University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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A STAGGERING TRAGEDY jason Wren's last night began, by all accounts, pretty normally. Friends with him that day said Jason joined a group of friends at a local restaurant for margaritas. Then they went home to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, where they socialized, hung out and drank. Hours later, about I p.m. Sunday, a friend went to wake Jason after their night of drinking. He was hungry. He wanted to see whetherjason wanted to join him for lunch. He put a hand on jason,s shoulder. jason's long- sleeve, white polo shirt had hunched up around the middle ofhis back. The skin in the small of his back was freezing and blue. His friend looked around the room thinking there must have been a window open to make him so cold. jason's friend shook him, trying to break him out of his slumber. He noticed jason's shirt was soaked with vomit. The friend was getting frustrated. No way was some- thing seriously wrong, he thought. jason's just asleep. Death by alcohol? That just happens to kids somewhere else - not here. He tried liftingjason's head. That was when he couldn't pretend any longer - something was wrong. He shookjason hard, yelled at him to disprove his fear. 'gNo, no, no! came the screams from the sophomore sleeping dorm. Iason? jason! U Thirty minutes later, the paramedics came downstairs to the living room where about 40 SAE men had gathered. The news you all are fearing is unfortunately true, one ofthe paramedics told them. jason Wren passed away sometime in the nightf' Then,', said an SAE freshman, all you could hear was crying. The death ofjason Wren, a popular and kind-hearted athlete, from suspected alcohol poisoning March 8 in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house shocked a close-knit network of friends and family from Colorado to Kansas. Weeks later, the details surroundingjasons death - and last few days of life - remain unclear amid a swirl of controversy and contradiction. jason's father is calling for change in everything he believes contributed to his sonis death -from University privacy policy to the apparently embedded alcohol culture at the University - as jason's family and friends continue to grieve an incredible loss. jason's family continues to seek answers about what exactly happened to its only son. Who drove jason - who did not have a car - to get the alcohol he drank that night? Where did he get the fake ID he used to buy alcohol? Why didn't anyone call for help that night? That these and other questions remain unanswered nearly two months afterjason,s death may be testimony to the sensitive issues his case has raised. jAsoN's Last DAY On Saturday, March 7,jason woke up at about 5 a.m. to get ready for a 6 a.m. charter bus ride from the Lied Center to Iowa City, Iowa, for a club lacrosse tourna- ment. In one of his last conversations with his dad, jason, who played football in high school, shared his excitement about possibly becoming a starting midhelder for the team. But partying Friday night, an SAE freshman said, had left him tired. He went back to sleep, later telling friends he had planned to just ulie down for a second. W That second turned into several hours and jason missed the bus. 'Tm screwed! My coach is going to make me run forever, v he told a friend after he woke up again about 10:30 a.m. It was about then that a teammate received a text message in Iowa City. It was fromjason: Hey, man, tell the coaches Iim sorry. My phone's broken. My alarm just didn't go off. ,' jason told his fraternity buddies that the penalty for missing the bus would be strenuous workouts. Butjason was never one to spend a day moping around. L'Well, I may as well get wasted tonightj' he was quoted as saying. 'Tm going to have to run all week, I may as well have some fun tonight? Around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, jason went with a group to a local restaurant, where he used a fake ID to buy pitch- ers of margaritas. By 9:30 p.m. he was back at the SAE house. He decided not to go out to The Hawk as planned. A heavy thunderstorm also kept several other members inside that night. Instead, jason socialized with his friends. And jason drank. jay Wren,jason's father, said that Lawrence police told him his son drank 10 to I2 beers inside the SAE house that night. An SAE freshman said he did not know how many beersjason drank, or who had taken him to buy the beers, but that-jason also drank Eranzia wine and took at least one long swig ofwhiskey from a bottle. He said drinking straight from a bottle of hard liquor was a com- mon occurrence within the hallways of the house. I was standing not even a foot away from him and I remember watching him take this whiskey pull, and he took a very large whiskey pull- very large - and I was like, 'Damn,, the freshman said. f'After that it was clear he was very drunk. 3 He said he teasingly warnedjason, You better not puke on my couch. I never puke, I never puke, jason replied. jason reportedly passed out on a bench on the Hrst floor of the SAE house, and friends carried him to his bed. But he woke back up and started to drink again. 4'He kept waking up, completely coherent, actually wanting to drink moref' an SAE junior said. They took A SHOT OF REALITY IPART if W 92

