Welcome to Part 1, Hazing Deaths Database by Hank Nuwer
Last update Nov. 5, 2024. Breaking news here
Welcome to Part 1, Hazing Deaths Database by Hank Nuwer
At least one death in U.S. schools has occurred from 1959 to 2021. Another death was alleged in 2023. No deaths were reported or claimed in 2002 or, as of today, in 2024. Hank Nuwer
Disclosure: Schools and fraternities and others have not always admitted that clear cases of hazing are, in fact, “hazing.” In a few cases, there have been coverups. Therefore, the database includes deaths that appear to meet the consensus definition of criminal hazing, accidents while carrying out pledging or pledges being “encouraged” to drink, and suicides where parents believe hazing may have been a contributing factor. Many state laws take the position that hazing is considered hazing regardless of an individual’s willingness to participate.
1) 1838
Franklin Seminary (Kentucky)
Class Hazing
John Butler Groves died in a hazing incident, according to a family history. The school’s records were destroyed in an unrelated fire. This is the information I was able to come up with using public grave and ancestry searches–Moderator Hank Nuwer.
A John B. Groves is listed as born October 31. 1819 in Simpson County, Kentucky. His death date is listed as August 7, 1838 in Franklin, Kentucky, Simpson County. He is listed as being buried in Groves Cemetery (likely a plot on family land).
The information was first reported in Hank Nuwer’s “Broken Pledges” (Longstreet Press, 1990). From a letter from a Groves descendent to Eileen Stevens, Committee to Halt Useless College Killings, that she let me read in 1989. The female letter writer (name withheld) wrote that John’s grieving family never sent another child to a similar school.
Using newspaper sources, I found a possible family member in Michael Groves who was born in the 1790s and died around or in December 1885 (The Big Sandy News; Louisa, KY, December 31, 1885). I do not know if they were related. Simpson County itself was carved out of other counties. The town of Franklin was located on a railroad line (making it appealing for parents to send children to such a seminary during the nineteenth century). Hazing at male and even female seminaries was common and even celebrated in printed school “customs books” that celebrated “traditions.”
. Link to Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky (in 1874 listing for one male seminary, one female seminary, six churches of various denominations). I found a seminary mentioned in the Laws of Kentucky for sale of the seminary land and building. HN
Know something more about John Butler Groves? Write the moderator.
2) 1847
Amherst College (Massachusetts)
Class Hazing
President Hitchcock, below, was one of the first USA college presidents to express opposition to hazing.
Jonathan D. Torrance died of illness following a drenching with iced water during a hazing custom called “freshman visitation,” according to then-President Edward Hitchcock of Amherst. The death is included in Nuwer’s Wrongs of Passage. See also article from Berkshire Eagle dated Nov. 5, 1863 clipping_15952902
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3) 1873 Cornell University (New York)
Kappa Alpha Society
Walkabout without torches in gorge country
Mortimer N. Leggett died in a fall into a steep gorge while on a walk in the dark required by fraternity members. Family claims that Leggett was blindfolded were disputed by the chapter in spite of admission by the perpetrators during a coroner’s inquiry. Leggett’s death is chronicled in an in-depth investigative feature in Hank Nuwer’s 2018 book “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives” (Indiana University Press). The first two Greek hazing deaths on record in the USA were Cornell KAS chapters (recently made dormant at that campus) in 1873 and 1899. Here is the video account of “Young Mort’s” death.
Gen. Leggett buried his namesake who was the first male to die pledging a fraternity. His son’s choice of chapter was the Kappa Alpha Society at Cornell.
(Photo) The Charles W. Wason Collection at Cornell University was founded by the young hazer (Wason) who fell to earth with Mortimer Leggett.
4) 1884
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis
Allegations of physical hazing
Final cause was alleged to be aggravated hernia.
Newspapers prior to 1900 contained numerous references to hazing practices at Annapolis such as jamming a newcomer into a barrel and pushing while inside for great distances. The older cadets also tossed newcomers into the air on blankets. These were often done off-campus as soon as newcomer arrived in the area. Frederick Schwatka Strang was the subject of nationwide claims that his death of hernia complications was hazing-related.
5) 1892
Yale University (Connecticut)
Delta Kappa Epsilon
A blindfolded student named Wilkins Ruskin was killed in an accident in an initiation incident condemned then as outdated “criminal recklessness” by the national fraternity, according to a published article by Fred Kershner (now deceased), formerly of Columbia Teachers College and a fraternity member.
Pittsburgh Press, June 7, 1892
6) 1894
Cornell University (New York)
Bystander death (deadly prank during class hazing)
A non-Cornell bystander accidentally died during a class prank involving deliberate use of chlorine gas. The death of Mrs. Henrietta Jackson is chronicled in an in-depth investigative feature in Hank Nuwer’s 2018 book “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives” (Indiana University Press).
7) 1898
Decatur High School, Illinois
High School Physical Hazing
According to the Logansport Pharos-Tribune, freshman David C. Jones was one of several boys thrown over a fence. A battle royal ensued. Jones died a few days later of a spinal injury.
8) 1899
Cornell University (New York)
Kappa Alpha Society (Now “dormant” Chapter)
Pledge Edward F. Berkeley drowned while completing a pledging errand. The death is described in the book Hazing edited by Hank Nuwer (2018). The 1899 death was by the same Cornell chapter and almost the exact ritual that killed Mortimer Leggett in 1873. While the father of Leggett forgave the hazers and even accepted KAS membership in his son’s memory, Berkeley’s father was bitter and unforgiving. Because Berkeley’s wife was in very poor health, the news was kept from her for quite some time. Like Leggett, courts at the time almost always considered only harsh physical hazing to actually BE hazing. Thus, the Leggett and Berkeley deaths were written off as unfortunate accidents. Cornell Kappa Society lost two pledges and hazers were judged blameless.
9) 1899
Lawrenceville, New Jersey High School
Hazing (a form of physical hazing known locally as piling)
Martin V. Bergen, son of Councilman Peter V. Bergen, of this place, died from injuries received at a hazing at Lawrenceville. He died of inflammation of the bowels. Young Bergen was twelve years old and a freshman at Lawrenceville. He was being put through the initiation when one of the hazers accidentally fell upon him. [Source: Columbus Daily Enquirer, November 23, 1899]; Harrisburg Telegraph, November 23, 1899]. View a clipping here
10) 1900
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Class Scrap with president present
Hugh C. Moore died following a snapped neck in a traditional fight between first- and second-year students. Click here for a very defensive student version of the death and a photo of Hugh Chadwick Moore.
See also Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, November 16, 1900.
Read the remarks by President Henry Pritchett. He acknowledges being present at the sport where Moore died. “…No one is responsible and which no one could foresee” were his banal comments to console the student body after Mr. Moore’s death. A second student was also injured after being roughed up. However, to his credit, he ended the brutal “Cane Rush,” a type of class warfare.–Moderator Hank Nuwer
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Order The Hazing Reader by Hank Nuwer
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11) 1900
United States Military Academy (New York)
Hazing
Although the death of plebe Oscar Booz was considered illness-caused by a committee of inquiry, members of the U.S. House of Representatives on the committee determined that he also had been hazed maliciously by upperclassmen. He most certainly had been singled out for abuse, including forced to chug pure tabasco sauce. See “Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing” for a complete description of the abuse. Future general Douglas MacArthur was also savagely hazed.
12) 1900
Charleston, S. C
Porter Military Academy (South Carolina)
Accident during hazing.
No punishment despite death. “Charleston, S. C, Nov. 5. Thomas Finley Brown, 12, Is dead from injuries received while being hazed at tho Porter military academy last Monday. Brown was now at the academy and the older boys, following their former custom, dropped him Into a cemented swimming basin 12 feet deep. The basin was dry at the time and tho lad received internal injuries from the fall. Before he died he did not give the names of the cadets who had mistreated him, and It Is said no action will be taken In the matter. Source: Evening Bulletin, Maysville, Kentucky”
[Above: The Blaine [Kansas] News, November 9, 1900
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Order “Hazing” from Indiana University Press
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13) 1902
Parsons, Kansas
High School Club Initiation
Member Lee Watson was electrocuted by a live wire he was about to shock a new member with. The Buffalo (NY) Enquirer, March 26, 1902.]
