Parents of a George Mason student who died on campus blast university and fraternity
The parents of a George Mason student who died on campus are criticizing university leaders for withholding information.
gmu.edu
The parents of a George Mason student who died on campus are criticizing university leaders for withholding information. Tristan Medina, a sophomore, died after taking LSD and crashing through a 5th story window on campus last fall.
The public wasn't told about the LSD until the news first broke in the Washington Post on Wednesday.
"You feel like it's a nightmare and hopefully you'll wake up tomorrow, said Bernhard Medina. He and wife Jill have three sons. Tristan was their middle child.
He had played football at Massaponax High School where the team felt like a family, said Jill Medina. To feel that same sense of belonging, as a freshman at George Mason, Tristan had joined a fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
On September 30, Tristan Medina, three months shy of his 20th birthday, either jumped or fell through a 5th story window to his death. He had taken LSD. His parents say he never took drugs in high school and would admonish other kids who did.
In January, fraternity brother Alejandro Porrata, 19, was indicted for drug distribution for allegedly giving Tristan the LSD.
His death has been called a suicide, but the Medinas disagree. They say he was a happy person and would not have planned his death.
"He made some bad choices, but other people made choices. Mr. Porrata made a choice too. My son paid the ultimate price. My son paid with his life," said Bernhard Medina.
George Mason University temporarily suspended the fraternity, but only made that public knowledge after an inquiry from reporters this week.
The Medinas would like to see SAE kicked off campus permanently.
The Medinas hired a lawyer to get information about their son's death. "They pretty much act like they are a private university entitled to secrecy," said Bernhard Medina.
They're also angry the public university, the largest in the state of Virginia with 36,000 students, did not put out information to the public about Tristan's death, the circumstances surrounding it, or the suspension of the fraternity when it happened.
"When you don't put out a public statement, when you have a student to die, under difficult circumstances and then there's an arrest made, there's drugs involved, and you don't let your students know, your community know, and the parents know, I think that's irresponsible. think the public has a right to know, that, guess what, we got a problem here. You need to make an informed decision whether you want to send your child to George Mason," said Bernhard Medina.
The Medinas also say University leaders never called to apologize after their son's death.
The university spokesperson sent this response to WUSA9's questions about the Medina's concerns:
The university can’t begin to imagine what the Medinas are going through. Losing a child is a terrible tragedy, and we are so sorry for the pain they continue to endure.
Several people from the university, including members of our leadership, have reached out to express our sympathies and respond to the Medinas’ concerns. Additionally, our Police Chief has had many conversations with Mrs. and Mr. Medina as part of the ongoing criminal investigation.
The fraternity was suspended on November 1, 2017 and remains suspended and can not operate pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. The university has also taken action against individual students; however, we cannot disclose this information because of FERPA.