Brooklyn Teen Found Dead In Cornell Frat House

A sophomore at Cornell University was found dead in a fraternity house on the Ithaca school's campus last Friday. George Desdunes, 19, was found unresponsive in his bed at the frat house on Friday morning and was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The investigation into his death is continuing, but suicide is not suspected and a sheriff told the AP that alcohol consumption may have been a factor.

President David Skorton said in a statement, "I understand there will be speculation about the causes of this terrible tragedy. Once [the investigation] is complete and we have all the available facts, we will inform the community and share decisions regarding the appropriate course of action."

Desdunes, who was from Brooklyn, was a biology major. His aunt said to the Post, "He always walked with a smile on his face. Everything he did was spectacular." And the president of his frat, Sigma Alpha Epilson, Eric Barnum, told the Cornell Daily Sun, “He could cheer you up no matter what."

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By Jen Chung in News on February 28, 2011 9:09 AM

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C_Right_THRU_U

don't get wasted if you can't trust your so-called peeps to take care of you.

random transplant

The Ithaca Journal, for all its foibles, is the paper of note for Ithaca and Cornell. Nobody outside of the students themselves read the Sun. You wouldn't know that though, with the gigantic historic tax-free building right on State the Sun staff play in.

"Police obtained a search warrant on Friday for the common areas of the SAE house and Desdunes’ bedroom, according to a person who observed the police response."

Translation: Uncle Ezra and the city that was run by a Theta Drug Alumni Mayor for a decade want you to know that the frats will remain open for underage alcohol consumption no matter what.

I have no problem with college students drinking & I don't know about other schools - but some of these frats are so beyond the law they don't have any incentive to self-regulate on their own. If not booze at a party, its about a cup of salt down the throat with a pinkie up your butt during hazing. This partying to death stuff happens every year.

You can send several minors to the ER, from the same big dorm like Donlon, after a party at your on-campus University chartered frat one weekend and then do it all over again the next. With hard drugs spilled all over the front coffee table & the nitrous tanks upstairs.

Not the first time, not the last. These kids have so little discretion & common sense 16 year old townies are like "whoa slow down I'm getting outta here".

The real scoop would be where these kids get their coke. But Cornell is effective at getting their alumni high enough up everywhere that nobody wants to spoil the party for their Alma Mater.

I hope the student's families find peace.