14) 1903
University of Maryland, Baltimore campus
Phi Psi Chi
Inadequate forensic techniques of the day were unable to provide an exact cause of death other than “congestion of the lungs” for Martin Loew following a hazing by fellow students of the local dental fraternity that left Loew’s body bruised. Newspaper account link
15) 1903
Bluffton High School (Indiana)
Secret Society
Ten young men went on trial following the death of “L of S.S.B” recruit Ralph McBride. While McBride was hazed, his death of sepsis occurred five months later. A criminal trial failed to show the death definitely was linked to McBride’s hazing, according to the Indianapolis Journal of December 27, 1903.
16) 1903
Barton, Vermont
Bullying and Torture
Three preteen males decided to pick on 9 year-old Ralph Canning by having him perform mock hazing acts such as sitting and standing on heated rocks. They then physically attacked and tortured him. Canning died of his injuries. The three were Alva Day, 11; Raymond Adams, 10; Raymond Waterman, 9. The boys told police they were trying to haze like college men.
17) 1904
Rawson School (Findlay, Ohio)
Alleged Schoolboy hazing
I have confirmed that Freddie Fillwock died. A newspaper account reported that he suffered multiple injuries as a result of striking his head and subsequent piling on during an initiation. –Moderator. See online The Leavenworth Times, “Hazing Results in Death,” April 6, 1904. Headstone link.
18) 1905
Kenyon College (Ohio)
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Accidental Death Following a Hazing
Stuart L. Pierson was struck by a train after fraternity brothers left him on a bridge in an incident called “a mystery death” by Kenyon historian George Franklin Smythe.
19) 1905
High School Hazing (Lima, Ohio)
Death following an initiation
William Taylor, 13, died of pneumonia following an episode where he was rough-housed outdoors in winter by older students.
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20) 1905
U.S. Naval Academy
Military Hazing
Retaliation Death
Midshipman Minor Meriweather struck and killed James R. Branch, Jr., believing the latter had reported him for hazing.
See Baltimore Sun, Nov.27, 1905
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21) 1905
Longfellow Grammar School
Alameda, California
Hazing alleged by father to aggravate illness leading to death
In a case that caused much interest in the San Francisco area, the general consensus of a school hearing was that schoolboy Clarence Lubben, 9 years old, of Alameda died of meningitis (spinal disease) after being hazed or “bounced” in imitation of some college practices. The hazers threatened a boy who informed on them. A coroner’s jury ruled meningitis was the likely cause of death, but the hazing might have been contributory. In other words, thr jury failed to come to an agreement on what part hazing played a role in the death.
Numerous citations, including San Francisco Call and Post, February 4, 1905.
22) 1905 (updated and corrected Sept. 19, 2024)
Hilliard High School (Columbus, Ohio)
Class Hazing
The New York Times reported that representatives of the family of Cecil F. Leat sued for $10,000 damages after he was beaten to death in a hazing on November 9, 1905. NYT Jan. 30, 1906. One of the hazers was named as Carlton Sherwood.
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23) 1906
Stanford University (Palo Alto, California)
Class Hazing
Caroline Miller, mother of student William Miller, alleged that her son’s death on January 10, 1906, after a series of colds was caused by his immersion in water. This was called “tubbing” at the time and “waterboarding” today. Source here
From the above source, an excerpt: “The introduction of hall monitors did little to diminish hazing, which persisted even after the 1906 earthquake brought a sobering sense of propriety to the campus. That spring, freshman William Miller left school three weeks early because of a severe illness, and by June he was dead. He had been subjected to several episodes of tubbing, resulting in a series of colds, which his mother claimed contributed to his death by weakening his constitution. In a letter to President Jordan, Caroline Miller asked that tubbing be banned “and perhaps save other mothers the heartbreak that is my portion.'”
24) 1906
Culver Military Academy (Indiana)
Disputed death, hazing claimed factor after tonsil operation.
A father blamed the death of his son Edward Beery on a botched operation but it brought hazing (dunking in lake) to light. Although 13 members of the class were expelled, the school said it would never cover up and that the direct cause of death was a botched tonsillitis operation. Updated by HN on September 19, 2024.
Thursday, April 26, 1906
A night message to Senator and Mrs. R. C. STEPHENSON brought them the shocking intelligence that their nephew, Edward BEERY, died at Culver Military Academy Wednesday as the result of lancing his throat to relieve tonsilitis. The operation was performed at 5 o’clock in the evening, without notifying Edward’s parents, and he died two hours afterward from what the surgeon diagnosed strangling, induced by the excretion from the lanced tonsil running into his throat. Dr. Beery knew nothing of the illness or operation until he had notice of the death which seems like careless treatment of the interests of pupils and parents by the college management. But it was doubtless considered a trivial operation and unusual complications followed so suddenly and unexpectedly as to make it a most sorrowful death to all.
Edward was the son of Dr. and Mrs. [C. C.] BEERY, of Chicago, had visited Rochester frequently and was a first year cadet in Culver Military Academy and was 17 years old. He was an only son and leaves two sisters and his parents as immediate relatives. He was a bright, and gentlemanly young man and his family and friends had high hopes of a brilliant future for him.
The remains were taken through Rochester today, for Upper Sandusky, Ohio, accompanied by Senator and Mrs. Stephenson while the Beery family went from Chicago by way of the Pennsylvania route. There the funeral will occur at the home of the deceased’s grandmother Saturday.
25) 1908
WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) Massachusetts
Freshman-sophomore class hazing
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, September 29, 1908 “…A rush which took place on the evening of September 22, 1908, on the common, resulted in the death of 17-year-old freshman Emil S. (Ernie) Grau [correct name is Gran], of Wareham, a member of the Class of 1911. [Gran] was caught under a struggling mass of students and suffered a fracture of the spine. He died Sunday, September 27th, and was buried in Wareham the following Wednesday, the entire class attending the funeral, together with representatives of other classes and of the faculty. As a result of this sad accident class rushes were given up and during the past years, the students by their own action, have abolished hazing.” In the 1911 yearbook there is a page dedicated to this student, with his photograph. His name there is written as Emil S. Gran and it says he died September 28, 1908. (However, the custom was started again soon after but called another name). Gran was born Feb. 15, 1891, in Wareham, Massachusetts.
A WPI yearbook entry above
“We feel it was a part of the rivalry incident to college life. We most sincerely hope, however, that this will do away
with this custom of Tech students.”
—Statement of Emil’s mother, 1908
26) 1909
White School (West Point, Indiana)
Hazing and retaliation (death from illness perhaps connected with abuse)
After some bullies and hazers were reported, or thought to have been reported by Charles Stinson to a teacher who whipped them, the 11-year-old was hung upside down and left a long time to dangle. He died after his attackers came back. according to the Plymouth (IN) Tribune, March 25, 1909. The same article was reprinted in many USA newspapers.
What is known: Stinson’s cause of death on his death certificate is listed as “spinal meningitis.”
1900 Census records list then two-year-old Charles as the son of William M. Stinson and Effie Stinson.
27) 1912
University of North Carolina
Class hazing
https://de.findagrave.com/memorial/17990613/isaac-william-rand/photo
Freshman Isaac William Rand bled to death following a stunt in which his throat was accidentally sliced by a broken bottle after he was made to dance on a barrel. Ralph W. Oldham, William L. Merriam, and Aubrey Hatch were found guilty of manslaughter. Originally sentenced to jail for work release, they eventually instead agreed to house arrest. Research at Link.
28) 1913
Purdue University (Indiana)
Class hazing
Francis W. Obenchain died while participating in an annual scrap pitting first-year students against upperclass students. Newspaper accounts of the day and an official Purdue history have differing deductions for the death’s physical cause that occurred during the chaotic traditional battle under a water tank. A recent article for Traces Magazine (Indiana Historical Society) charged that there is evidence of a coverup back in 1913 as to the precise cause of Obenchain’s death. The entire story is told by a Purdue librarian in Hank Nuwer’s “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives.”
