s not gonna make it to serenades,” a fellow pledge had joked on Snapchat.

They were right.

Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, a first-year UK student, was pro nounced dead at 7:06 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2021. Hazelwood, 18, was an agricultural economics major and member of the pledge class of UK’s FarmHouse Fra ternity chapter, and according to previous reporting, he died from alcohol toxicity. UK’s FarmHouse chapter has since left the cam pus and is no longer a registered student organization.

Hazelwood’s death happened

over a year ago, but until recent ly, the Kernel did not have access to the complete investigation file from the University of Kentucky Police Department and the Office of Student Conduct.

On Oct. 12, 2022, the Ker nel received copies of the UKPD report and the student conduct report with identifying informa tion of witnesses and individuals under the age of 18 redacted, un der the provision of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

This is the story of Ha zelwood’s death, accord ing to witness testimonies, police reports and student conduct investigations.

Background

According to the UKPD report, officers were dispatched at 6:22 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, af ter receiving a call notifying them of an incident at the FarmHouse Fraternity house. The house is located on Rose Lane on the Uni versity of Kentucky’s campus, and according to the report, the frater nity usually had chapter meetings

of the Hazelwood investigation

on Monday nights.

John Harder, the police officer who completed the report, said he was called in around 7 p.m. and had a body worn camera running throughout his investigation.

Upon arrival at the fraternity house, he went upstairs to a second floor room where Hazelwood had been before EMS transported him to the hospital.

Harder noticed alcohol in the room, including “Multiple liquor bottles on the countertop in the shared bathroom, a wine bottle in the window seal of room (redact ed), two white Styrofoam cups with a small amount of brown li quor … multiple alcohol contain ers (beer, Styrofoam cups) … as well as an empty ‘handle’ of Wild Turkey 101 in a backpack located to the TV stand.”

Harder collected 13 witness statements and issued seven search warrants to Snapchat, Ven mo, GroupMe and for access to Hazelwood’s iPhone, as well as obtaining security footage from Big Daddy Liquor. The UK po lice investigation was closed March 8, 2022.

O Obtaining the R btaining the Recorecords ds

On Dec. 22, 2021, former Kentucky Kernel Assistant News Editor Sarah Michels emailed an open records request to the UKOfficeofRecordsfor:

The formal police report regarding the investigation into the Oct. 18,2021,FarmHouseFraternityincidentanddeathofThomas“Lofton” Hazelwood,onceitiscompleted.

ThefinalOfficeofStudentConductreviewregardingtheinvesti gation into the Oct. 18, 2021, FarmHouse Fraternity incident and death ofThomas“Lofton”Hazelwood,onceitiscompleted.

Under Kentucky’s Open Records Act (ORA), once a request has been sent, public agencies have fivedays to respond to it. The Uni versity of Kentucky did not respond until over nine months after the original request due to a death and insufficientstaffingin the Office ofRecords.

TheKernelreceivedaresponsetoMichel’semailonAug.25,2022, from UK’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Eric Monday, denying her request over FERPAconcerns and claiming thatsheknewsomeoneinvolvedintheincident.

“Pursuant to your request above, please be advised that these docu mentshavebeenomittedasyouhaveindicatedinyourrequestthatyou knowoneormoreofthepartiesinvolved.Becauseofthis,thoserecords have been omitted instead of redacted pursuant to FERPA as well as KRS61.878(1)(a),”Mondaysaidintheresponse.

The Kernel and its legal representation sent a letter on Oct. 6, 2022, sayingthatFERPAprotectiondoesnotextendtodeceasedstudents,and KRS61.878(1)(a),theORA’sexemptiontheuniversitycitedinitsdeni al,doesnotapplyinthisinstance.

The letter said UK cannot use FERPAas an “invisibility cloak,” cit ing the legal precedent the Kernel's prior legal battle with UK, Univ. of Kentucky v. Kernel Press, Inc.,set.

“There, like here, the University argued that an entire investigative filecannot be released because the Kernel may know the identity of students mentioned in the investigation. The Court flatlyrejected that argument and correctly noted that the Kernel’s potential knowledge of student’s identities has no bearing on the records’status as “education record[s],”thelettersaid.

