Texas Fraternity Ordered to Pay $16.2-Million to Parents of Pledge Who Died

A state judge in Texas has ordered a University of Texas at Austin fraternity chapter and its national parent organization to pay $16.2-million to the parents of a freshman pledge who died after falling, drunk, from his fifth-floor balcony two years ago, the Austin American-Statesman reported today.

Investigators said Tyler Cross’s death, at his off-campus apartment, followed a night of hazing by members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. In one of the rituals, pledges were reportedly given half-gallon bottles of hard liquor to drink. The authorities said pledges were also beaten with sticks and paddles.

Mr. Cross’s parents sued the fraternity in September. When neither the local nor the national group responded to the lawsuit, John Dietz, a district judge, issued the $16.2-million default judgment, according to Robbie Alden, a lawyer for the family. He said state law allowed the fraternity to seek a new trial if it could explain its failure to respond initially.

Representatives of the fraternity either did not return calls from the newspaper or could not be reached for comment. Four fraternity leaders pleaded no contest this year to charges in connection with the case and were sentenced to either four days in jail or deferred adjudication. —Katherine Mangan