OPINION: Empathy in the Sigma Chi tragedy

There's been a terrible tragedy at the Sigma Chi fraternity house at K-State. I think the appropriate immediate reaction is empathy.

A young man fell out of a second-story window and, as of this writing, remains in critical condition in a hospital. This occurred in the wee hours of Saturday morning.

The victim, Jack Fleischaker, is 19, a freshman who graduated from Blue Valley Northwest in Overland Park. He was involved with the leadership of his fraternity. No doubt he had a promising future.

Exactly what happened is not yet clear. Police are investigating. Nobody is suggesting that it was anything other than an accident, but obviously there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. I would assume that, between the police, the university, the Sigma Chi organization itself and the interests of the family, there will be plenty of scrutiny by the criminal justice system, insurance companies, lawyers and possibly the civil courts.

Before jumping to any conclusions, we should try to gather the facts. Those will emerge in the investigations. That will all take some time.

And in the meantime, I can't help but feel for his family. Four of our kids were in Greek houses; another one still is. This tragedy could have happened to any one of them. I suppose it could have also happened in a dorm or an off-campus rental, although in general I would say the fraternities are the riskiest, and this episode will likely again raise profound questions about that system. But that's not my point at the moment; the point is that it doesn't take a giant leap of imagination to ponder getting a phone call in the middle of the night with horrifying news about an offspring who you love with all your heart.

We're thinking mostly of them now, and hoping they're able to find some solace and comfort from knowing that lots of people are thinking of them.

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This story was originally published April 28, 2026 at 12:07 PM.