University of Iowa Greek community bans alcohol events after weekend student death

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa's Greek community on Monday announced a ban on all events with alcohol and all out-of-town formals after a fraternity member died over the weekend during a gathering at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Kamil Jackowski, a first-year UI student from Arlington Heights, Ill., was attending a Sigma Chi chapter formal in Missouri when he was found unresponsive in a hotel room at Camden on the Lake — a resort where the formal was being held.

The Camden County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call about 7 a.m. Sunday and found Jackowski, 19, according to Camden County Lt. Arlyne Page. Paramedics initiated CPR and rushed hin to Lake Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Page said her office isn't releasing information about whether alcohol is suspected or whether witnesses reported as much. But an autopsy was scheduled for Monday, she said.

In a message to the UI community Monday morning, Dean of Students Lyn Redington said Jackowski was majoring in pre-bsuiness.

'We offer our deepest condolences to Kamil's family, friends, and loved ones,' Redington wrote.

The university has not released additional details of Jackowski's death, including whether or to what degree alcohol was involved, but the Monday afternoon letter from the university's Panhellenic Council President Anna Long and Interfraternity Council President Zach Rubenbauer said the moratorium on events with alcohol will continue 'until further notice.'

'In the coming days, we will work through the specifics of this policy in partnership with University of Iowa administration and will communicate to chapter leaders,' according to the letter.

The bans are not meant as 'punishment,' Long and Rubenbauer wrote.

'Rather, they are an acknowledgment that we must address the pervasive and dangerous alcohol culture that exists within our community,' according to the letter. 'The ban on all FSL events with alcohol will exist until we have time to work together as a community and with university administration to devise solutions to make our events safer.'

The leaders also announced plans to convene a task force on alcohol culture in the Greek and broader campus community.

'It is evident that we must band together as a community in this moment and demand improvement for the safety and well-being of our members,' they wrote. 'Conversations about the need to address the dangers of out-of-town formals have occurred, but it is more evident now than ever that we must move beyond discussion and into action — the future of our community depends on it.'

In response to that message, UI Vice President of Student Life Tom Rocklin vowed administrative support 'for the permanent ban on out-of-town formals and the immediate moratorium on events involving alcohol registered by your member chapters.'

'I appreciate your leadership on health and safety issues in the fraternity and sorority community,' Rocklin wrote.

Administrators 'stand ready' to help as the UI Greek system works through changes to its health and safety culture, and Rocklin urged inclusion of experts with 'deep knowledge of evidence-based practices for harm reduction.'

'My expectation is that you will maintain the moratorium on events involving alcohol until the task force has made substantial progress,' Rocklin wrote. 'I urge you to be transparent with everyone within and beyond our campus community as you work to reach this goal.'

In rememberances on social media, friends recalled Jackowski had 'a smile that could light up a room.' They've planned a prayer service in his honor Tuesday evening at the Newman Catholic Student Center.

'Kamil always had a smile on his face,' one friend wrote on Facebook. 'He never complained and always made the room he was in a better place just by his lighthearted spirit.'

The university for years has been combating dangerous drinking and alcohol abuse on campus, instituting an alcohol harm reduction plan that shows the campus is making progress.

The newest version of the plan shows the percent of students engaging in high-risk drinking in the past two weeks decreased 23 percent from 2009 to 2015; the percent of students drinking 10 or more days a month dropped 28 percent during the same period; and the average number of drinks per occasion fell 22 percent.

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