29) 1914
St. John’s Military College (Maryland)
Class Hazing
September 20, 2024 Updated and Corrected Information.
Upperclassman Cadet William R. Bowlus was present when a group of juniors attacked members of the freshman class in Pinkney Hall. One of five freshmen fired the fatal shot but none would reveal who fired the fatal shot. All claimed self defense as their excuse.
The five freshmen were William L. Marbury of Baltimore, Henry L. Valdez, of Havana, Cuba; George H. Weaver of New York, R.A. Jones of Cambridge, Maryland, and John M. Noble of Preston, Maryland. The Citizen of October 30, 1914, reported that the five boys were freed after a grand jury refused to indict them. All refused to give up the shooter’s name.
30) 1915
Virginia Military Institute
“Rat” Hazing
Military school hazing claim by deceased cadet blamed on illness
Thurber Sweet, 17, died of serious injuries he claimed, before his death, had been caused by beatings with bayonets by older cadets.
Sweet (1899-1915) deserted from VMI but was brought back by his father prior to the young man’s illness and death.
VMI superintendent E. W. Nichols denied hazing could have been a factor. The case was widely covered nationwide by newspapers. The World News of December 22, 1915, said a Board of Inquiry blamed the death on Myelitis (spinal paralysis).
Sweet’s father C. A. Sweet said he believed the school and its investigation that concluded hazing was not a factor. Updated with new information on September 24, 2024. More research at link.
Some media believed young Sweet’s claim. “Sweet’s death was due to hazing, is general opinion”. Greensboro Daily News. December 12, 1915. p. 32.
31) 1915
University of Kentucky
Class Hazing-Related Accident
Freshman Eldridge Scott Griffith was accidentally killed during a celebration over his class’s victory in a traditional class contest. Four others were injured.
The freshman was hit by a trolley while racing through the streets with a rope in hand, Griffith was 18.
32) 1915 or 1916
New Mexico Military Institute
Class hazing
The family of Ludwig Von Gerichten Jr. blamed his illness-related death on hazing after he was dunked in a horse tank and abandoned in the country, according to a family history. I am trying to determine if he is the young man from Franklin, Ohio, with this name, who was killed. More info needed when I can spend time on this death.
33) 1916
Morningside College (Iowa)
Freshman hazing: Physical hazing
New student Paul N. Blue died as a result of extreme physical hazing and perhaps a pre-existing health condition, according to two newspaper sources provided by Wikipedia. Newspaper sources I checked said an inquiry with autopsy found that diabetes was a contributing factor. The top clipping is from the Evening Nonpareil of October 19, 1916.
34) 1916
University of Pennsylvania
Freshman-Sophomore battle royal
Suffocation during school-approved annual “Bowl” brawl
First-year student William Lifson smothered in a pileup in an annual matchup for a bowl awarded the winning class. Provost Smith, incredibly, said that Lifson died “in honor, with his hand on the bowl.” This is yet another example of how hazing was tolerated, perhaps condoned, at a North American college.Source The Republic of Columbus, Indana, dated February 18, 1916.
35) 1917
College of the City of New York
Phi Sigma Kappa
William Ashcom Bullock (Born August 15, 1897) of Flushing, Long Island, New York, died of spinal meningitis on May 8, 1917, and his mother in the press attributed the cause to hazing because members rolled the already ill Bullock on the ground in a wet blanket.
Death certificate info below (added September 19, 2024)
Name | William Ashcom Bullock |
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Gender | Male |
Race | White |
Marital Status | Single |
Age | 19 |
Birth Date | 15 Aug 1897 |
Birth Place | Homestead PA |
Residence Street Address | 280 Barclay St |
Years in US | life |
Death Date | 8 May 1917 |
Death Street Address | 280 Barclay St |
Death Place | New York City, Queens, New York, USA |
Cause of Death | careho spinal munijitis epidemic form acute dilatation of heart |
Burial Date | 11 May 1917 |
Burial Place | Cremateur At Fresh Pond |
Occupation | Schoolboy |
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Father’s Birth Place | England |
Mother’s Birth Place | Hopinell P A |
Father | Walter Ernest Bullock |
Mother | Blanch Bullock |
Executor | Mrs W P Hayes |
Executor Relationship | Mother |
Certificate Number | 2216 |
36) 1919
Colgate University (New York)
Class hazing
Freshman Frank McCullough drowned when he tried swimming to shore after sophomores dumped and abandoned him on an island. Here is a link to the school’s “traditions.”
According to WWI draft registration, McCullough was born August 26, 1900. He died September 24, 1919.
Father’s Name | Micheal McCullough |
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Father’s Birthplace | Pennsylvania, USA |
Mother’s Name | Susie McCullough |
Mother’s Birthplace | Ohio, USA |
37) 1920
Northwestern University
Xi Psi Phi Dental Fraternity and
Unsanctioned, unaffiliated Theta Nu Epsilon Members
While it would be 1940 before a hazing death due to an alcohol overdose occurred, a death of David Harris Cook, an older law student, occurred at a rowdy initiation party in which large amounts of alcohol were consumed. With alcohol prohibited nationally by the 1919 Volstead Act, an investigation by authorities likely contained elements of coverup. Early news reports claimed the death was caused by alcohol, but a coroner’s report disputed that claim. What’s known is that Cook collapsed during an initiation party at an off-campus hall where “rough hazing” and alcohol might have been a factor. No charges were ever brought. Cook’s body was brought back to his Nebraska hometown for burial. I found one document prior to his death *below).
38) 1921
Northwestern University (Illinois)
Cause of Death Unknown
Following a Class Hazing
Leighton Mount disappeared after a traditional class rush, and his body was found beneath a pier two years later. His demise is a mystery. What is not a mystery is how Northwestern’s then president jumped on the theory of suicide in an attempt to protect his school’s reputation.
39) 1922
Hamilton College (New York)
Class Hazing (referred to as horseplay)
William Duncan Saunders, 15, died of a skull fracture and ruptured aorta when he was roughly flung from a bed during an incident variously described as horseplay unrelated to hazing and hazing. He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, but his chapter was not implicated in his demise.
40) 1923
University of Alabama
Sigma Nu
Illness following Initiation
Glenn Kersh, who had a faulty heart, died “from psychic effects of excitement” following his fraternal initiation, according to the coroner’s report.
41) 1923
Franklin and Marshall College (Pennsylvania)
Class Hazing
Sophomore Ainsworth Brown died while injured in a scrap between classes.
42) 1923
Northwestern University (Illinois)
Class Hazing
Louis Aubere was accidentally killed by a passing car while on the running board of a car as he searched for fellow freshmen abducted by sophomores, according to a letter written by Northwestern archivist Patrick Quinn addressed to researcher Mike Moskos. Here is a clipping at the time:
43) 1923
New Salem, Indiana
High School Hazing-related Suicide (more likely to be called bullying in our own time–HN)
The parents of Vernon. A. Walker, 16, blamed his suicide by gunshot over a depression that enveloped him due to New salem School hazing. Rush County Superintendent Birney Farthing and Principal Grant Cooper challenged the theory that hazing caused Walker to take his life.
44) 1924
Hartford City, Indiana
High School Hazing
Death of a brother intervening in a hazing
Raymond Morris, 18 (born Feb. 26, 1906), tried to intervene when a mob of hazers picked on his little brother, Benjamin, 14. Hazer William Duff, 17, accepted Raymond’s offer to fight in Benjamin’s place. “Bennie” feared the annual first-year high school haircut.
“Look put, I’m going to paste you a good one,” Raymond said, according to witnesses.
The fight lasted and was moved to a second remoter location than the school’s property. After taking many blows, Morris fell unconscious and was driven around by frightened boys in an automobile before being taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The coroner ruled Raymond died from a cerebral hemorrhage through accidental means on September 2, 1924, according to the death certificate. Duff was given a “not guilty” jury verdict in 1925. Duff had health problems later in life and died of heart failure at age 59.