On Oct. 12, 2022, Monday sent a response, releasing the requested documentswithredactionsunderFERPA.

Timeline

The UKPD police report included a timeline of events from witness testimony, as re corded with a body worn re cording device. Throughout the report, full fraternity members were called “actives,” while new members were referred to as “pledges.”

Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021

7:30 p.m.

On Sunday evening, nine members of FarmHouse, including Hazelwood, sent $7 each to another mem ber via Venmo to pay for alcohol for the next day’s

serenades, during which members of the pledge class and several active members would visit sorority houses around campus and sing for sorority members.

Harder said that store footage from a local liquor store from 1:32 p.m. on Oct. 18 shows an unnamed

individual purchasing a han dle of Wild Turkey 101 and a fifth of Burnett’s vodka using a fake ID.

Monday, Oct. 18, 2021

Noon-3 p.m.

At noon on Monday, Hazelwood and an unnamed fe male ate lunch at Chick-fil-A

for approximately 45 min utes, after which Hazelwood went back to his dorm room in Lewis Hall.

At 2 p.m., an unidentified person asked him to purchase a bottle of wine, knowing that Hazelwood had a fake ID, “and had used it to pur chase alcohol in the past,” the police report said.

4 p.m.

Around 4 p.m., some mem bers of the pledge class went to a spare bedroom. According to the student conduct report, the room was “unoccupied and typically left unlocked” and connects to a bathroom shared with an active member’s room. Hazelwood reportedly played “Madden Football” with an active member for around 45 minutes, and the bottle of Wild Turkey was opened.

3-3:30 p.m.

Around 3 p.m., Hazel wood and an unnamed wit ness left the chapter house and walked to Big Daddy Liquor on the corner of Euclid and Woodland avenues.

Another witness reported seeing Hazelwood around 3 p.m. at the intersection of Euclid and Woodland.

Security footage from the liquor store shows Ha zelwood purchasing a bottle of wine at 3:13 p.m. using a fake ID.

3:30-4 p.m.

Hazelwood arrived back at FarmHouse before 3:30 p.m., where he met up with some active members and reportedly “hung out” with them in the first floor chapel.

“The new members con sumed the purchased alcohol in the chapter facility prior to each of the three serenade events,” the student conduct report said, adding that drink ing before serenades was called “liquid courage.”

The serenade on Oct. 18 was the third such event Farm House pledges participated in during the fall 2021 semester.

However, according to inter views included in the student conduct report, “It is common knowledge” that FarmHouse does not allow alcohol to be consumed in the house, and “active members are expected to refer those who do so to the chapter’s judicial board.”

The report said at the time of writing, there had been no such reports made by active members.

According to witnesses, there were originally between five and eight people in the room, but around 4:30 p.m. most of the pledge class par ticipating in the serenades had arrived.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Thomas 'Lofton' Hazelwood.

4-4:45 p.m.

Hazelwood reportedly drank Wild Turkey 101 from a white Styrofoam cup; according to wit nesses, he did not pour his own drinks. He asked other pledges in the room to “pour him a double,” which interviewees described as unmeasured shots of alcohol “filling approximately half of the Styrofoam cup full.” Hazel wood reportedly drank the alco hol straight and chased it with root beer.

4:30-4:45 p.m.

By the third quarter of the “Madden Football” game, one witness reported that Hazelwood had consumed around six or sev en pours of Wild Turkey. Other witnesses said the number was between four and six pours, al though they said they were not watching closely or had been coming in and out of the room.

The student conduct report said Hazelwood consumed the equivalent of 18 one-ounce shots in approximately a one hour window.

According to the report, “Around the third quarter of the video game, (name redacted) advised that based on his man nerisms and statements, he could

tell that Hazelwood was ‘starting to feel’ the alcohol.”

The interviewee said Hazel wood had slurred speech and grew more animated and louder while playing the video game.

One witness reportedly told Hazelwood, “You’re drinking way too much, entirely way too fast.”

Hazelwood responded, “Man, you know me. I don’t have any confidence. I need to be buzzed,” talking about the serenades.

