Frat Pledge Was Forced to Drink Water Until He Nearly Died

Dallas Morning News
June 24, 2006
By ROBERT THARP

A 26-year-old Dallas man who pressured an SMU fraternity pledge to drink so much water during an off-campus initiation ritual that he nearly died was convicted of aggravated assault Friday.

Raymond Lee put a handkerchief to his shaved head and cried after the guilty verdict was announced. Jurors in his trial will return Monday to consider Mr. Lee's punishment, which ranges from probation to 20 years in prison.

Attorneys for Mr. Lee argued that he was not guilty because he did not realize that consuming so much water is potentially dangerous. Attorney Ray Jackson told jurors that Braylon Curry voluntarily submitted to the "water night" initiation ritual, a longtime tradition of predominantly black fraternities that Mr. Jackson said prosecutors could not understand.

"There's been 20 years of water night," he said.

Mr. Jackson noted that Mr. Curry applied to the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity at SMU knowing that it would involve pledging rituals. At the time, the fraternity chapter was strictly forbidden to perform such initiations because of past hazing incidents, but Mr. Jackson said Mr. Curry signed up for an "underground" initiation process that involved the traditional pledging activities.

"Pledging is not easy. Pledging is not for everyone. There are choices that have to be made," Mr. Jackson said. "He didn't have to pledge Alpha Phi Alpha. He made a choice to pledge. Why? Because he wanted to be an Alpha.

"But prosecutor Josh Healy said Mr. Lee should have realized that Mr. Curry was in danger that night.

According to court testimony, the November 2003 initiation ritual inside a northeast Dallas apartment began with orders for the fraternity pledges to guzzle salsa and hot sauce for about an hour. After that, they were quizzed on fraternity history and ordered to perform fraternity hymns and dances. Mistakes were punished with orders to guzzle water.

Mr. Curry testified that Mr. Lee held a gallon jug of water to Mr. Curry's mouth and slapped him. Later that night he collapsed and began having seizures, nearly drowning in his vomit. He spent 10 days in the hospital, and a doctor testified that he was close to death.

Mr. Lee had graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas at the time but was still active in local fraternity functions. While at UTD, he was suspended from the fraternity for taking part in a hazing incident. For punishment, he was ordered to perform community service and write a paper on the dangers of hazing.

Mr. Healy countered Mr. Lee's earlier testimony about how much the fraternity meant to him by noting that Mr. Lee is serving probation for stealing a pledge brother's identity and writing about $5,000 in hot checks.

"The defendant talked about how important it was to be an Alpha ­ it's so strong that he stole from his own pledge brother," he said.

Seven other men have been indicted in the initiation ritual and are awaiting trial.