William Duff served for a time as president of the Hartford City Odd Fellows (Moderator Hank Nuwer was given a tour of the old headquarters while a freelance columnist for the Muncie Star-Press).
Bernard and wife Sarah Achor Duff named their only son “Raymond” after the brother who died while protecting him.
Several Indiana papers wrote editorials condemning hazing after the death.
To be renumbered
45) 1924
U.S. Naval Academy
Accident during “annual frolic”
Midshipman Leicester R. Smith of Kent, Ohio, was thrown over a seawall into the water by cadets and struck his head on an overturned sailboat. This was a tradition carried out when sophomores received class rings.
46) 1925
University of Utah
Freshman class hazing: Immersion in water
Newcomer Reginald Stringfellow’s death was believed to have been caused by prolonged duckings in tubs of water by upperclassmen. Utah finally outlawed the practice after his death, according to the Ogden Standard-Examiner (January 10, 1925).
47) 1927
Sames School District, Mexico, Missouri
Schoolboy hazing injury/death claimed and disputed
That six-year-old James Clay Parks died from severe internal injuries was undisputed. He also had a torn ligament in one arm and a burst blood vessel in one leg, according to Grand Jury evidence.
That same Grand Jury could not decide in a “He said, she said” case whether Parks died from hazing injuries inflicted by classmates, a whipping with a bullwhip by his father, or a combination of the two.
Teacher Lizzie White Robinson, a candidate for school supervisor at the time, claimed Joshua Parks severely beat his own son on March 11, 1927.
The father alleged that his son’s injuries were the result of hazing by an older pupil, Nelson Herndon, 15. The father claimed it was a hazing that greeted his son on the boy’s first day at the school.
Thus, the grand jury ruled evidence was “inconclusive,” according to the Associated Press of April 3, 1927. The case was widely covered at the time.
Parks was born May 25, 1920. He died in Audrain County, Missouri, on Narch 30, 1927.
Photo of James Clay Parks and description of funeral service at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20069686/james_clay_parks#view-photo=6560873
48) 1928
Howard University (Birmingham) vs. Birmingham Southern football rivalry.
Haircutting of Howard students by Birmingham Southern students.
Shooting alleged to be in self-defense
Oliver H. “Ollie” Westbrook of Howard University pulled out a pistol and shot Birmingham-Southern College football player Montress Freeman. Westbrook was working at the Highland Pharmacy when Freeman, accompanied by at least four companions, tried to shear Westbrook’s hair. Both Westbrook and Freeman hailed fro Gadsen and knew one another.
Freeman died en route to St. Vincent’s hospital.
The dead man is Montress Freeman, of Gadsden.
Westbrook, a junior at Howard College, called police after the shooting. Police charged him with second-degree manslaughter.
The shooting followed several weeks of reciprocal hazing by students of Birmingham-Southern College and Howard College, football rivals.A grand jury voted “NoBill,” absolving Westbrook.
49) 1928
University of Texas
Delta Kappa Epsilon Hazing
“Nolt” is a typo for “Nolte” in the news clipping above.
Pledge Nolte McElroy, an athlete, died from the electric shock when he had to crawl through mattresses charged with electric current. The school response was to be expected. “It simply was a terrible accident that could not have been foreseen,” Texas Dean V. L. Moore told a reporter.
50) 1929
Indiana University
Delta Chi
Illness post Hazing
Orsa George Steinmetz Jr., 19, died from lung disease after being physically hazed. The death was blamed by his mother on hazing, but cited as illness-related (coroner ruled death cased by pulmonary tb) by university then-administrators who nonetheless strongly condemned all acts of hazing. His mother became the first known parent of a hazing victim to become an activist. George’s brother corresponded with me during my research for “Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing.”
51) 1929
Flint, Michigan
Boyhood hazing (likely bullying in today’s language)
Blood poisoning due to injury Merrill A. Putnam, 8, died after older boys repeatedly slammed him to the ground in a prank they called the “Royal Bumps.”
52) 1931
Stout Institute (Wisconsin)
Class hazing: Physical contact; hazing horseplay
First-year student Lloyd Neuman Aune of Baldwin, Wisconsin, died a painful death after his spinal cord was severed in a wrestling tussle. According to the Milwaukee Journal (September 18, 1931) Clifford Tweed admitted to being one of those grappling with Aune but denied knowing how the young man suffered a serious spine injury. The Journal noted that the student body voted to end all hazing.
53) 1934
Oregon State University
Lambda Chi Alpha
Shooting death
Paul Kutch (upper right in photo) was shot in the head in a so-called act of horseplay while dueling with revolvers thought to be unloaded. The shooter was fraternity brother Robert Veale (upper left)
54) 1934
Phillips-Andover Academy
Auto accident during hazing
John Adams Kingsbury Jr. of Younkers, New York was killed and Howard Pratt Johnson, 17, of Upper Montclair, New Jersey, was injured when the two were swept from the running board of an automobile as it sped away from a rural initiation site near Ballardvale, Massachusetts.
55) 1935
Dickinson College (Pennsylvania)
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity hazing
Physical contact
Phi Delt pledge Richard Wendell Beitzel was somehow severely injured in a fall and cut his leg on a tree stump, dying later of blood poisoning (nephritis). The Reading Eagle (April 19, 1935) said the college president banned all hazing as a result of the death. See especially Altoona Tribune, April 12, 1935.
56) 1936 Death (Injury incurred in 1934)
Miami-Dade High School
Iota Phi fraternity Physical hazing (paddling infection)
According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (February 25, 1936), sophomore (Marshall) Taylor Lewis succumbed of injuries incurred two years earlier in a hazing initiation. The school ordered an end to all fraternities and sororities. (Another theory stated that his injury occurred playing basketball).
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Father Dr Taylor Lewis Mother Emma Lula Rasor Birth 19 Apr 1919 Americus, Sumter, Georgia, USA Death 24 Feb 1936 Miami, Miami-Dade, Florida, USA Residence 1930 Miami, Miami-Dade, Florida, USA
Mississippi State University (then Mississippi State College)
Future Farmers of America (FFA) Drowning
Willie B. Barkley, an athlete recovering from a severe influenza attack, perished after being tossed by agricultural students into a pond. A second youth was saved. The college president stated that he didn’t regard this as a severe initiation.
58) 1937
Unspecified high school
Hazing (kidnapping or ride) Updated and corrected Sept. 24, 2024
A car carrying two kidnapped high school pledges hit a rut and overturned. Robert Lincoln James, 15, died, and Ted Hanke, 15, was injured on June 14, 1937 in Stanislaus, California. Source: Bakersfield Californian, January 16, 1937. The hazer who allegedly took them for a ride was Warren Dale Boyd, 16. Four other boys were in the vehicle. James suffered a broken neck when thrown from the car into a bean field.
59) 1940
University of Missouri
Theta Nu Epsilon/Kappa Sigma
Alcohol-related hazing; Pledge at subrosa chapter found deceased at Kappa Sigma house
Hubert L. (Hugo) Spake Jr. of Kansas City, Missouri, died by smothering following a drinking session mandated by a fraternity chapter unrecognized by the university. He likely was the first of many fraternity pledges or members to die from alcohol intoxication during an initiation, according to Hank Nuwer’s historical research. Ironically, Spake already was a brother of Kappa Sigma fraternity and returned to the Kappa Sigma house where he was discovered by two pledges on “wakeup” chores. See El Paso Times, March 11, 1940. See also the NY Daily News for investigation of Theta Nu Epsilon, dated March 31, 1940.
