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University of Missouri Fraternity Sued over Alleged Near-Fatal Hazing Case

Columns at University of Missouri
Adam Procter
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If UM Curators approve the increases, tuition could spike as much as 7.5 percent at the Columbia campus.

A former student at the University of Missouri's Columbia campus is suing a fraternity, its parent organization and three members over an alleged hazing incident he says left him with near-fatal alcohol poisoning.

Brandon Zingale's lawsuit filed Thursday in Boone County alleges he and other Kappa Alpha Order pledges were forced to participate in a September 2016 vodka-chugging contest.

The lawsuit alleges that after finally being taken by ambulance to a hospital nearly 10 hours after the drinking stunt, the unresponsive Zingale still had a blood-alcohol level of 0.41 — five times more than the state's legal threshold for intoxication.

The lawsuit alleges that the hazing came roughly two weeks after the fraternity already had been placed on probation for alcohol infractions.

A Kappa Alpha Order spokesman declined to comment Friday.

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