ITHACA — Former Cornell University fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon was ordered to pay $12,000 after being sentenced for three convictions related to the 2011 hazing death of 19-year-old George Desdunes.
SAE was sentenced on three convictions, including hazing and criminal nuisance. The mother of Desdunes Wednesday asked the judge to impose the maximum fine as a signal that the court does not condone hazing. Representatives of the fraternity did not appear during sentencing.
In February of last year, a custodian found Desdunes unresponsive in the SAE house in Ithaca. A medical report later said his body’s alcohol blood level was 0.35. Prosecutors unsuccessfully tried three former members of the SAE fraternity, claiming the student’s death was due to a mock kidnapping that went too far.
I am appalled. $12,000 is the value of a black man’s life in Ithaca?