“New members consuming alcohol prior to serenades was not uncommon but there does not appear to be a directive given to new members that consumption is required,” the student conduct report said.

The report said at least one

active member did not con sume alcohol in the room, which the report pointed to as why the incident was not considered hazing.

During the fourth quarter of the video game, Hazelwood reportedly got another drink, but the witness did not see him consume it.

Around this time, an active member arrived in the room and told everyone present to make their way to the second floor lounge to practice for the sere nades. “He (the active member) could tell that Hazelwood ‘ap peared to have been drinking,’” the report said.

Hazelwood and the fraternity member he was playing Madden with told the active member they would finish their match before

going to the lounge.

Another witness left the room to change clothes but returned af ter the rest of the pledges had left for the lounge.

According to the report, a witness told investigators, “Ha zelwood appeared to be fairly intoxicated at this point, citing an example of how Hazelwood stumbled and fell off the couch after the video game had end ed, before making his way to the lounge area.”

4:45-5:15 p.m.

After he arrived in the lounge, witnesses said Hazelwood ap peared intoxicated, saying his speech was slurred, and he had to be supported by other pledges during the serenade practice.

“A collective decision was made by the group that Hazel wood should not participate in the serenades that night. They voiced concerns with Hazelwood either getting himself or the fraternity in trouble or causing an issue by being drunk during the serenades,” the report said.

Hazelwood reportedly ob jected, but interviewees said that

someone had asked the Farm House Social Chair to tell him that he could not go.

Another unnamed interviewee said someone should stay behind and watch Hazelwood. According to the student conduct report, “it is unclear if this did occur.”

Hazelwood was helped back to the bedroom, and members laid him down on a couch in the room, making sure he was on his side with a pillow “under his head or on his back,” according to the report. The student conduct report says a backpack was placed on Hazelwood to keep him from roll ing onto his back.

“When assisting Hazelwood back to the room, he didn’t think Hazelwood appeared to be dan gerously intoxicated, stating Hazelwood was ‘pretty drunk but talking to me’ and that he had seen him this intoxicated before,” one unnamed member told Harder.

Other interviewees described Hazelwood as being intoxicated but not dangerously so.

The members left Hazelwood in the room and heard him snoring as they exited.

5:15-6:15 p.m.

Pledges and active members left the house for the serenades around 5:10-5:15 p.m.

Kathryn Jackson, the frater nity’s house director, saw the group leave while sitting on the building’s front porch. She left to join them between 10-15 minutes later.

The reporting officer said they were not able to find any one who was on the second floor or was in contact with Hazelwood during this hour.

5:45-6:15 p.m.

The group returned to the house around 6:05-6:15 p.m., and one interviewee went up stairs to change clothes.

“As he went to change, he noted Hazelwood on his side on the couch appearing unrespon sive. (Name redacted) advised that he attempted to check for a pulse and look in his mouth, but quickly assessed that this was outside his ability to han dle and needed to get help im mediately,” the report said.

According to the student conduct report, the individual

went downstairs to the kitch en, where the chapter presi dent, other active members, Jackson and chapter advis er Wayne Logan were eating with alumni corporation board members Nick Carter and Dennis Liptrap.

In an interview, Jackson told police that she had had “no interaction” with Hazelwood that day and “was not aware” that he was intoxicated or left alone upstairs.

The group went to the room where Hazelwood was lying down, and someone called 911, who ad vised them to move Hazelwood off the couch and perform CPR.

An active member with ex perience in performing CPR was called; he reportedly ran upstairs and began giving CPR until EMS arrived.

According to the police re port, Lexington police received the call around 6:16 p.m., and EMS arrived approximately four minutes later at 6:19 p.m. UKPD arrived at 6:24 p.m.

6:15-7:06 p.m.

The student conduct reports said that Hazelwood was trans ported to UK’s Albert B. Chan dler Hospital, located just over a mile away from the fraterni ty house. According to prior

reporting, after unsuccessful attempts to revive him at the hospital, Hazelwood was pro nounced dead at 7:06 p.m.