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alcohol away from him because they found him in a room drinking, just chugging by himself, and they were like, 'What are you doinl? We just put you to bed. Go to bedfi' Both the junior and the SAE freshman said no one called for help that night because no one thoughtjason showed any signs of alcohol poisoning. ASPASSIONATE, MAN jason Christopher Wren was born May 1, 1 990, and grew up in Littleton, Colo., with his father, his mother, Mary, and sisters Katie, 22, and Vicky, 15. jason was a kid who loved sports and socializing with his friends. He started drinking in high school, something jay Wren says he now painfully regrets turning a blind eye to. Many ofthe 12 people who spoke atjasonls funeral conveyed the weight of a death that could have been avoided. The reality of this moment- the 'couldas,' 'shouldasf 'wouldas' -in light of the hopes and dreams of a young son, brother, teammate, friend and boyfriend, are crushing, said Brett Garretson, the service's religious leader. Nick Parker, jason's childhood friend and one of the pallbearers, spoke ofjason's passion for life, his big heart and his natural magnetism. 'LHe was like an earthbound sun, Parker said. Whenever someone was in jasonls gravitational pull, he always warmed themf' jay Wren's voice was strong and proud as he spoke of his son, who showed all the qualities he had hoped for - compassion, athleticism, leadership. jason got the nickname fthe mayor, in Little Leaguej' he told the crowd of mourners. He was always the leader - of everything. jason's lacrosse teammates commended him as a leader among the freshmen on the team. Mark Barrath, St. Louis graduate student and Jasonls coach, saidjason was in the running for a starting spot because of his skill and his commitment. He was a talented player, but it really was his work ethic and his constant dedication that set him apart,,' Barrath said. Members of the team made the eight-hour drive to Littleton for jason's funeral, as did several friends from the University. The University of Kansas lost a great person, said Ben Pohrman, St. Paul, Minn., freshman, after the service. An SAE member describedjason as good-looking, outgoing and magnetically charming at their memorial service on the SAE lawn on March 12. They said he was a huge hit with the ladies everywhere he went. Still, he did not have a girlfriend at the University. Instead, as his family and his close network ofhigh school friends from Colorado all enthusiastically said, his heart was reserved for his high-school sweetheart. Channing Ahbe, a freshman at the University ofVer- mont, described jason - her boyfriend since the seventh grade -in a single word: Passionate He was passionate about everything he did. It got him in trouble sometimes, but thatls what he was - passionate. JASON THE JAYHAWK jason Wren was thrilled at the opportunity to come to the University last fall. His childhood friends said he chose the school because he wanted to branch out and make new friends. It was a great place for two ofjasonis favorite things, they said: sports and parties. ujason was so excited about KU. He always talked about it- 'Pm gonna go to Lawrence, it's gonna be great, itls gonna be greatf, Ahbe said, mimickingjasonls low voice and terse, short sentences. jason never declared a major, but he had become in- terested in aerospace engineering shortly before his death, his father said. He moved onto the hrst floor of Oliver Hall in August 2008. As he was just about anywhere he went, jason was outgoing and popular on his floor and throughout the hall. He was one of the first people to come up to me and make me feel welcome when I moved in,', said Nick Voroshine, Sydney, Australia, junior. FAMILY Meivnseas seek CHANGE Since his sonis death, jay Wren has been outspoken in calling for college students to change their drinking habits. He would also like to see alcohol possession rules at fraternities change, saying the current practices contributed to jasonas death. L'He was a good kid. He was loved by many, and his life got cut shortf' he said. In his honor, I want kids to put the drinks down, and every time I want to have a drink now, I'm going to say no. It's in honor of my son, because alcohol killed him? Wren has criticized what he says are loaded gunl' policies of housing drinking-age and underage residents in the same residence halls and greek houses. He has also accused the University and SAE of failing to provide students with educational programs that include the signs of alcohol poisoning. Uninformed students who didnlt know the dangers ended up puttingjasonas life in a terrible circumstance, and I know that theyill live with that guilt forever, Wren said. Brandon Wegliorst, the national spokesman for SAE, said the fraternity invested time and money into continuous training about the dangers of alcohol for each of its members. Weghorst said in a statement that SAE had closed an internal investigation of the chapter after finding no criminal actions or negligence by the organization, the chapter or its respective members that led to the death 'N and that we believe this is a very unfortunate, isolated incidentf, THESPROBLEM' jason's tragic death has left a painful void in the lives of his mother and father, his sisters and his countless friends. Those close to jason say they want his life to be remembered, not his death. uWe want people to knowjasonls life wasnlt drink- ingf' Vicky Wren, jasonls sister, said. An SAE freshman said he felt people looked for a simple answer to jasonis death, but that it was an uunfor- tunate accidentw - the result ofthe kind of drinking that was common at the University. People want to blame the fraternity, people want to blame him, but it's not that at all - itls just college, the freshman said. 4'We drink. You binge drink, you drink to get drunk. It's what I do, that's what everybody does, that's what jason didf, A SHOT or REALITY fPART ij l 94