NC Robert Eugene Tipton Jr., 22, died after hazing ritual at High Point University, 2012

[dotr]

March 24 2014
N.C. fraternity pledge died in violent hazing ritual led by school president's son: lawsuit

NY Daily News
''To join, they say it would cost him his life.

A North Carolina fraternity pledge died after being "violently assaulted and battered" during a hazing ritual led by the university president's own son in 2012, a newly filed lawsuit claims.

The family of Robert Eugene Tipton Jr., say High Point University officials knew of the fraternity's "extreme and outrageous conduct" but allowed it to carry on, resulting in his death, the Greensboro News & Record reported.

Tipton, 22, who was rushing Delta Sigma Phi, was found not breathing in an off-campus apartment on March 26.

An autopsy found that he died from a drug overdose -- specifically pain killers -- but it noted that his body was also found with abrasions on his head, neck, and torso.''

''A private investigation later commissioned by Tipton's mother argued that a concussion he sustained in the hazing ultimately led to his death by "aspiration of gastrointestinal contents," according to the News & Record''.

 

[dotr]

Lengthy article.
July 2020
Death at Delta Sig: Heiress Wages a Million-Dollar War on Frats
''Death at Delta Sig: Heiress Wages a Million-Dollar War on Frats
A grieving mother fights for a new investigation into what happened to her son.
Bloomberg John Hechinger

Deborah Tipton at her home in Memphis, Tennessee. Photo by Houston Cofield / Bloomberg.

It’s almost midnight when Deborah Tipton settles down to study the evidence once again. In her grand Memphis home, the scene of elegant dinner parties and fundraisers, police reports and private investigators’ notes cover an antique dining table. As if searching for a clue from beyond the grave, she pores over the most painful pages, the ones containing text messages from her dead son.

“Getting hazed bad now and need Xanax. I didn’t even sleep last night and was shaking.”

“I can’t trust anyone right now.”

“What could they do that’s so bad in two hours. They’re just going to yell at us a bunch and maybe make us work out or eat something nasty. They can’t kill us.”

Tipton has struggled to untangle the last hours of her son’s life ever since March 26, 2012, the balmy Monday when police officers gave her the news. Robert, 22 and a junior at High Point University in North Carolina, was dead. The authorities would later rule his death an accident, a drug overdose, another example of fraternity partying run amok. Case closed.''

''To his mother, however, it remains very much open. Her singular quest to solve it may test the power of America’s college fraternities, which have beaten back such inquiries for generations. Fraternities own $3 billion in real estate and house a quarter of a million students who tap into an unrivaled alumni network of presidents, members of Congress, corporate executives and Wall Street investors.''

''And Tipton says she has found plenty to make her question the official story. Four years after Robert’s death, her team got its hands on the full police file. The autopsy photos showed that he had angry purple bruises on his face, around his neck and on his legs and buttocks, as well as a jagged gash on his head.''

''Qubein’s behavior after Tipton’s death was odd. He said he had taken Tipton’s phone from Jefferson’s apartment and then deleted messages and photos; the family’s investigators said Qubein deleted at least four exchanges between him and Tipton.

“I was trying to protect his family from the heartache from seeing what he was doing,” Qubein said, referring to the drug use. “I knew if something like this had happened to me, I would want someone else to do that for me because it would save me from embarrassment and shame.”