Hazelwood’s toxicology report found a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .354%, “almost 4.5 times the ‘legal’ per se limit of .08,” according to the police report. The police report described Hazelwood as weigh ing 210 and being 5’11, which places him well within the “le gally intoxicated” category, ac cording to the American Addic tion Centers (AAC).

The AAC says a BAC of .3% has significant impacts on the body, including unconscious

ness, loss of understanding, increased heart rate, irregular breathing, possible loss of blad der control and risk of death.

“Mr. Hazelwood also test ed positive for 94 ng/mL or amphetamine … which is con sistent with statements made by witnesses and family that Hazelwood habitually took a prescribed dose of (redact ed name) medication,” the police report said. “The Fay ette County Coroner’s Office would be officially ruling Mr. Hazelwood’s manner of death as accidental, with alcohol poi soning being the significant contributing factor.”

Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021

According to the student conduct report, the Office of Student Conduct sent an in vestigation letter to the chap ter president the day after Hazelwood’s death, including an “interim measure for Farm House to cease all chapter op erations effective immediate ly until the conduct process has concluded.”

Investigation findings

The ensuing investigation in cluded witness testimonies, inter views and search warrants; how ever, both UKPD and the Office of Student Conduct concluded that they could not find evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

Additionally, the incident was not considered hazing because Ha zelwood was voluntarily drinking, and the pledge class voluntarily participated in the serenades, ac cording to the police report.

The student conduct report said that new members were expected to reach a cumulative point total to encourage them to “participate in chapter events,” and they may have lost points for Hazelwood not being able to attend serenades that night.

“However, active members and officers stated that there was no repercussion for not reaching the total,” the student conduct report said.

The Office of Student Conduct conducted interviews beginning Oct. 27, 2021. Of the 44 students asked to be interviewed, 20 did not attend and some had not responded at the time of the report’s writing.

According to the report, the office’s last interview took place Dec. 9, 2021.

UKPD issued a total of seven search warrants for Hazelwood’s iPhone, Snapchat, GroupMe and Venmo.

From Hazelwood’s phones alone, the three-month report re turned 208,000 items for review

from GroupMe, Snapchat, text messages, search history and so cial media, although the police report said most of the items were “‘noise’ from application data.”

“In the GroupMe, Snapchat, and text message conversations, I noted information that may be of interest to the University of Ken tucky’s Student Code of Conduct

investigation, but nothing that oc curred on or near the date of Ha zelwood’s death,” the report said.

This included information about “activities that took place during the new member process,” including required PT workout sessions for new members, new members being drivers for fraterni ty parties, new members caddying

for actives in a golf tournament, a scavenger hunt for new members and a “hunt” in which new mem bers would “kidnap” an active with their prior knowledge.

The investigation also pro duced information about new members being assigned “jobs” such as “weather pledge,” tasked with sending a weather update in

a group chat every day. Accord ing to the report, Hazelwood held one of these “jobs,” although the specific role he was given was redacted.

Also on Hazelwood’s phone, the investigation found a pledge class Snapchat group chat that he was a member of. On the day of Hazelwood’s death, an unnamed member sent a message in the chat talking about the fire trucks outside the fraternity house.

“I haven’t heard the specifics (about the fire trucks), but any pics you have of lofton (sic) delete right now,” the member said, later add ing, “that’s what I was told.”

In follow-up interviews, this member reported that he sent this after being told to de lete photos taken on Snap chat of Hazelwood asleep on the couch.

“He described the photos as being taken (in a) joking man ner, something that ‘looking back in a week or two later they would get a good laugh about it,’” the report said. However, the member who allegedly told him that denied saying it in followup interviews.

GOOGLE MAPS

FarmHouse Fraternity on Rose Lane is approximately one mile from UK's Albert B. Chandler Hospital.

Another interviewee report edly took photos and video of Hazelwood being intoxicated but had deleted them “once he learned of Hazelwood passing away, stating he did not want to be reminded of it.”

The chapter also had several GroupMe message chats, includ ing one for the executive mem bers, one for active members and one for the pledge class.

