The Gordie Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Gordie Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Dallas, TX. The Foundation's mission is "to provide today's young people with the skills to navigate the dangers of alcohol, binge drinking, peer pressure and hazing." The Gordie Foundation was created in memory of 18 year-old Gordie Bailey who died on September 17, 2004 following a hazing
incident involving alcohol
in the Chi Psi fraternity
house at the University of Colorado
campus in Boulder, CO. Actress Robin Wright Penn is the Honorary Spokesperson for The Gordie Foundation.
where they were told to consume four 1.75 liter bottles of 80-proof Ten High Bourbon Whiskey and six 1.5 liter bottles of Carlo Rossi wine around a bonfire in 30 minutes. Older active fraternity men stated to the group that “no one is leaving here until these are gone.” When the group returned to the Fraternity house, Gordie was visibly intoxicated and did not drink any more. He was placed on a couch to “sleep it off” at approximately 11:00pm. Later in the evening, while Gordie was unconscious, his brothers used permanent markers to scrawl demeaning sayings and pictures on all parts of his body. Gordie was left alone for 10 hours
before he was found dead the next morning, face down on the floor.
Gordie was just 18 years old when he died. One month earlier, he had enrolled as a freshman at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business
. In his four weeks at the University, Gordie had been named to the club lacrosse
team and had become a pledge at Chi Psi Fraternity. Gordie went to Colorado after three years at Deerfield Academy
in Deerfield, Massachusetts
where he participated in athletics, music and drama. In his senior year he was co-captain of the varsity football team playing both middle linebacker and offensive guard. He also started at defense on the school’s New England championship lacrosse team.
While a senior, Gordie mentored younger students as a Proctor
in an underclass dormitory. In his spare time, he and his fellow Proctors made humorous videos with their Proctees. Prior to attending Deerfield, Gordie attended St. Mark’s School of Texas
in Dallas and The Lamplighter School, also in Dallas.
Read more about Gordie.
Alcohol-related incidents claim the lives of over 1700 students annually . If someone is experiencing these symptoms, they may be suffering from an alcohol overdose and/or alcohol poisoning. The Gordie Foundation encourages you to "save a life" and "make the call" for help to prevent another senseless tragedy. "Friends Check Friends" - Never leave an intoxicated person alone to "sleep off" the effects of alcohol. The amount of alcohol it takes to pass out is dangerously close to the amount it takes to kill you . Vomiting is a sign that your brain detects dangerous levels of alcohol in the bloodstream . Remember: drinking is not a competition. Large amounts of alcohol in a short amount of time can be deadly.
by holding two events each academic year at every participating campus. With peers promoting healthy and responsible behavior
to other peers, the messages are readily received by students.
The Circle of Trust operates on a simple hub-and-spoke model with each chapter having a designated “charter member” who is the leader and primary contact for the campus. These leaders coordinate with fellow Circle of Trust members on their campuses and around the country to schedule two annual events, one in the fall and one just before Spring Break. The Gordie Foundation provides each chapter with educational materials and resources to distribute and effectively utilize in their efforts.
, has produced both a full-length and a shortened, content edited documentary film
entitled HAZE that explores the environment on today’s college campuses that leads to alcohol related deaths like Gordie's. Highlighting many aspects Gordie’s story, the film illuminates the heavily veiled and largely misunderstood realm of college binge and competitive drinking and hazing
, and the continually mounting risks associated with such behaviors. HAZE features graphic and disturbing scenes of the real-life consequences of alcohol abuse and acts of hazing perpetrated against young men and women by their peers.
Psychologists, researchers, college student affairs personnel, and students themselves offer valuable insights into the environment many college students, and even high school students encounter during what are intended to be formative and enlightening years. What emerges is evidence of an unsettling trend toward recklessness and overindulgence upon which most students look with ambivalence.
HAZE has been selected to be screened at several prestigious film festivals, including its premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival. It has also been selected to be shown in 2009 at the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival and the IndieSpirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Hazing
Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....
incident involving alcohol
Short-term effects of alcohol
Short-term effects of alcohol on the human body can take many forms. The drug alcohol, to be specific ethanol, is a central nervous system depressant with a range of side-effects. The amount and circumstances of consumption play a large part in determining the extent of intoxication; for example,...
in the Chi Psi fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
house at the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
campus in Boulder, CO. Actress Robin Wright Penn is the Honorary Spokesperson for The Gordie Foundation.
What Happened?