PS: added June 2, 2017 It was not uncommon even 100-110 years ago or more for undergraduates at sundry colleges to appropriate the fraternal name of a national without permission, and then to besmirch that national’s name with loud and boorish or dangerous behavior. A prime example of this was a onetime national sophomore society called Theta Nu Epsilon. That organization had subrosa, unregulated, unauthorized chapters all over the country. Since it was a sophomore society, its members often or usually had additional membership in authorized nationals. So it was in March, 1940. that Hubert L. Spake, Jr, died in his sleep after an alcohol-fueled initiation for an unauthorized Theta Nu Epsilon chapter at the University of Missouri Kappa Sigma house. The Missouri Dean Albert Heckel shut down the unauthorized chapter after Spake choked to death on his own vomit. Prior to the death, the illicit chapter operated as a freewheeling chapter at Mizzou. One of the participants was Missouri football player Paul Christman.
60) 1941
Highmore High School (S. D.)
Athletic hazing, Lettermen’s Club:
Hazing by electrocution (DeGooyer bottom left)
Gerald De Gooyer, 20, a multi-sport athlete was killed by an initiation requiring him to sustain an electric shock. The coach and an administrator approved the initiation and lost a civil lawsuit.
61) 1941
Berkeley High School
Eunoia Club
Auto crash as upperclassmen chased newcomers
About 30 members were involved in a hazing of a high school club that seems to have all or most members situated
in California high schools. One carload of boys flipped and went off an embankment. James Ristenpart died. Three were injured.
62) 1943
High school hazing and St. Norbert’s College (Wisconsin)
High school hazing with college students present: Death from nephritis (but disputed by D.A.)
Wayne Rogers, assaulted by at least seven older students, died on his first day in a senior high school. He succumbed after his parents asserted the hazers had taken “indecent liberties” with him. The attending physician ruled he died of nephritis caused by a blow but District Attorney Elmer R. Honkamp dismissed any connection between Rogers’s death and hazing. Wayne’s parents expressed outrage. The parents cited Fred Ruppel, 17, and John (Jack) Van Vondern, 16, as the ringleaders. Ruppel was then a promising baseball player.
63) 1945
St. Louis University (Missouri)
Phi Beta Pi
Fatal Accident During Hazing
Robert G. Perry was turned into a human torch and died after members coated his naked body with flammable substances and applied an electric shock to his skin.
64) 1948
Montana State University
Les Bouffons (The Clowns) Secret Society (local chapter)
Shooting by security guard during prank
War veteran James (Jim) Irvin Peterson, a married father, was shotin the chest as he and 11 initiates of the local society attempted to break into a heating-plant building to set off a whistle as part of their initiation celebration. Peterson, 26, survived 38 air combat missions during World War Two, according to the Ogden Standard Examiner (April 5, 1948). Illustration below by San Francisco Examiner. Peterson was born May 5, 1921 and died April 5, 1948, by a gunshot fired by John W. Martin.
65) 1949
Brown University (Rhode Island)
Fraternity Rush Night (including Delta Phi)
While on a tour of a fraternity house intended as a rush event to introduce pledges to different fraternal chapters, Hale Thompson Gehl, 19, fell down a set of stairs and died two days later. The night of the rush party a big brawl involved Beta Theta Phi and Delta Phi.
66) 1950
University of California, Berkeley
Sigma Pi
Death Following Hazing Dropoff
Pledge Gerald Loren Foletta died when hit by an automobile at 2:10 a.m. on October 7, 1950. after members dropped him off in the countryside. San Francisco Examiner, October 11, 1950. A second pledge was seriously injred.
67) 1950
Wittenberg University (Ohio)
Alpha Tau Omega
Death Following Hazing Dropoff
Pledge Dean J. Niswonger was hit by a car as he slept on a highway after being dropped off from campus. ATO pledge Jerry Wendell escaped death but suffered a fractured arm. The driver of the semi who hit the boy was exonerated. The chapter was back pledging in one year. A coroner ruled the death accidental. The two had been blindfolded and sleep deprived. ATO member David E, Farley left school and enrolled at Midland College in Nebraska where he pledged KAI Fraternity. Col. William R. Dayton was a distinguished alum years before the accident. Keith Amundsen was a member of the chapter at the time of death.
The Niswonger case went to the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit – 221 F.2d 350 (6th Cir. 1955); April 21, 1955. SEE BELOW:
Horace W. Baggott, Dayton, Ohio, Waldo E. Young, Eaton, Ohio, for appellant.
Rowan A. Greer, Jr., Dayton, Ohio (Warren A. Ferguson, Landis, Ferguson, Bieser & Greer, Dayton, Ohio, on the brief), for appellee.
Before MARTIN, McALLISTER and MILLER, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.
The appeal in this case is by the Administratrix of the twenty-year-old decedent who was killed by being run over by a truck of the appellee on a public highway near Springfield, Ohio.
The decedent and other “pledges” were being hazed prior to initiation by a Greek Letter Fraternity and, beginning on Sunday, April 30, 1950, were required to go through calisthenics late at night, to do housework, painting, scrubbing and other chores until about six o’clock in the morning when, after being permitted to rest for only an hour, they had to go to classes at eight o’clock and for the remainder of the school day. Following the day’s class room work, they returned to the Fraternity House and were required to study until eleven o’clock in the evening before beginning the calisthenics and work again. The same routine was followed each day until Wednesday, May 3. After their calisthenics on that date, the decedent and a companion “pledge” were blind-folded, placed on the back seat of an automobile and driven out into the country. Their blind-folds were then removed and they were put out of the automobile and instructed to find their way back to Springfield.
The two young men walked around the countryside for sometime until they came to a state highway. They attempted unsuccessfully to get a ride and then stopped to rest on the side of the road; and, becoming uncomfortable there, they sat upon the paved portion of the highway. They were so exhausted that they fell asleep on the paved road where decedent was killed.
The main argument of appellant is that the driver of appellee’s truck had a “last clear chance,” by the exercise of due care, to avoid the fatal accident. The truck driver testified that, immediately, when he recognized that an object on the road might be a human being, he put on his brakes full force and almost went off the roadside in an effort to avoid running over the decedent.
In directing a verdict for the defendant, Judge Cecil explained to the jury that, after a person places himself in a position of peril by his own negligence and that his “negligence then ceases,” the defendant is required to use ordinary care to avoid injury at the time he “discovers the person in the condition of peril.” The judge told the jury further that the terrible ordeal which the two boys had endured immediately before the accident, deplorable as it was, could place no greater duty upon appellee or its truck driver and make it, or its driver, responsible for the conduct of the boys and for “what happened before.”
In our judgment, the district judge properly granted the motion of appellee for directed verdict, for the reasons stated in the judge’s address to the jury. We find no reversible error in the assignments made by appellant respecting the exclusion of evidence proffered by her, or in any procedural matter connected with the trial.
The judgment of the district court is ordered affirmed.
68) 1951
Northwestern State College (Louisiana)
Class Hazing prank played on freshman (drowning)
Cruel prank resulting in drowning death freshman Allen Kaplan, 18, of Massachusetts, was duped by upperclassmen into meeting a woman on a bluff used as a Lover’s Lane. One perpetrator pretended to be a furious husband and fired a shotgun blast that sent a panicked Kaplan running, according to the Monroe Morning World. Kaplan’s father forgave the pranksters after his son’s submerged body was removed from the nearby Red River. He died March 1, 1951. His body wasn’t found until March 9, 1951.
69, 70) 1951
University of Miami
Lambda Chi Alpha Kidnaping and car drop-off 30 miles from campus
Exhausted pledges Thomas Kleppner was killed and Fred E. Evens was critically injured on May 30, 1951, after an oncoming driver failed to spot them sleeping at roadside in Homestead, Florida, according to The Daily Republican (May 31, 1951).
Evens died following the accident on May 31. The Miami yearbook lists the following Lambda Chi Alpha officers: Larry Sena, President, Dave Bowers, Vice President, Gene Frieda, Secretary, Pete Wheeler, Treasurer, ,lack Buhlen, Social Chairman Richard Bailey, Ritualist Tom Arnno, Rush Chairman. The driver was E. J. Pacetti. Pledge James J. Moser survived. Source: Long Branch Daily Record, May 26, 1951.
Note: Fred Evens in 1951 clippings is occasionally misspelled as “Evans”–Moderator, June 27, 2021, and September 19, 2024 updates.