In the executive members’ GroupMe chat, the investigation found messages referencing Ha zelwood being left behind during the serenades, specifically in light of the two alumni being in the house. One member messaged that “there was a lot of liability that needs to be in check” and

that Hazelwood should not come down for that night’s meeting.

“The Fraternity is historical ly a sober fraternity, so having someone drunk in front of their prestigious alumni wouldn’t be a good look,” according to the report.

The investigation found that the original pledge members’ GroupMe chat, with Hazelwood as a member, was deleted and a new one created on Oct. 19, the day after his death.

In a follow-up interview, the interviewee reported he was in structed by the chapter’s vice president to delete the chat, al though the interviewee said he believed there was “nothing in herently wrong with it.”

“He advised that he was in shock in relation to the whole event and, had he been thinking clearly, he would not have fol lowed through with the request,” the report said.

“Stay home off your phones no girlfriends nothing. For gods sakes keep your mouths shut,” a mem ber sent in one of the group chats.

When asked about the mes sage, an interviewee told the po lice “they didn’t want anyone outside of the family and involved parties knowing about the situa tion until they knew an outcome.”

In a follow-up interview, an interviewee said, “They didn’t want his family to see the con tents that Hazelwood had been sending as the (redacted job title),

not because they were concerned about repercussions, but because they were worried with Hazelwood’s public image and the em-barrassment that might cause him and his family.”

In the months since Hazelwood’s death, his family has been advocating for “Lofton’s Law,” a piece of legislation that would make hazing a misdemeanor and a felony.

His mother, Tracey Hazelwood, attended an Oct. 3, 2022, event hosted by UK’s Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) to talk about the incident and Lofton’s Law.

“What I don’t understand … when you’re pledging a fraternity, the hazing part of the whole thing, I just don’t get. I thought when you joined a fraternity, it’s brotherhood,” she said. “I don’t know what part of brotherhood hazing is.”

Tracey Hazelwood said her son “was a good boy” and loved farming.

“I’ve got this crazy picture of him … and he says something about the smell of fresh cut beans, or something, when you roll your window down,” she said. “He ran the auger wagon (when he came home to visit) because they were in the fields, and he wanted to go. Theywere cutting corn or beans or something."

There have been no criminal charges brought against an individual, the fraternity or the university, and the incident has never been officially considered hazing by police or UK.

However, at the FSL event, Matt Bartholomai, director of public relations and social media for the Kentucky Interfraternity Council, called the event “a hazing prevention program.”

“They (the Hazelwoods and the other speakers) were all victims, their families, of hazing,” he said.

UK president Eli Capilouto said that FarmHouse Fraternity’s UK chapter is suspended for at least four years from his announcement on Dec. 22, 2021, and that the fraternity’s registered student organization status had been revoked, according to prior reporting.

ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF

Tracey Hazelwood speaks at the Fraternity and Sorority Life 201 Hazing Prevention Program on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at the Singletary Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Stay home off your phones no girlfriends nothing. For gods sakes keep your mouths shut."

Hear the reporters talk about this story, check out our socials and learn more at:

UK’s FarmHouse Fraternity had a culture of hazing, investigations reveal

By Hannah Stanley news@kykernel.com

Members of FarmHouse Fraternity were subjected to shotgunning a beer with a homeless person, trust fall ing from the bed of a pick up truck and kidnapping an active member.

Following the death of new member Thomas “Lofton” Ha zelwoood on Oct. 18, 2021, the University of Kentucky’s Stu dent Code of Conduct inves tigation revealed FarmHouse Fraternity showed a “deeply in grained culture of alcohol and hazing behaviors.”

Hazelwood’s cause of death was ruled accidental and showed no signs of foul play, according to the Fayette Coun ty Coroner’s Office.

FarmHouse’s Executive Director and CEO Christian Wiggins did not respond by deadline to talk with the Ker nel, instead asking through a representative of the organi zation to be sent the questions ahead of time, which is not the Kernel’s policy.

The FarmHouse Frater nity chapter was suspended for at least four years and re moved as a registered student organization, according to the conduct investigation.

