It seemed almost a footnote to a court filing in a wrongful death case being pursued by the family of Jason Wren.
Wren, a 19-year-old Kansas University student, was found dead on March 8, 2009, at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at KU. An autopsy determined that Wren’s blood-alcohol level was .362 percent and attributed his death to alcohol poisoning. Wren’s family is seeking punitive damages from the SAE fraternity, which, they say, has failed to change its ways since Jason’s death.
As part of a recent filing in the case, the Wrens’ attorney noted, “Following Jason Wren’s death, Jason’s younger sister committed suicide. Tragically, months later, Jason’s mother Mary also took her own life.”
The family lived in Littleton, Colo. The Denver Post reported the death of 16-year-old Vickie J. Wren on Jan. 10; an obituary for her mother, Mary, who died on June 15, appeared on June 23.
We don’t know what other pressures the Wren family was under, but it seems unlikely that the two suicides were completely unrelated to Jason’s untimely death. It’s a poignant reminder of the far-reaching impact of alcohol abuse.
What, if any, responsibility the SAE fraternity bears in this case is for the courts to decide, but the tragedy suffered by the Wren family in the last 18 months is undeniable.
Comments
begin60 2 years, 6 months ago
That's heartbreaking. Bad things happen when the poisonous atmosphere up at KU touches people's lives too intimately?
artichokeheart 2 years, 6 months ago
That is sad. I did not know this chain of events has transpired. No doubt Mr. Wren is at his wits end trying to cope with all the loss.
kernal 2 years, 6 months ago
LJW, how long have you had this additional information?
whats_going_on 2 years, 6 months ago
does it matter?
kernal 2 years, 6 months ago
Because it was germane to the previous articles.
notajayhawk 2 years, 6 months ago
"does it matter?"
Quite possibly. The possible family history of depression sheds a somewhat different light on Jason Wren's drinking behavior.
Ann Gardner 2 years, 6 months ago
I believe it hadn't come to light until the recent court filing.
mom_of_three 2 years, 6 months ago
Yes, it is very tragic for the family and a reminder of alcohol abuse.
A reminder that parents shouldn't push underage drinking under the rug, just because they were able to do it when they were their kids' age.
Solomon 2 years, 6 months ago
Yes, and Mr. Wren is the parent who looked the other way as his high school-aged son drank his way through high school, but only with "the good kids."
So, he seeks to assuage his guilt by that great American pass time, the law suit.
cait48 2 years, 6 months ago
About 40 years ago a girl I went to high school with was shot and killed the year after we graduated in what has been termed a random act of violence. The summer following her murder her pregnant sister died in a car accident. Their mother, having lost both of her daughters within a year of each other, along with what would have been her first grandchild, went into a depressive spiral that ended in her suicide. I'm not exactly sure I could have withstood that kind of loss. This is tragedy beyond belief and, if we have any understanding of grief, I have no doubt that Mr. Wren is bearing a burden of guilt that would kill any one of us. Making hindsight judgments about the lives of other people is cruel. They will judge themselves enough.
none2 2 years, 6 months ago
So it is ok for Mr. Wren to make hindsight judgments about the fraternity to the point he wants a lot of money from them, yet it is cruel to criticizes the decisions of Jason Wren. Likewise, if his dad was permissive about drinking in his own household, then why wouldn't that play a factor in Jason's behavior?
I'm sure 99% of the population feel sorry for the Wren family. However, asking for money is almost like he is crying into a golden handkerchief. If in the end he plans on this money going to fight college drinking/drug issues and get the Fraternities to either "dry up" or pay up that is one thing, but if it goes to Jay Wren's own pocket, then I doubt many will continue to feel sympathy.
somedude20 2 years, 6 months ago
well said!
jlzack 2 years, 6 months ago
I would have to agree with you (none2).
notajayhawk 2 years, 6 months ago
Sorry, Mr. (or Ms.) editorial writer, but I think you're off by about 180 degrees on this one.
