Parents Sue Phi Beta Sigma For Son’s Hazing Death
From The Houston Chronicle
A 20-year-old Phi Beta Sigma pledge at Prairie View A&M University underwent systematic hazing — including a strict bread-and-water diet, paddling and mandatory rigorous exercises — that intensified until it culminated in his death, a lawsuit filed by his parents states.
Donnie Wade II, a biology major studying to become a doctor, died Oct. 20 following a pre-dawn exercise session with a group of his pledge brothers, investigators said.
While the autopsy is not yet complete, Wade’s mother, Katrina, blames hazing for taking her only son from her.
“I will not rest until I am sure no other families will go through what we have,” she said.
Her husband, Wade I, is an associate pastor of the Dallas-area Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed Friday in Dallas County, seeks as much as $97 million in damages from the national fraternity based in Washington, D.C., the pledge trainer, Marvin Jackson, and Prairie View A&M.
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calling 911 the 1st OR 2nd time he blacked out could’ve saved his life….not only didn’t they do it, someone laughed it off….yes he CHOSE to go on after he was tired, but calling 911 was his “brothers” responsibility… so maybe they’re trying to get rich….but no amount of money can compensate them for that loss… they can only hope to heal…call it a downpayment
I really don’t know the purpose of hazing anyway. How does it make a person a stronger brother or sister in the organization? What good will starving a person do, paddling them, or beating them? In the end all it does is bring about unnecessary consequences for unnecessary actions. Nothing against the organizations just these type actions. Very stupid.
As brother of Phi Beta Sigma, Inc, I would like to offer my sincere sympathy to Donnie Wade II family members and friends. Each soul is responsible for their own actions. One’s heart is not determined by the amount of punishment given, rather it is the determination of that young man to become a productive member and citizen of this country.
Hazing is an old ancient practice. Unfortunately deaths occurred during those times and it continues today. We all make mistakes and even this soul has bitten from the fruit of the poisonous tree. The Blue Family will grow from this tragedy. I’m not speaking on behalf of Phi Beta Sigma, Inc. I am speaking from the personal heart and soul I have obtained for mankind. Sad loss. Many blessings to the Wade family.
In turn, our brother made a costly mistake, so we have lost another life. My hearts goes to my fraternity brothers involved. Their family will also suffer from the immature nature they displayed. My brothers are young men with young hearts. I was on line for 16 weeks, 20 hours and 45 seconds in the early 90’s. In other words, the building blocks of a man’s mind and body varies. Football players and other athletes die from their respective sport. Do the coaches face trial and is the team sued?
My prayers to the Wade Family and my fraternity brothers. You all are missed.
This is not a statement on behalf of Phi Beta Sigma, Fraternity Inc. This is a personal statement from L. I. McNeal-EL.
i’m gonna leave the same comment that I left regarding the Alpha membership intake suspension article. . .however I will say it is rather saddening and unfortunate that these young men would engage in this murderous brutal act without taking the proper steps to prevent such a calamity, and thus should be held liable.
FIRST OF ALL, it’s interesting to see how people have claim to have knowledge of a subject truly have no knowledge to the inner-workings of a dynamic organization such as this. Sorry for all those who are waiting for “wild comments” because any man of ALPHA PHI ALPHA or most other greek orgs wont give you any.
It’s the EXCESSIVE behaviors of what a few bad apples in ANY organization (whether it be greek, religious, or corporate) that bring negative attention to the organization as a whole.
Bottom line, ask ANY older member (50+ years of age) the signifcance of the rituals of ANY Black Greek organization(although they wont tell you what they actually were) and how some mental and/or physical challenges were presented to initiates (or pledgess), and they will inform you as to how they were relevant to what was being taught to them was PERTINENT to their understanding of not only the fraternity/sorority, but the African American culture and struggle as a whole.
It’s amazing how folk who lack a thorough understanding of a topic make such judgmental comments. Nonetheless, I implore you to check your spelling and grammatical syntax before opening your “mouth” virtually and embarrasing yourself.
wowzers
@Outsider
It looks like they broke you down real good when you were in line before you crossed the burning sand. You are bringing up legal diction to a situation where a young brother was haze and resulted in his death. Please leave the lies and semantics of hazing is illegal and Frats/Soros does not haze in this time and age. It is part of the process and it is under the rug even though it is obvious to anyone who’s around people who are in line.Therefore, you are as coward as those who are guilty in this brother’s death because you are hiding the truth of what the divine is all about.
This is such a tragedy and very unfortunate. The school or the fraternity should not be held responsible for this kid’s death. The school and the organization make you sign paperwork telling you that they do not condone in such activities and that hazing is NOT part of the process and you will be held liable for any illegal activities. These idiots smear the school and the organization by doing these stupid cowardly acts. The idiot/idiots who ended this young man’s promising life should be held responsible to the fullest. I graduated from an HBCU and pledged in a black fraternity. At some point we need to decide if joining any organization is worth the problems. Its unfortunate that all the bad seeds that join these organizations cant be screened out. They are the ones that have no idea of what brotherhood is all about.
@grown_man i feel the same way but i didn’t grduate from there i had to move,but damn p.v!!!!!!
strenuous exercises and fueled w/just bread and and water?!…dumb MFs!
Being a Prairie View A&M graduate, all I can say is…DDDDAAAAAMMMMNNNNNNNNN!