The University of

Kentucky’s Hazing Prevention Policy describes “any action or situation created by a member of the University Community against anoth er member of the University Community for the purpose of affiliation with a group or organization that: (a) Is negligent or reckless in nature; (b) Is humiliating or endangers an individual; or (c) Unreasonably inter feres with scholastic or employment activities.”

According to the Code of Student Conduct Policies, FarmHouse Fraternity violat ed such guidelines and were recommended charges of haz ing, misuse of alcohol, vio lations of law or other UK policies and failure to follow UK COVID-19 health and

safety guidelines.

The documents reveal activities and events pledges underwent during their first semester as new members within the FarmHouse Fra ternity, according to stu dent conduct interviews and witness testimonies.

'Camp Out'

FarmHouse Fraternity ac tive and new members attend a semesterly “Camp Out” where they travel to an active member’s off-campus farm at which a majority of the chapter is present, including chapter officers.

This year’s event took place at an unknown location about 90 minutes away from campus on Sept. 24, 2021.

New members were told not to bring camping gear,

including a sleeping bag or tents, despite being told they were staying the night. They were informed to dress warmly instead.

The camp out acts as the first time new members spend time together as a group, participating in activities with each other and sometimes with active members.

Some of these activi ties in the conduct report include arm-wrestling compe titions where the winning new member faces an active, a spell ing bee on “fratty” words, a ropes course activity and most notably going into an empty field where new members are told they’ll be left for the night.

The field was several hundred yards away from the barn area and all cell phones were taken, excluding two members’ phones this particular semester due to

medical conditions, according to the conduct report. The new members were then left with “wet firewood, two packs of raw hot dogs, water, and a lit ciga rette, and are told to start a fire.” No further information was giv en if the fire was complete.

While in the field, an ac tive member, or an “older ac tive” in fall 2021, acts as a “secret pledge” pretending to be a new member. The “secret pledge” has a cell phone for emergency purposes.

During the new mem bers’ time in the field, active members leave to eat at a lo cal restaurant, a Mexican restaurant 15-20 minutes away at this particular event. Two or three active mem bers were said to be back on the farm near the barn area at this time.

A list from the student conduct report detailing some Scavenger Hunt tasks FarmHouse new members were asked to complete.

newsOnce back from dinner, the active members quizzed the new members on one another, lining them up shoul der to shoulder alphabetically by last name. The new members were not al lowed to look up or directly at the active members.

Active members were described in the UK Office of Student Conduct re port to be yelling at the new members while answering questions. If the new members answered incorrectly, the ac tive members said they would leave and not be back until morning.

Despite saying so, active members returned 15-20 minutes later sharing “personal stories of brotherhood” and expectations for their chapter mem bership. During this time, a new mem ber had an “adverse reaction” and was described to have really bad anxiety and crying.

Also at their time at the camp out, new members perform trust falls from the bed of a pickup truck, with the ex pectation that all new members partici pate and are to catch the member falling.

The fall 2021 camp out concluded with active members buying the new members Cook Out. They returned the next morning in the time frame of 3 a.m. to 4 p.m. based on card access informa tion from the residence hall rooms of new members, all according to conduct investigation.

'Scavenger Hunt'

In early October, another semesterly activity known as the "Scavenger Hunt" takes place, the event beginning at 8 p m. and ending around midnight. New members are given 31 tasks and must complete 27 to “successfully” complete the hunt.

Such expectations in the 2021 hunt pertained to consumption of alcohol and substances that new members were tasked with, including shotgunning a beer with a homeless person, drinking an entire bottle of hot sauce and 40 ounces of beer and putting a whole can

of dip in their mouths, according to the conduct report.

Additional acts referenced criminal activity and vandalism involving flip ping a porta-potty while a new member was inside, spray painting “F 21” on something, stealing a shopping cart and kidnapping an active member.

Other tasks on the list were catching a wild animal, getting a girl to slap them in the face, delivering a bra to an ac tive member and taking a picture in a cop car.

The new members were required to send picture or video proof to the chap ter through GroupMe. If the required

number was not met, the new member had to participate in PT the next morn ing at 6 a.m.

