 "Photo: Beata Dumaplin")
 "Photo: Beata Dumaplin")
Students gathered at Chestnut and West Fourth streets Monday night for a vigil marking the five-year anniversary of Matthew Carrington’s death.
Carrington died from water intoxication during a hazing ritual at Chi Tau, a fraternity that was unaffiliated with Chico State’s Greek community at the time, said Mike Ramsey at the vigil. The district attorney prosecuted the men involved in Carrington’s death following the incident.
About 100 students held candles at the location of the former fraternity house to remember Carrington and what his death means to the Greek Community, he said.
With Rush Week right around the corner, students thought thevigil was a good reminder about what happened, said junior Sarah McIsaac, a member of Alpha Gamma Delta.
“We want people to remember that we did lose a life and it made a huge difference in the Greek community,” she said.
The vigil began with a slideshow depicting images of Carrington growing up.
His mother, Debbie Smith, spoke about hazing and how a law introduced in 2006 is an important step in preventing problems with hazing.
“Matt’s Law” makes the act of hazing a misdemeanor, Smith said.
“The idea behind Matt’s Law was not to throw a bunch of kids in prison,” she said. “We just want to stop this from happening.”
The family wants the law to prevent others from losing their children in hazing-related deaths, Smith said. She encouraged students to speak up if they feel uncomfortable about something a fraternity or sorority is making them do.
Friends were also there, including Kristi Vahl who had known Carrington since childhood, she said. Vahl described him as a fun-loving sweetheart who would do anything for anyone.
To close the vigil, Ramsey addressed the crowd.
“Hazing is no longer cool,” he said. “Hazing is no longer a rite of passage. Hazing is a crime.”
It takes great sacrifice to enact change and that sacrifice was Matt, Ramsey said.
“It’s changed not only Chico,” Ramsey said, “but has changed campuses all across this country.”
Sarah Brown can be reached at
sbrown@theorion.com
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