The Daily Reveille 09-20-17

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@lsureveille

The Daily Reveille Est. 1887

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Volume 125 · No. 5

lsunow.com

GREEK LIFE

LSU to hold week of reflection for Maxwell Gruver BY EVAN SAACKS @evansaacks

The University announced Monday it would be holding a week of reflection for Maxwell Gruver, who died Thursday at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center after a possible hazing incident at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. LSU President F. King Alexander announced in a press conference Thursday afternoon the University had suspended all Greek Life activities indefinitely during the investigation into Gruver’s death. Alexander confirmed alcohol was a factor and emphasized the University’s

strong stance against hazing. “The death of Maxwell Gruver was tragic and untimely,” Alexander said. “As we have continually warned over and over again, hazing is dangerous, irresponsible and unacceptable. It will not be tolerated at LSU.” Shortly before the press conference, the national chapter of Phi Delta Theta suspended the LSU chapter and launched an investigation. Monday afternoon they officially removed the charter for the LSU chapter. “We continue to keep the Gruver family in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time,” Bob Biggs, the executive vice president and CEO,

said in a press release. “This is a very tragic situation that never should have happened.” The autopsy was performed Friday afternoon where preliminary results were released by East Baton Rouge Coroner William “Beau” Clark. Clark said Gruver had a highly-elevated blood alcohol level and the presence of THC. The office said the following in a press release: “No internal or external trauma noted. Marked cerebral and pulmonary edema were observed. Hospital admit blood and urine tests indicate a highly-elevated blood alcohol

see GRUVER, page 6

WHITNEY WILLISTON / The Daily Reveille

Police investigate the death of an LSU student Sept. 14 at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house. FOOTBALL

LSU players reflect on Mississippi State loss

BY GLEN WEST @glenwest21

CAROLINE MAGEE / The Daily Reveille

forward thinking Forward Arts encourages new generation of bold artists. BY KATIE GAGLIANO | @katie_gagliano If Baton Rouge based non-profit Forward Arts has its way, the world’s next great slam poet may be a teenager from Baton Rouge. The youth literary arts program uses poetry and spoken word performance to empower Baton Rouge youth and increase exposure to modern storytelling techniques. Program director Desireé Dallagiacomo said the organization instills 13 to 19-year-olds with self-confidence and helps them discover the power of their voices. Dallagiacomo was

19 when she joined the program as a teaching artist. A California transplant working with education non-profit City Year, Dallagiacomo said she thought the organization was revolutionary. Originally known as WordPlay Writing Project, the youth writing cohort was founded in 2005 by Baton Rouge native Anna West, who operated the program as a service extension of the local Big Buddy Program. In 2011, current executive director Chancelier “Xero” Skidmore and marketing director Donney Rose, both established poets, took over the program and expanded it into Forward Arts, Inc. Today, Forward Arts hosts poetry workshops in every East Baton Rouge

see FORWARD ARTS, page 6

Parish middle and high school, as well as Dutchtown High School, Episcopal High School and Port Allen High School, Dallagiacomo said. Coupled with the non-profit’s after school writing workshop, WordCrew, open teen mic night, Freshhhh Heat, and summer sessions, Forward Arts serves between 8,000 and 10,000 young people annually, she said. The program is changing lives, Dallagiacomo said. “For some of our young folks, this is the first place that they

LSU is looking to move forward after a 30-point blowout in its Southeastern Conference opener against Mississippi State on Saturday. With two non-conference games in the next two weeks, the Tigers have the opportunity to fix the abundance of penalties and discipline issues that plague the team. In the first three games of the season, LSU has committed 30 penalties for 272 yards, an average of almost 91 penalty yards per game. Senior quarterback Danny Etling said many players came in Sunday morning after the loss to study the tape and see what went wrong. “We really hurt ourselves with penalties,” Etling said. “I brought the receivers in and watched the film. We just wanted to correct some mistakes.” Senior receiver DJ Chark was called for two penalties against Mississippi State including a holding call which negated a 13 yard touchdown run by sophomore receiver Derrick Dillon. Chark said an area he needs to work on is in the blocking game. The receivers are taught to block on the inside and drive but disengage when a defender starts

see PENALTIES, page 6


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