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| Robert Tipton, Jr. www.tributes.com |
One Fateful Night
The 22-year-old High Point University student and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity pledge was invited to a brother's off-campus apartment on March 25 for a "counseling session." Upon finding Tipton the next morning, High Point Police investigated the death but found no evidence of foul play.
Despite bruising and brain hemorrhaging discovered in an autopsy of Tipton, the North Carolina state medical examiner determined these to be superficial and found the cause of death to be "oxymorphone poisoning" -- in layman's terms, a drug overdose involving powerful prescription painkillers.
For the next two years, friends remembered time spent with Tipton and the case remained closed -- or so everyone thought. For his family, it wasn't over. They needed answers.
Searching For Closure
In April of 2013, Tipton's mother hired a private investigator and released the following advertisement in the High Point Enterprise, offering a reward of $10,000 for any information about the night Tipton died.
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| archive.digtriad.com |
Other defendants in the suit include Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity Inc., HPU security director Jeff Karpovich, fraternity brother Marshall Jefferson and fraternity brother Michael Qubein, who is also the son of university president Nido Qubein.
Students React
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| Delta Sigma Phi, High Point University www.hpusigs.com |
Within days of the lawsuit's announcement, the HPU chapter of Delta Sigma Phi's activities were suspended and the fraternity's letters were removed from the house.
News of the suit and Delta Sig's suspension spread across campus like wildfire, leaving students with mixed opinions (all names have been changed).
Lauren Thomas, a student at HPU and close friend of Tipton's, says that the whole situation is devastating. "The night before he died he was at a friend's off-campus apartment, but that's all I knew about what was going on. He called me at 1:30 a.m. stone cold sober asking me about a paper. The next day I was informed that he had passed away. I thought it was a sick pledge week joke."
Thomas goes on to say that she was told Tipton died from a bad mixture of drugs and alcohol. "What really upset me was the fact that the people who pushed this mixture were people he previously called his 'best friends.' I think the lawsuit against them is completely justified."
However, many students have argued that the Tipton family waited too long to file a lawsuit. "It's not going to happen now," says student Hannah Smith.
Katie Johnson agrees. "I think it's unfair that his mother waited two years and she's just going to be in more pain no matter the outcome, because either way her son's not coming home. I just don't see the point in trying to get redemption because that could cause more pain."
"This is exactly the reason that fraternities, schools and even the government have such strict rules on hazing," reasons HPU student Alex Benson. "We will never know if the HPU chapter of Delta Sig was turning things around because they were never given the opportunity, but sometimes there are things that just can’t be repaired."
Benson goes on to say that the lawsuit should be a wake-up call. "It’s an unfortunate fact and this should be a call for Greek Life everywhere to fight hazing even harder, so things like this never happen."
"I am shocked this is happening now and I feel for the family," a source close to the fraternity says. "The brothers of Delta Sigma Phi are good men. I can't believe nor do I think that they could have intentionally caused the death of a brother. All I've seen is love and respect toward Rob."
Although Tipton's family still feels as though they need answers, Thomas says she has accepted his passing. "Rob always ended phone calls with 'see ya later, love you,'" she says. "What gives me peace is the fact that the last words we spoke were that we loved each other."
