Mother of UCSC student who died at frat party speaks out over lawsuit

The mother of a former UC Santa Cruz student who died at a fraternity ceremony last year is explaining her reasoning on Friday after filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Her attorneys say the incident happened at a frat house in Jun 2018 off Broadway in Santa Cruz near Ocean Street. This all involved member of the Theta Chi Fraternity chapter at UCSC, which has since been dismissed by the school.

The family and their attorneys blames dangerous hazing as a reason for 20-year-old Alex Beletsis’ death. Attorneys say frat leaders forced Beletsis to go through hazing that included multiple types and large quantities of alcohol as well as some drugs.

Alex was a popular and kind-hearted student at UCSC who loved to help others in need, according to his mother.

“He was really a bright light. He was very smart and sweet,” said Daphne Beletsis.

Alex joined the Theta Chi Fraternity chapter at the school his sophomore year, and in June 2018, was being groomed for an officer position.

Part of that grooming included a “Crossover Ceremony” at a frat house in Santa Cruz, where attorney for Alex’s family allege leaders forced Alex to go through dangerous hazing. After drinking large amounts of alcohol and some drugs, attorney say Alex became ill and incoherent.

Members then told him to go to an upstairs bathroom to settle down. That is where things turned tragic.

In lawsuit documents, the attorneys allege Alex fell from the second story window down to the concrete below where he shattered his skull and sustained severe brain and spinal cord injuries from the fall.

Alex was in the hospital for 18 days before doctors advised the family he would not recover; his family decided to remove life support.

The family is seeking justice in Alex’s death, filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Theta Chi National Fraternity, the local chapter and some of the members involved that night.

“I think that we are tolerating way too much risky behavior and way too many deaths and injuries as a result of fraternity culture, the hazing and the alcohol use,” said Daphne Beletsis. “So the only other option was to do nothing and that didn’t feel very good.”

“This fraternity chapter had an extensive disciplinary history, and the national never responsibly intervened and made this organization safe before its actions and misconduct caused Alex’s death,” said Douglas Fierberg, the attorney for Beletsis family.

Theta Chi National Fraternity did send KION a statement in response to the lawsuit, denying that “hazing played any role in Alex’s death” and that they cooperated with authorities. The statement said they are confident courts will clear them of any responsibility.

For the mother of Alex, this about changing a frat culture that has come under scrutiny much too often.

“I think that fraternities just see it as a cost of doing business, that there’s going to be so many injuries and so many assaults and the occasional death, and they’re just willing to tolerate that,” said Daphne Beletsis.