1952: No confirmed deaths. Regarding 1952 and hazing, Univ. of North Carolina Sigma Chi pledge Charles W. Hill was on a “partying” road trip off campus. Hill was killed (two other pledges unhurt, one brother injured) when the car he was in missed a stop sign and collided with a lumber truck. Pledges were routinely served alcohol, according to a newspaper of the day, but the drinking age was 18, and it would be many years before alcohol routinely was looked at in hazing cases. Hazing WAS a hotbed topic at UNC in the spring of 1952, and the UNC IFC was accused of covering up hazing incidents. There was one near-death in question by another chapter.
Barring new information, 1952 remains a year without a confirmed death. –Hank Nuwer Posted Dec. 5, 2021. Affirmed Sept. 24, 2024
71) 1953
Milligan College (Tennessee)
Freshman class hazing: Required “games” of first-year students
Calvin Dougherty, 17, a highly regarded basketball player from Johnson County, Indiana, died from the after-effects of internal injuries suffered when he slammed into a cable during a race mandated by upperclass students. A newspaper in Franklin, Indiana, followed his recovery, setback, and death in detail. He attended church services in Rocklane, Indiana, and a pastor accompanied the father to attend to his son at a hospital bedside.
72) 1954
Swarthmore College (Swarthmore, Pennsylvania)
Delta Upsilon
Death during Hazing Dropoff
Peter Mertz was killed by a passing car after members abandoned him in the country. He was a football player. Here is a photo of Peter.
Peter’s bereaved mother was Esther Mertz.
73) 1955
Swarthmore College
Classmate Hazing and/or bullying Revenge shooting
Victim: Francis Holmes Strozier (above)
The Greenville headline said it all: “Ministerial student mad over being hazed,kills.” In what could have been a campus bloodbath, Robert Bechtel, 22, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, shot one of the hazers tormenting him. Bechtel, mocked for his dark, longish hair, went home and returned to campus with a revolver, .22 rifle, and 134 bullets, according to The Greenville News.
Bechtel, a student aiming to become a Unitarian minister, went to Wharton Hall, a residence hall, and ambushed tormentor Francis Holmes Strozier, a sophomore from Akron, Ohio. He shot him by the light of his flashlight with the rifle. “I had a rage against them,” Bechtel told police. “I felt they were persecuting me.” Bechtel raced about Wharton Hall as if berserk and fired several more shots until other Strozier’s roommate, Robert Witt, 19, subdued him.
Bechtel, a hall proctor who knew where his tormentors lived, tried to get into several locked rooms without success. Although newspapers widely characterized the death as bullying, the pranks themselves were more akin in today’s terms as a type of bullying. In a classic case of hidden harm, the tormentors had picked on Bechtel who came to Swarthmore after being discharged from the U.S. Air Force with a nervous breakdown. Bechtel was ruled insane and shipped to a mental hospital.
74, 75) 1955
New Philadelphia, Ohio
Boy Scouts of America Auto accident during blindfolded initiation march
The Ashbury (N.J. Park Press reported that two of ten boys were killed on a darkened road as they marched with older Explorers to celebrate their initiation as First-Class Scouts. The dead were identified as Michael Andreas and Charles Fawcett. A third youth was injured. The driver was Allen Rupp.
76) 1956
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Delta Kappa Epsilon Death Following Hazing Dropoff
Disoriented pledge Thomas Clark drowned in a reservoir after members dropped him off in countryside unknown by him.
77, 78) 1956
Rice Institute
Freshman class death
Accident while students participated in a dangerous frosh orientation stunt
A regrettable “tradition” of the era was for students to hang a tire and defend it against interlopers who tried to steal it as part of the “fun.”. The tire was hung high in the air atop a bell tower connected to a smokestack. Unfortunately, Karl B. Bailey was overcome by carbon monoxide and suffocated. His friend Cecil William Carrol climbed the smokestack to aid him, lost his balance, and also perished.
79) 1957
University of California, Santa Barbara
Delta Tau Delta Death
“Pinning” Pseudo-initiation
Max Caulk, 22, drowned in a harbor following a reckless initiation practiced by members after fellow members got pinned or engaged to a sorority woman.
80) 1957
Utica High School
Prank Gone Wrong
Accidental Hanging
A high school educator who participated in a “harmless” supervised initiation intended to frighten first-year students for laughs died accidentally while pretending to hang. The victim in the tragic, unfortunate death was W.H. Sallee of Utica High School (Kansas). Source: many, including Warren Times Mirror (Pa.), Sept. 18, 1957.
81, 82) 1957
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Lexington, Ky.
Nurse hazing as prank
Burned to death during “prank” on student nurses
Two student nurses, one smoking a cigarette, burned to death after ether was tossed on them as a prank. The deceased killed by the registered nurses were Charlotte Smith and Kathleen Frances Oehler. The act was certainly one of negligence but not in any way intended to be malicious. The ether was supposed to create a temporary feeling of numbness. The two perpetrators were severely burned beating out the flames. Source: Indiana (PA.) Evening Gazette, January 25, 1957.
1958: No deaths reported. H.N.
83) 1959
University of Southern California
Kappa Sigma
Physical hazing (eating ritual)
Pledge Richard Terrell Swanson choked to death while trying to swallow a slab of liver at the request of members. Parents settled for $35,000. His last words: “I’m going to swallow this liver if it’s the last thing I do.” His death inspired the movie “Fraternity Row.”
“Ozzie and Harriet” TV star David Nelson was a recent alumnus of this chapter and involved his fraternity in several episodes. He was likely not present at Swanson’s death. However, the tradition likely existed without a death when David Nelson was a pledge and member.
84) 1959
Yakima High School (Washington State); Moxee School District
Moxeee Letterman’s Club
Paddling and dunking of new members wearing burlap sacks; under supervision of a coach
Henry Allen Sherwood, Jr., the unlucky one of 16 initiates, drowned wearing a burlap sack after submitting to a paddling. Head football coach Donald L. (Don) Smith was present and overseeing the paddling and subsequent tragedy. School officials took no swift action in the week following the death, and Smith and up to 40 players were questioned by a prosecutor. As would be commonplace over time, the death was ruled accidental. The parents sued, lost, and won an appeal charging the Moxee school district with negligence that sent the case to trial. News Clipping here.
Important: See judgments by Washington State Supreme Court re school responsibility.
85, 86, 87, 88) 1960
Pi Kappa Phi
Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL)
Fatality following unsanctioned pledge party (auto accident)
Alcohol had been provided to pledges and members at an unsanctioned NIU party prior to a horrific collision at 100 mph of a Greyhound bus and speeding, out-of-control 1957 convertible. The force of the impact disintegrated the vehicle into more than 100 pieces and made identification of bodies difficult. Four died in the accident that included one pledge and four senior members in the car. (The bus driver was unhurt, and no passengers were on board). Killed instantly were Harry Lamphier, Jr., 24, freshman William Gustafson, 18, William Kempfer, 19.
John Pauls, 19, died later at a hospital. The driver who lived was Raymond Uramkin, a junior, age 20 then and now 80 as of 2019. Three chapter officers faced charges of providing the alcohol, including Dean Schneck.
89) 1961
Clemson University (South Carolina)
Sigma Kappa Epsilon Death following a dropoff
Joe Henry Derham, Jr., one of six students left to find his way back to campus, tried to take a short cut across Lake Hartwell in April and drowned. Years later, in 2014, Tucker Hipps would perish on the shore of the same lake.
Allegheny High School
Football Hazing, Suicide
Richard Metz, 17, was being attacked by two older football players in a hazing. They tried cutting off his ducktail style hair. Metz shot one of the young men, injuring him with a .22 pistol. Afraid of being sent to a correctional institution, Metz turned the weapon on himself and died in September of 1962.
Charleston High School (West Virginia)
Band Hazing Alleged beating death
Long before the more famous deadly hazing of Robert Champion in a Florida A & M band hazing, high school band members accused of administering a fatal “pink belly” beating to 15-year-old newcomer Michael Murphy in a hazing were let go by a court and acquitted, according to the Spokane Daily Chronicle (October 18, 1963).