Chapter officers said the scavenger hunt had been happening for a “long time” and described it as “psychologi cal” for the new members because of the required tasks, according to the student conduct investigation.

Pledge roles

During the new member process, each pledge is given a “role” or “job” chosen by the active members of the fraternity. The new member educa tor assigns the granted roles after a

chapter meeting.

Notable pledge roles have included the “Brick Pledge,” where the new member was required to take a brick and walk it as a dog around the chapter facility, and “Jorts Pledge,” where the new member wore a pair of jean shorts that were cut shorter after chapter meetings.

Hazelwood’s role was redacted from the conducted report but said to provide “summary of the video to the active mem bers. Meant to be satirical and funny.”

In contradiction to what new members said in the conduct report, active mem bers said the new members were able to choose their desired role.

MICHAEL CLUBB | STAFF FILE PHOTO

The FarmHouse Fraternity house on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, the night Hazelwood died, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

'PT'

New members were required to attend “PT’’ sessions during the semester at the chapter facility, in the third-floor lounge. PT is not explicitly defined in the conduct investigation but involves acts of physi cal activity, particularly sit-ups, push-ups, wall sits and running.

Times of participation were at 8 p.m. after chapter meetings, others at 6 a.m. before classes; new members would be quizzed on information pertaining to the fraternity’s new member education pro gram. If they answered correctly, sessions would end early.

PT was said to have not occurred this semester despite contradicting statements from new and active members.

The chapter’s executive committee had made the decision to remove PT when conversing about the removal of some chapter activities but ultimately it was not, according to the investigation.

Additional new member requirements

Additional requirements for new members involved interviews and signa tures from the active members “in order to get to know the active members better.”

The new members carried books to write down the information after an interview and received a signature to show the task was completed.

In some instances, new members have been required to complete tasks such as laundry, cleaning dishes, giving a ride or picking up food for an active member to earn an interview.

New members earned points for inter

views, contributing to the point system in place to “encourage new members to par ticipate in chapter events and to encourage new members to complete interviews with active members.”

Varying amounts of points were to be earned depending upon the week, the first being 30, second being 70 and next 115. The points were built after each week but the amounts were arbitrary; “it is just what has been done for years,” according to the conduct report.

The number to achieve was 315, but of ficers and active members said there were no consequences for not achieving such a number.

New members were required to pay $250 in social dues, while some seniors

paid $150 at a discounted rate, or not at all. The dues were used to fund off-cam pus events, some being used to purchase alcohol for their fraternity parties, ac cording to the conduct report. These were additional fees outside the normal chapter dues.

The fraternity was estimated to have had four or five unregistered events with alcohol during the fall 2021 semester, one being “Bid-Day” where new members were being welcomed into the chapter.

New members were tasked with duties including but not limited to: setting up, making drinks, sober monitors, bouncers, bartenders and cleaning up.

Discussions and findings

The investigation found FarmHouse Fraternity’s behavior may be constitut ed as hazing. FarmHouse was found in violation of specific regulations includ ing forced consumption of food, alcohol or drugs or other controlled substances,

creation of unnecessary fatigue, person al servitude, physical or psychological shocks and forced wearing of apparel which is conspicuous and not normally in good taste.

Also found in the conduct report were degrading or humiliating games and ac tivities, kidnapping or abandonment, line-ups and berating, undue interference with academic pursuits and expectation of participation in activities that are illegal, lewd or in violation of university policy.

Officers in the fraternity failed to pre vent acts of hazing and were actively en gaging with the new member activities, according to the conduct report.

It was also during a conversation among the chapter’s executive commit tee whether or not activities including the camp out, scavenger hunt and PT would continue.

The conduct report concludes this par ticular conversation stipulates the com mittee knew they were not complying with university policy and rather contin ued to facilitate these activities.

A list detailing actions in violation of UK’s Hazing Prevention Policy.

A list of pledge roles from the student conduct report.

ILLUSTRATION BY AKHILA NADIMPALLI

An excerpt from UK's student conduct report details UK’s Hazing Prevention Policy and actions performed by FarmHouse members that were found to be in violation of the policy.