Young Mr. Wren's death was indeed a tragedy, and grief is a terrible burden to bear. But it IS born by millions of people every day; most of them do not commit suicide without the presence of some other condition. Also, alcohol abuse is rarely a stand-alone issue, and it's not even always a primary issue. When you have a young person who lives and dies as Jason Wren did, coupled with a family history that includes two first-degree relatives that committed suicide, the first thing one would have to suspect is some hereditary (or at least generational) form of depression, and it's much more likely that depression led to Jason's drinking more than it is that alcohol led to the deaths of three people in this case.
parrothead8 2 years, 6 months ago
"We don’t know what other pressures the Wren family was under, but it seems unlikely that the two suicides were completely unrelated to Jason’s untimely death."
In essence, the editorial admits that, yes, there were probably other factors at play, but that a son's death can't be COMPLETELY ruled out as being an unrelated factor. How is that "180 degrees" off from what you said? You're trivializing this family's pain by saying that "millions of people" bear grief without committing suicide. You said it yourself: depression may be a suspect here. Well, depression also has causes. Perhaps the depression is linked to their brother's/son's death. Perhaps not.
This may not be the best topic for an editorial (it should be a column, not an editorial), and it's certainly not the best-written editorial, but the subject is what it is: a family's pain, pure and simple. No finger-pointing. Just pain.
notajayhawk 2 years, 6 months ago
"You said it yourself: depression may be a suspect here."
Actually, what I said myself was some form of hereditary or generational depression.
"Well, depression also has causes. Perhaps the depression is linked to their brother's/son's death."
Linked, yes, caused by, no. That would be grief, not depression.
"How is that "180 degrees" off from what you said?"
Their contention is that alcohol abuse caused these three people's tragic deaths. Mine is that whatever caused their deaths led to the alcohol abuse. Those are pretty much antithetical hypotheses.
notajayhawk 2 years, 6 months ago
Got popcorn?
distant_voice 2 years, 6 months ago
There's no teenager that ever reaches maturity without going through a period in their lives where they're brain damaged. Usually, this occurs the first year of college when they're still celebrating their new found freedom, but before they learn that with freedom comes responsibility. Abusive drinking has been an accepted mainstay of American Fraternities since the fifties and not a single fraternity or sorority I've seen teaches any form of responsibility. It's time we stop turning our backs on this behavior. New rules aren't going to stem this tide, only boarding up the doors of these institutions of public drunkeness is going to slow the tide of alcohol related deaths coming out of campuses.
notajayhawk 2 years, 6 months ago
You seriously think this only happens in the frat houses? Hello, kicked out of the dorms for three alcohol violations?
PopcoRN 2 years, 6 months ago
My thoughts are that perhaps there was an element of guilt involved in the suicides of the sister and mother - perhaps they thought they could have done something to prevent his death..
none2 2 years, 6 months ago
Guilt is limited to loved ones of those who die from alcohol poisoning. People can feel guilty for any kind of death -- preventable as well as inevitable dying. The loved one may think: "Could I have encouraged them to go to the doctor sooner, or encouraged them to loose weight, kept them home the night of an accident, convinced them not to join the military, stayed with them the night they were contemplating suicide, etc." For myself, I felt guilty when my grandmother died in the nursing home even though she was almost 100.
The difference is that some people simply cannot get past that grief/guilt and realize that no matter what life throws at you, you got to go on. Life can suck at times, but people are counting on you, and most likely if the dead loved one was alive they would tell you to go on. Plus anyone in a rational frame of mind would realize how painful suicide is for the loved ones who have to deal with it. Who would wish that pain on someone they love?
This is simply a tragedy that led to more tragedies. I hope the Dad still has family left after loosing two kids and his wife. As to the lawsuit, I hope the dad has figured out why he is doing this. No amount of money will ever bring his family back. From what I read about this young man from a few articles, he was headed down a path of self-destruction. He could have drunk himself to death in a dorm, in an apartment, in the scholarship hall system -- not just in a frat. College social life is very permissive on drugs and alcohol. I agree that schools need to do more to curb that problem. Some kids have to hit rock bottom before they seriously change their behavior. For this young man, unfortunately rock bottom was his death.
Nevertheless, there comes a point where you can preach about consequences till your out of breath, but if an individual won't buy it, there isn't much you can do. It's like that old saying: You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot MAKE him drink.
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