92) 1963
University of Florida and Abilene Christian College (Now Abilene Christian University, Texas)
Fraternal Organization of Lifeguards Water Initiation Ritual; Lifeguard Hazing
George E. Beers, 28, died following a lifeguard hazing initiation in the Atlantic Ocean. At first charges were dropped on a technicality against University of Florida undergraduates John Masters and John Tanner, as well as Roger Orrell, an Abilene Christian [University] student. In January of 1964, a charge of culpable negligence was filed by the state attorney. He was held underwater in a strenuous exercise that had been held annually at least since 1958.
93) 1964
University of Rhode Island
Lambda Chi Alpha
All-night pledging ritual (quite probably a scavenger hunt); fatal accident
Jose Manual Costa, 20, died and pledge Robert Niggi, 19, was seriously injured when their car left the road and struck a telephone pole in N. Kingston, R.I. Source The Journal News, White Plains, December 17, 1964. The university president levied a punishment of probation and only $500 against the chapter, claiming that over the previous fifty years it contributed “significantly to the university.”
94) 1965
Georgetown College (Kentucky)
Pi Kappa Alpha Death During “Pinning” Pseudo-initiation
Member Richard Winder drowned in dam waters while hazing a fellow member during a silly initiation practiced by members after someone in the chapter was pinned or engaged.
Above: Cincinnati Enquirer. February 14, 1965.
95) 1966
Roman Catholic High School (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Athletic hazing: Drowning
Lamonte R. Jenkins died of drowning after being tossed into water near West Chester, according to New York Times and the Hazleton Standard-Speaker . Authorities found “no malicious intent,” according to the Standard-Speaker. He was at a football camp.
96) 1967
Baylor University (Texas)
Baylor Chamber of Commerce (social club)
Physical hazing (eating ritual) John E. Clifton died while choking down a foul concoction and laxatives requested by members. The state ruled the incident an accident, and the then-college president said the incident did not meet his definition of hazing. Faced with media backlash, President Abner McCall reversed his position and banned “physical” hazing.
97, 98, 99) 1968
Steubenville College Steubenville, Ohio
Fraternity hazing Auto accident during all-night scavenger hunt
Two men on a fraternity scavenger hunt and a friend who drove the car all died in a smashup during a grueling, all-night scavenger hunt. The dead were Michael L. DiBacco, Trent Ciarrochia, and William Entinger. DiBacco was the driver of the other car and was on his way to work. Trent Ciarrochia, and William Entinger were on the fraternity scavenger hunt. The young men were not carrying identification and were traced through the car registration.
100) 1969
Muskingum College (New Concord, Ohio): Now Muskingum University
Athletic hazing
Overexertion during exercise session Scott Edward Graeler, a sophomore varsity tackle, died February 8, 1969, during an initiation at the team’s Stag Club House. A club president later paid a $100 fine, according to Wikipedia. According to the Times Recorder of Zanesville, Ohio, the person fined by the court was John (Jack) Falcon, a junior.
The coroner’s verdict was heart failure due to overexertion. “The death was not intentional,” said Jodge J. Lincoln Knapp, defending the typical light sentence for hazing. “There but for the grace of God could have gone many others.” Graeler was dead on arrival on Feb. 8, 1969. He was taken ill at the campus’s Stag Club.
101) 1970
Eastern Illinois University
Alpha Gamma Delta sorority
Pledges abduct sister
Accidental death of member during prank abduction A sorority member jumped on the bumper of a moving car as pledges tried to abandon her in the country as a joke. The death of Donna Bedinger was ruled accidental by authorities, and a family member argued that her death should be called a prank, not hazing. Was alcohol a factor? No alcohol charges were placed against the pledges. My interview with the district attorney who declined to press charges did not include any questions from me on alcohol. The district attorney said one of his fraternity brothers incurred a head injury in a hazing.
102) 1971
Tulane University (Louisiana)
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Rush-related horseplay or hazing
Wayne Kennedy, 17, drowned after being thrown in a lake during a rush party. Authorities at the time called the incident non-hazing horseplay. Was alcohol a factor? Yes. It took years and another pledge’s serious eye injury before Tulane banned DKE. LINK: tulane__Apr_5__1978_
103) 1972
Pierce College (California)
Chi Chi Chi (Tri-Chi Fraternity)
Death Following Hazing Dropoff; Coverup attempted
Tri-Chi (Chi-Chi-Chi) Member Fred Phillip Bronner was taken on a dropoff for his alleged bad attitude by members. Taken without his glasses that were on order after breaking, the impaired member plunged into a gorge and died. Fraternity brothers were sentenced to light community service. Was alcohol a factor? Unknown to moderator.
Pierce County residents Gordon Gillespy, 19; John Burgess, 29, and John Morgan, 21, left “Fat Freddie” (as they disrespectfully called him) in the cold, remote mountain area “to teach him a lesson” for his “obnoxiousness.” The three were identified as Gordon Gillespy, 19; John Burgess, 29, and John Morgan, 21. ) In some news articles, Burgess is spelled Berges.”
The New York Times and Los Angeles Times covered the story. Some feared the harassment might have been aimed at Bronner’s strong commitment to his Jewish faith that toook him from fraternity events that Gordon Gillespy, 19; John Burgess, 29, and John Morgan, 21, thought important. News coverage said they wanted him to shape up “a Mama’s boy.”
New York Times: LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2—The county coroner ordered a public inquest today into the death of Fred Bronner, a 21-year=old college sophomore, who died during a fraternity hazing during the Christmas recess.
The announcement by the coroner, Thomas T. Noguchi, came amid a flurry of demands for official investigations into the death of Mr. Bronner, whose body was found by rescuers over the weekend at the bottom of a 500-foot-deep ravine in Angeles National Forest, about 45 miles north of central Los Angeles.
The search had begun Friday after three members of the Chi Chi Chi fraternity at suburban Pierce Community College reported that they had not heard from Mr. Bronner since 2 A.M. on Dec. 22, when they left him in the cold, remote mountain area “to teach him a lesson” for his “obnoxiousness.”
New York Times: “They told the authorities that they thought Mr. Bronner, who stood 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 270 pounds, could have hiked five miles to a nearby freeway to catch a ride. Sheriffs’ deputies said he apparently tried to hike across country and fell into the steep ravine in the darkness.”
104) 1972
University of Maryland
Sigma Alpha Mu
Physical hazing
Member Brian Cursack collapsed and died after performing calisthenics during pledging.
105) 1973
Lehigh University (Pennsylvania)
Delta Phi
Pledge leaped from car during abduction
Pledge Mitchell (Mitch) Fishkin died when he jumped from car while being taken to a dropoff far from campus. School and fraternity officials called the incident horseplay, not hazing. The father called it hazing “prank” and sued for $21 million. Was alcohol a factor? Unknown to moderator. Here is a story about his roommates and their loss.
106, 107, 108, 109) 1974
Grove City College (Pennsylvania)
Adelphikos
Four pledges died following dropoff Four of the 17 pledges taken on a dropoff were killed by a car whose driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. The dead were Thomas Morgan Elliott, John Curtin, Rudolph Mion, and Gary Gilliland, all 18. Was alcohol a factor? Unknown. A relative wrote to say her family believed the driver had been drinking but that no charges had been placed to the family’s knowledge. Most accounts say the driver fell asleep at the wheel.
110) 1974
Monmouth College (New Jersey)
Zeta Beta Tau
Physical hazing
William E. Flowers, 19, suffocated after being entombed in a grave members asked him to dig on a sandy ocean beach. Was alcohol a factor? Unknown to moderator. However, none of my press clippings mention alcohol use in this case, nor did Mrs. Dorothy Flowers cite alcohol in my interview with her in 1989. Below, Philadelphia Daily News, Nov. 13, 1974
111) 1974
Bluefield State College (West Virginia)
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Criminal shooting by adviser during initiation
Shooting during pre-induction Michael James Bishop, a fraternity member, was shot and killed by the chapter’s graduate adviser during a bizarre hazing on October 20, 1974. Frank Hollis, also 20, of Bluefield was wounded. Cans were put on heads of pledges and knocked off with a stick simultaneously as a gun was fired by a member or the adviser. Alcohol: primary factor. Bluefield State College authorities refused to meet with me in 1989 when I came to campus and researched the story. State trooper J. R. Howell who investigated the case assisted me with research and my questions. (Thank you).
