#RYANSTRONG
May 8, 2017
Adam Garcia
Assistant Vice President & Director
University Police Services
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 N. Virginia St. MS 250
Reno, NV 89557-0250
Re: Hazing Habits of Sigma Nu & the Death of Ryan Abele
Mr. Garcia,
I have read the Notice of Findings written by Kimberly Thomas and the UNR Police Report. I have also watched each of the 25 recorded police interviews. It is interesting that seventeen pledges or former pledges were interviewed, yet only 8 active members of Sigma Nu came in for police interviews.
Ryan was NOT a heavy drinker.
Gruber repeatedly asked during the interviews about Ryan’s ‘drinking habits’.
Q: Have you ever seen him (Ryan) drunk?
A: “Not like that.”, “Never where I would have been worried about him.”
Q: Regarding Ryan’s drinking habits.
A: Ryan “knows his limits”, “he’s a smart kid”, “first time seeing him the way he was”. “I’ve never seen him stumble before”.
Q: Ever seen Ryan drunk before?
A: “Ryan was NOT a heavy drinker”, “never saw him out of it”, “never saw him puking”, “never saw him passed out”.
“He was an athlete.”, “We played sports together”.
Despite several pledges quite clearly establishing the fact that Ryan was NOT a heavy drinker, Gruber persisted.
On November 23, thirty eight days after the incident, Gruber interviewed an active who stated that he did NOT know Ryan well. He also stated that he had NEVER seen Ryan intoxicated before the Big Brother Reveal. Yet Gruber still engaged this same active in a conversation about Ryan’s ‘drinking habits’.
Did Officer Gruber misplace his notes from the prior interviews? Did he fail to prepare? Or was he directed to stay on a specific line of questioning in an attempt to fit a pre-conceived narrative?
Ryan’s death was the direct result of a planned fraternity event. The active members intentionally got thirty (30) pledges intoxicated. Many of the pledges were so inebriated that they vomited.
This was not about ‘drinking habits’. This was about Hazing Habits.
October 15, 2016 was not a random Saturday night. It was the Sigma Nu Fraternity ‘Big Brother Reveal’. UNR Findings – “Sigma Nu Fraternity, Delta Xi Chapter, held a chapter event”.
The event was a required step for the pledges to become a member of the fraternity. It was also made clear that they were still in danger of being ‘cut’ or ‘dropped’ from the pledge class if they failed to do as they were instructed.
UNR Findings – Candidates were instructed by active members to line up in ‘military style’. The leaders gave a speech about “separating the men from the boys”. They ended the speech by throwing the manuals of former pledges that dropped into the fireplace.
They belittled the former pledges that dropped as ‘weak’ and ‘failures’ and told the pledges, ‘this will be you’, making it clear that there were still cuts to be made if they did not do what was expected of them.
This was their TRADITION. Karsten ‘Ming’ Chung, the President of Sigma Nu stated that it was ‘Tradition that the Big Brother buys a bottle for the Little Brother’. ‘(The bottle) is a memento between the two’.
Each pledge candidate was given a bottle of alcohol from an active member of the fraternity. Ryan was given a ‘fifth’ (750 ml) of 100 proof rum. Thirty (30) Active members of Sigma Nu gave a bottle of hard alcohol to thirty (30) pledges.
One pledge stated, “You’re supposed to finish the bottle. That’s the goal.”
Another pledge stated that when no one was looking he poured some of the alcohol out of his bottle in order to make it appear that he had drank more than he did.
Fifty (50) to Sixty (60) active fraternity members were present along with 31 pledges. Fraternity chapter alumni were also present for the ceremony.
The leadership of the fraternity, the active members and the alumni of Sigma Nu all showed blatant disregard for the health and safety of the students that were pledging.
After giving Ryan a 750 ml bottle of 100 proof rum, Medina and Ming took the first shot with him in Ming’s room. Ryan was then instructed to drink 1/3 of the bottle before moving to another room. Medina pointed to a spot on the bottle and told him to drink it down to there before moving on.
An 18 year old pledge instructed to consume 250 ml of 100 proof rum. That is 8.45 fluid ounces. Think of that next time you drink an eight ounce glass of water. From that moment Ryan was no longer capable of rational thought. Many people witnessed him severely intoxicated that night - including several leaders of the fraternity.
At approximately 5:55 am some of the pledges were instructed to ‘round up your pledge class’ and get them all downstairs for a meeting. One of them had attempted to wake Ryan, but he was too inebriated to get up. So they went back a second time to wake him. No one showed enough concern for his health and safety to say, 'He can skip the 6 am meeting'.
This was a mandatory pledge class meeting. He was not offered an option.
According to one pledge they were “under the gun” and “cutting it close” as though there was some penalty if the pledges were not downstairs in time.
At least four active members of the fraternity were at the top of the stairs. No one stepped in to help him. No one was man enough to say, 'he's done'. Instead they ordered him to 'get the fuck down the stairs'.
Ryan was in no condition to go down a flight of stairs. Forcing him to go down stairs was equivalent to leading him off the edge of a cliff.
Ryan impacted the concrete wall at the bottom of the stairs head first. He suffered a fractured skull and severe head trauma. When he arrived at the hospital after 7 am they drew his blood. His Blood Alcohol level was 0.30. He was too inebriated to adjust his body or bring his arms up to protect himself. He was drunk out of his mind, yet they still insisted that he be woken up and ordered him to “get the fuck the down the stairs”.
You failed to bring any charges against the cast of clowns that planned and orchestrated these events. Why are they still welcome on your campus?
While you walk along the path of least resistance know this: Your weakness endangers students.
Your failure to act emboldens perpetrators.
Jack Abele
Father of Ryan Abele
Copy to:
Governor Brian Sandoval
Office of the Governor
101 North Carson Street
Carson City, Nevada 89701
These photos were sent with the letter to UNRPD and to Governor Sandoval
Ryan at 10 years old going from first to third on a play. He alertly noticed the third baseman moving toward the outfield to receive a throw. He responded by maneuvering his body to the inside of third base - away from the throw - to avoid a possible tag.
At ten he had the instinct and reactions to adjust his body away from danger and get his arms out in front.
Yet at 18 years old he went head first into a concrete wall at the bottom of a stair case and suffered a fractured skull. Ryan had no injuries to his arms. We knew that there had to be more to the story. He would have instinctively adjusted his body and put his arms out in order to protect himself.
Letter to Adam Garcia UNRPD with copy to Governor Brian Sandoval
