A first-year student at Washington State University was discovered dead in his dorm room, prompting allegations that he had undergone a “inhumane” initiation ritual.
According to MailOnline, Luke Morgan Tyler’s body was discovered at the Perham Hall dorm on January 22 at approximately 1:30 p.m. after police received an anonymous call.
Despite police not suspecting foul play, a petition alleging that Tyler, 19, was subjected to a severe hazing by the university’s Theta Chi fraternity house has subsequently been created.
Nearly 10,000 people have signed the petition, which claims: “His death closely followed a torturous pledging process permitted by his fraternity, Theta Chi.
“Their inhumane and cruel hazing forced Luke, and many others to do things nobody should ever be forced to do.”
Petition organiser Trevor Michalski also demanded the fraternity be investigated “immediately” and “shut down,” adding: “Luke was truly an amazing person with an incredible effect on everyone whose life he touched, he deserves justice.”
Others agreed, commenting: “No one should ever have to go through what Luke did.
“This cost him his life. This happens in college, on sports teams and high school and more. Hazing should be made illegal across the world and be a punishable crime.
“My condolences to his family and other families going through this. My daughter was good friends with him and mentioned what a nice guy he was. This could have been prevented.”
Another added: “Luke was one of my best friends, one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. Love you bro.”
Meanwhile a third chimed in: “I coached Luke’s youth basketball team and he was friends with my son. He was a great kid with great heart. Fraternities who haze are outdated misogynistic relics that have no place in institutions of higher learning or anywhere for that matter.”
No cause of death has been given, but despite the petition, police say they don’t suspect foul play. WSU police have warned the public against quickly assigning blame.
“There has been a significant amount of conjecture regarding the circumstances surrounding this incident and the actual cause of the student’s passing,” a police spokesperson told 4 News Now.
“I would caution the public against speculation at this point in the investigation.
“The facts in this case are still being gathered. It could be several weeks before the coroner’s office determines the cause and manner of death. We want to ensure that the investigation can proceed unimpeded.”
