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Volume 63 No. 80
ΛΠIMΛL HΣIGHTS
Unrecognized frats flourish in Heights as they go unmonitored by UB, national organizations and police LISA KHOURY
Managing Editor
The brothers of the illegal fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu formed a circle around their pledges in the basement of their University Heights home – just off campus. Then, they ordered the pledges to beat each other up. The pledges complied until one student – who had an underlying medical condition – started to convulse. A few brothers gathered up the trembling freshman, dumped him on the stairs of Veteran’s Affairs Hospital and left. The hospital only treats veterans, but a security guard who spotted the boy called an ambulance. In his hospital room in Erie County Medical Center, the boy told Erie County Sherriff ’s deputies what had happened. The next day – after the student got the news that he had been accepted as a Sigma Alpha Mu brother – he denied the fight had happened. He told the deputies he had been delirious when he had spoken with them. He said he had made up the whole hazing story. The sheriff ’s deputies shelved the report and – although the student’s father called UB to complain that his son had been hazed – UB could do nothing. There was no official report. There were no witnesses. Offi-
cially, there wasn’t even a victim. And on the record, the fraternity the student was allegedly pledging doesn’t even exist at UB. The episode, recounted by a frustrated UB administrator, encapsulates the problem of illegal fraternities at UB. It helps explain why – despite recent national attention given to hazing – these groups have been able
to flourish at UB since the late 1990s. No members want to talk about how their groups operate, who’s in them or what goes on when the house doors close. And no one is keeping track of them – not the university, not the police, not the national organizations whose names these groups steal. Nationally, more than 60 stu-
dents have died in fraternity-related incidents since 2005, according to a recent study by Bloomberg News. But no one knows how many students across the country are involved in illegal fraternities and sororities. They stay together after national organizations close their chapters. They operate outside the system and protect their members’ iden-
“THE CULTURE IS SUCH THAT THE STUDENTS WHO ARE PLEDGING ARE REALLY TAUGHT TO KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT. THEY’RE TAUGHT HOW TO LIE TO US. AND THEY’RE AFRAID.”
tities by encircling themselves in a code of silence. “The culture is such that the students who are pledging are really taught to keep their mouths shut,” said Elizabeth Lidano, the director of UB’s Judicial Affairs, who has spent years trying to get information about unrecognized groups and punish students who are involved. “They’re taught how to lie to us. And they’re afraid.” They are afraid of retaliation by their “brothers” and of being labeled sell-outs. They are also afraid UB will punish, suspend or expel them. Even students who dropped out of UB to escape the illegal fraternities are unwilling to talk about them. In a seven-month investigation, The Spectrum interviewed current and former illegal fraternity members and their friends, alumni of illegal fraternities, members of legal fraternities and sororities, as well as university officials and community members to understand how and why these groups operate and thrive at UB. Often, the code of secrecy impeded our reporting, as did university privacy laws and the noncooperation of Buffalo Police and other authorities, including parents, to discuss this issue openly. Still, what The Spectrum has uncovered about the five unrecogSEE fraternities, PAGE 4
UB to honor students who passed away
Came in like a breaking ball Magovney makes transition from power to off-speed pitcher TOM DINKI
Asst. Sports Editor
Courtesy of Denise Englert Friday, UB will honor 16 students who passed away this year, including Paul Englert Jr., a sophomore civil engineering major who died in September.
SAM FERNANDO
Senior News Editor
Friday, UB will host a memorial service for the 16 students who passed away during 2013 and 2014. The ceremony will take place in Student Union Theater at 11 a.m. UB will honor: Brian Archie, Nicholas Arieno, Katielyn Aubertine, Taylor Binnert, Paul Englert, Jeffrey Gower, Jeremy Hayes, Saron Hood, Lisa Husung, Narang David Kim, James Kuwik, Michael Munella, Christopher Peterson, Emily Peterson, Kuan-Yu Benjamin Wu and Zachary Yambor. Director of Judicial Affairs and Student Advocacy Liz Lidano has been organizing this annual memorial since its inception 10 years ago. She said there have been more student deaths this year than any previous year. Lidano organized the event with Student Support Coordinator Colleen Connolly. The fam-
Spectrum File Photo UB football player and recent graduate Saron Hood passed away last summer.
ilies and friends of all but two students will attend. “I think it’s a beautiful ceremony and incredibly impactful for family and friends who have lost a student,” Lidano said. SEE memorial, PAGE 13
Think of the prototypical pitcher. What comes to mind is probably a strong-armed thrower who launches 95-mph fastballs that leave batters swinging at air, not realizing the ball has already smacked into the catcher’s mitt, the kind of pitcher that ‘wows’ fans and scouts with incredible velocity and racks up K’s. The power pitcher is what every baseball team looks for in an ace. Major League Baseball has seen an influx of young power pitchers in recent years, like Stephen Strasburg, Matt Harvey and Jose Fernandez, who rely on their power to get outs. The emphasis on velocity goes beyond the major leagues; its roots are at the high school and college levels. Anthony Magovney is not going to blow fastballs past batters. He’ll tell you so himself. He describes himself as a finesse pitcher, and he has the lowest strikeouts-per-game average of any Buffalo pitcher who has started a game this season (5.1). A lack of arm strength hasn’t stopped the junior right-hander from dominating on the mound for the baseball team this season. Magovney is 6-1 with an ERA of 3.09 – which ranks second among UB pitchers who have pitched at least 26 innings this season. What he lacks in power he makes up for in off-speed pitches and baseball knowledge. Though fastball pitchers can rely on pure velocity, pitchers like Magovney have to find ways to offset the batter’s timing or de-
Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Anthony Magovney has had to adjust his pitching style since arriving at UB, and he has successfully made the transition from a power hurler in high school to an off-speed pitcher in college.
ceive him into swinging at a pitch outside the strike zone. When Magovney is on the mound, his strategy to beat his opponents is more mental than physical. He is always thinking about which pitch the batter will be least expecting. “I try to play more mind games with [the batter] than try and just say, ‘I’m better than you,’ and overpower you,” Magovney said. “I attack their weaknesses and go with my strengths. I like to confuse the other person because I know what I’m going to do, and I usually feel confident in myself that whatever I throw is going to get them out.” He has his changeup: fooling the batter into swinging early. He has his curveball: hanging the ball out in front of the strike zone before it drops down suddenly to below the batter’s knees. Then there is his favorite pitch, the slider: the ball comes in tight before violently sliding out of the batter’s range. He might also throw a fastball: a pitch the batter likely won’t be expecting af-
ter he has spent the entire game throwing off-speed pitches. “A lot of guys are confused up there because they really don’t think a guy can throw that many off-speed pitches in a row and that he has to throw a fastball, but Anthony just doesn’t do it,” said senior pitcher Dan Ginader. “What throws them off is that he’s so far from the norm because he just doesn’t use his fastball. He’s very good at it and that’s why he’s been so good.” Magovney wasn’t always the breaking ball master he is today. He’s had to acquire the skill of the off-speed pitch over time, which he began to do with the realization he no longer had the ability to get outs on power alone – a realization that can be humbling for pitchers. Magovney has taken the pitching style change in stride, though, and he, his teammates and family believe he is a better pitcher for it. “I think he’s grown as a pitcher,” said his brother, Brian MaSEE magovney, PAGE 6