Loyola’s problems with last year’s Tri Phi hazing scandal are not finished.
In a lawsuit filed Feb. 19, former members of the off-campus Tri Phi sorority, Tri Phi sorority as an organization and Loyola University were sued by a former Loyola student and Tri Phi pledge Erin Folkman.
Also named as plaintiffs in the suit are Folkman’s parents, Paul and Jane Folkman. They are seeking over $50,000 in pain, suffering and emotional damages in addition to court costs and other damages. These include loss of academic and employment opportunities and the costs of attending a new university.
Folkman was a freshman when she pledged Tri Phi in spring 2004. She, with at least one other pledge, brought charges of hazing against the members of the sorority. The Office of Student Affairs punished the women, expelling or suspending several of the 25, but then reduced the sentences after a civil suit was filed by the Tri Phi’s accusing the university of not following the proper protocol set forth by the university handbook.
Loyola University Spokesperson Kristin David Lelong, Loyola Risk Management Director Richard Bell and Matthew Monsoon, legal counsel for the Folkmans, had yet to return calls to The Maroon as of press time Wednesday evening.
In the most recent suit, the plaintiffs charge that the 19 women, many of which still attend Loyola, committed acts ranging from requiring Folkman to compose and sing songs and give the sisters wake-up calls to eating cigarettes and drinking unknown “mixtures.”
The charges also include blindfolding Folkman, forcing her into the trunk of a car and driving her to an undisclosed location for more hazing, making her stay the night in a cemetery and having condoms filled with beer and pickle juice thrown at her.
The suit notes 31 specific charges against the 19 women, in addition to “other acts of negligence and/or other fault” to be proven at trial.
In addition to the 31 charges, the suit includes a “death threat” left on Folkman’s voicemail by two Tri Phi members. The transcript, filled with profanity, insults the defendant and then features one of the women stating: “I hope you [expletive] get hit by a [expletive] car, and I hope you die a [expletive] painful death … I hope you die.”
The suit also charges Loyola for not warning any of the 2003-04 pledge class about Tri Phi, “despite knowing the true nature of the activities of Tri Phi.”
Loyola is also charged with not taking the necessary steps to prevent Tri Phi recruitment on campus as well as failing to prevent hazing activities, failing to adequately enforce the handbook, failing to ensure Folkman’s safety and failing to discipline the Tri Phi students prior to the events described in the suit.
No trial date has been set for the case in New Orleans Civil Court.
Adam Hennessey can be reached at [email protected].