On the evening of September 16, 2004, Lynn Gordon Bailey Jr. ("Gordie") and twenty-six other Chi Psi pledges dressed in coats and ties for "bid night" were taken blindfolded to the Arapaho Roosevelt National ForestArapaho National Forest
Arapaho National Forest is a National Forest located in north-central Colorado, United States. The facility is managed jointly with the Roosevelt National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland from the United States Forest Service office in Fort Collins, Colorado...
where they were told to consume four 1.75 liter bottles of 80-proof Ten High Bourbon Whiskey and six 1.5 liter bottles of Carlo Rossi wine around a bonfire in 30 minutes. Older active fraternity men stated to the group that “no one is leaving here until these are gone.” When the group returned to the Fraternity house, Gordie was visibly intoxicated and did not drink any more. He was placed on a couch to “sleep it off” at approximately 11:00pm. Later in the evening, while Gordie was unconscious, his brothers used permanent markers to scrawl demeaning sayings and pictures on all parts of his body. Gordie was left alone for 10 hours
Golden hour (medicine)
In emergency medicine, the golden hour refers to a time period lasting from a few minutes to several hours following traumatic injury being sustained by a casualty, during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death...
before he was found dead the next morning, face down on the floor.
Litigation
Following Gordie's death, his mother Leslie Lanahan brought legal action against the Alpha Psi Delta chapter of Chi Psi, located in Boulder, Colorado. Following four and a half years of negotiation, the two sides agreed to a settlement in March 2009. Among the terms, Chi Psi agreed that Gordie had indeed been hazed by brothers of the chapter on the evening of September 16, 2004. The national fraternity also agreed to use Gordie's story in all pledge education about hazing, as well as to require that all chapters, or "Alphas", recruit a live-in adult supervisor. In accordance with a request by Chi Psi, details of the financial portion of the settlement cannot be disclosed.Who Was Gordie?
Leeds School of Business
The Leeds School of Business is a college of the University of Colorado at Boulder in the United States. The enrollment of 3,300 students includes undgraduates, master's candidates, and Ph.D. candidates. The college was started in 1906 when the Board of Regents created the College of Commerce...
. In his four weeks at the University, Gordie had been named to the club lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
team and had become a pledge at Chi Psi Fraternity. Gordie went to Colorado after three years at Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
in Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,750 as of the 2000 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in Western Massachusetts, lying only north of the city of Springfield.Deerfield includes the...
where he participated in athletics, music and drama. In his senior year he was co-captain of the varsity football team playing both middle linebacker and offensive guard. He also started at defense on the school’s New England championship lacrosse team.
While a senior, Gordie mentored younger students as a Proctor
Proctor
Proctor, a variant of the word procurator, is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The word proctor is frequently used to describe someone who oversees an exam or dormitory.The title is used in England in three principal senses:...
in an underclass dormitory. In his spare time, he and his fellow Proctors made humorous videos with their Proctees. Prior to attending Deerfield, Gordie attended St. Mark’s School of Texas
St. Mark's School of Texas
The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys located in Preston Hollow, Dallas, Texas, USA. The School offers grades 1–12.-History:...
in Dallas and The Lamplighter School, also in Dallas.
Read more about Gordie.
The GordieCheck
The Circle of Trust
The Circle of Trust is a peer-to-peer education program run through The Gordie Foundation that includes over 150 chapters on college and high school campuses worldwide. The primary purpose of each chapter is to promote awarenessCollege Health
College Health is a field of medicine that exclusively deals with the medical care of college age students . Many colleges and universities campuses offer some sort of student health service, but there is wide variability in the healthcare resources available from campus to campus, with models of...
by holding two events each academic year at every participating campus. With peers promoting healthy and responsible behavior
Health Promotion in Higher Education
In higher education, health promotion programs work to support students by creating healthy learning environments. Based on a public health/population health model, health promotion services often coordinate primary prevention and secondary prevention on campus. Health promotion in higher...
to other peers, the messages are readily received by students.
The Circle of Trust operates on a simple hub-and-spoke model with each chapter having a designated “charter member” who is the leader and primary contact for the campus. These leaders coordinate with fellow Circle of Trust members on their campuses and around the country to schedule two annual events, one in the fall and one just before Spring Break. The Gordie Foundation provides each chapter with educational materials and resources to distribute and effectively utilize in their efforts.
HAZE: the documentary
The Gordie Foundation, with director Pete SchuermannPete Schuermann
-Early career:Pete Schuermann began making movies at 19, beginning with the feature/parody Hick Trek: The Moovie, which was released to home video in 1999....
, has produced both a full-length and a shortened, content edited documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
entitled HAZE that explores the environment on today’s college campuses that leads to alcohol related deaths like Gordie's. Highlighting many aspects Gordie’s story, the film illuminates the heavily veiled and largely misunderstood realm of college binge and competitive drinking and hazing
Hazing
Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....
, and the continually mounting risks associated with such behaviors. HAZE features graphic and disturbing scenes of the real-life consequences of alcohol abuse and acts of hazing perpetrated against young men and women by their peers.
Psychologists, researchers, college student affairs personnel, and students themselves offer valuable insights into the environment many college students, and even high school students encounter during what are intended to be formative and enlightening years. What emerges is evidence of an unsettling trend toward recklessness and overindulgence upon which most students look with ambivalence.
HAZE has been selected to be screened at several prestigious film festivals, including its premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival. It has also been selected to be shown in 2009 at the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival and the IndieSpirit Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado.