Coverage of the hazing death of former VCU student Adam Oakes
(15) updates to this series since Updated
At 2 a.m., fraternity students at VCU began to discuss which pledge was the drunkest. The conversation turned to Adam Oakes, who was left lying on the dining room floor.Â
Two years ago lawmakers mandated hazing training at Virginia colleges. That measure was "Adam's Law," for Adam Oakes, a VCU student who died in 2021 in a fraternity hazing incident.
VCU has changed when and how student groups can serve alcohol. But it declined suggestions to ban alcohol at events and prohibit what experts say is the dangerous "big-little night."
Adam Oakes died in 2021 at a "big-little" initiation party with the Delta Chi fraternity.Â
The agreement includes a number of commitments from VCU to reform its approach to overseeing fraternities and sororities.
Authorities originally charged 11 former students with hazing. Six have accepted responsibility for their role in Oakes' death.Â
As part of a plea agreement, he received no jail time, 100 hours of community service and a requirement that he participate in four hazing prevention training sessions.
Enayat Sheikhzad, 22, admitted Wednesday in Richmond Circuit Court to helping provide the alcohol that killed Oakes.
Jason Mulgrew receives no jail time in connection to the death of the 19-year-old VCU freshman.Â
Christian Rohrbach, described as the pledge master of Delta Chi, received no jail time.Â
Named for Adam Oakes, "Adam's Law" passed unanimously in the Senate and received 98 of 100 votes in the House.
The backing of "Adam's Law," comes one day after the anniversary of the death of VCU freshman Adam Oakes.Â
Editors note: In August 2022 prosecutors dropped charges against five former members of Delta Chi: Riley McDaniel, Robert Fritz, Alexander Bradley, Alessandro Medina-Villanueva and Quinn Kuby.
Just before midnight three years ago, 20 members of the Delta Chi fraternity at Virginia Commonwealth University ran around the back of a Cary Street rowhouse, jumped the fence and started a fight with men from another fraternity.
VCU has found Delta Chi responsible for violating university policies on hazing, serving alcohol, COVID protocols and recruitment activities.
The Oakes family has helped pass state and federal laws, and it has made 100 hazing-prevention presentations telling Adam's unvarnished story.Â
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A VCU student walks past a plaque and bench commemorating Adam Oakes, who died of alcohol toxicity in 2021, on Tuesday.