Edwin Taylor, 28, the adviser and owner of the cabin, was charged with murder and malicious wounding. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Nov. 12 for Mr. Taylor, who was released on $10,000 bond.
112) 1975
Northern Illinois University
Wine Psi Phi
Alcohol-related hazing
Alcohol-related hazing death Richard A. Gowins died following alcohol poisoning mandated by members of a social club not affiliated with the university. Alcohol: primary factor.
113) 1975
University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point
Siasefi fraternity (spelling is correct)
Alcohol-related hazing death Pledge David “Lumpy” Hoffmann died in his sleep after members took him on a so-called “Death March” during which students drank at local bars. Alcohol: primary factor.
114) 1975
University of Nevada, Reno
Sundowners (local drinking fraternity)
Alcohol-related initiation drinking death Pledge John Davies, a varsity football player, died on the bed of a pickup truck at Pyramid Lake after members required three days of marathon drinking. The club was under suspension by the university at the time of death. Hazing had been outlawed at Nevada as early as 1906 by President Edward E. Stubbs. Alcohol: primary factor.
115) 1975
Washington State University
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Hell Week death from pneumonia
Sleep-deprived pledge John Asher died of pneumonia following a Hell Week in which he voluntarily participated in heavy exercises despite being very ill. Alcohol use not cited in documents I have from a WSU medical doctor.
116) 1975
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (then-Cheyney State College)
Freshman-sophomore class hazing Physical hazing
During a brutal session in which freshman Theodore Ben had to carry another on his back, he lapsed into a coma and died. The then-college president denied all responsibility. Alcohol use: Unknown but unlikely. Hazing due to physical violence? Yes. A judge dropped all charges against Barrie Williams, 19. and Frank Stevens, 20.
117) 1976
Texas Tech University
Pi Kappa Alpha Member death during scavenger hunt
Fraternity pledges and members lost track of member Samuel Mark Click. A search party found he had been hit and killed August 23, 1976, by a train. Alcohol use: not cited in press reports.
118) 1976
St. John’s University (New York)
Pershing Rifles Bayonet stabbing during hazing incident
ROTC pledge Thomas Fitzgerald, a student at another school (Queens) who had applied for admission into the elite St. John’s chapter, was accidentally impaled by a bayonet blade during a stunt meant merely to intimidate him. Police said James Savino wielded the deadly blade. School and military officials refused to call the incident hazing, referring to it euphemistically as “unauthorized training.” Alcohol use not cited in press reports and unlikely. Savino was found not guilty of murder.
119) 1977
University of Pennsylvania
Unrecognized renegade chapter of Omega Psi Phi.
Physical hazing
A pledge, Robert J. Bazile, died of a heart attack after weeks of beatings and physical exertion at the bequest of a chapter which claimed it had a connection with a national historically black fraternity. The national disavowed all ties. Physical hazing a factor? Yes.
120) 1977
University of Missouri, Rolla
Kappa Alpha Order, and Daughters of Lee
Initiation accident
A cannon misfired and exploded during a Daughters of Lee little sisters’ initiation, killing fraternity member Randall Crustals. No alcohol or physical violence.
121) 1978
Loras College (Iowa)
Gamma Psi (drinking club unrecognized by the school)
Alcohol-related death
Stephen J. McNamara died in a residence hall room following a drinking marathon with members. Alcohol the primary factor in cause of death.
122) 1978
Alfred University (New York)
Klan Alpine fraternity
Alcohol-related hazing death
Pledge Charles (Chuck) Stenzel died following an intense drinking bout requested by local chapter members as part of Tapping Night, the school’s traditional opening night of pledging. The investigation by a local prosecuting attorney never formally was closed, but no charges ever were forthcoming. Chuck’s mother, Eileen Stevens, founded CHUCK, the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings. See “Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing for the stories of Chuck Stenzel and his activist mother, Mrs. Stevens.
Alcohol served by members the primary cause of Chuck’s death.
123) 1978
North Carolina Central University
Renegade chapter of Omega Psi Phi
Physical exercise collapse
Nathaniel Swinson, 20, already ill, collapsed during a laborious workout demanded of him and died. One newspaper article said the chapter had been newly chartered by the national (The Dispatch, February 8, 1978). Pledges continued to exercise as he lay resting instead of being taken to a hospital.
124) 1979
Louisiana State University
Theta Xi
Ritual march
Bruce Wiseman was blindfolded when a car plowed into him and other pledges on a dark road in the countryside. He alone died.
125) 1979
Rutgers University (New Jersey)
Delta Phi
Alcohol-related Pledging death
University officials ruled non-hazing a voluntary drinking bout at dawn that afterwards was a factor when pledge Richard C. Fuhs, Jr., died in an auto accident. Alcohol contributed to the death. The accident occurred at the end of Hell Week when pledges and members drove in carloads to a bar. Pledge John E. McDonald was at the wheel. His first trial ended in a mistrial. Fuhs died of head injuries. Two other pledges in the car survived. They were John Boersma and John O’Connor.
126, 127) 1979
Virginia State College
Beta Phi Burgundy (female) and Wine Psi Phi (male) Pledging-related accident
Pledge Norsha Lynn Delk died in a river drowning during a so-called cleansing ceremony and pledge Robert Etheridge died trying to rescue her. Unknown if alcohol was present. Not cited in press clippings at time.
128) 1980
University of North Dakota
Sigma Nu Member stabbed by member during “Discipline Session”
A member who was being punished with a “cherry belly” by other members disciplining him for his alleged bad attitude accidentally stabbed and killed Kingsley Davidson, 19. The member was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Alcohol not cited in press clippings.
129) 1980
Clarkson University (New York)
Alpha Epsilon Pi
Pledging-related accident
Pledge David Masciantonio, 19, died while jogging at 3 a.m. with other pledges when a car struck him. A school spokesman at the time said no hazing occurred in spite of the hour, but a hazing activist attacked the denial. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation.
130) 1980
Mississippi State University
Pi Kappa Alpha
Reverse hazing (pledge sneak)
Member Curtis Huntley, 20, went into a coma and died after leaping from a car filled with pledges who wanted to dunk him in a mudhole. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation.
131) 1980
University of Missouri
Phi Kappa Psi
Pledging-related incident (then dismissed as horseplay by school authorities)
Pledge Lex Dean Batson fell to his death from a bluff following a prank in which pledges and members tried to urinate on a statue below. A family member disputed officials’ finding that the incident was horseplay, not hazing. Alcohol use was present but I do not know if it was direct cause of death.
132) 1980
Ithaca College
Delta Kappa
Physical hazing
Pledge Joseph (Joey) Parrella, 18, died exercising in a steam room. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation. Many additional types of hazing endured by Joey Parrella are listed in news clippings of the day. His grieving mother went on a mission to end fraternities for a short time. It received only a three-year suspension and conducted illegal pledging without a halt.
133) 1980
University of Lowell (Massachusetts)
Delta Kappa Phi
Physical hazing
Pledge Steve Call lapsed into a coma and died following heavy exertion exercises. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation.
134) 1980
University of South Carolina
Sigma Nu
Alcohol-related Hazing Death
Pledge L. Barry Ballou choked to death after passing out at a ritualized drinking session attended by an alumnus and members.
Alcohol direct cause of death. His death is covered in detail in Nuwer’s “Broken Pledges.”
135) 1981
University of Wisconsin, Superior
FEX local fraternity
Physical hazing
Pledge Rick Cerra, 21, a wrestler, collapsed and died while exercising in VERY heavy clothing on a warm day at the behest of FEX (iron industry fraternity) members. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation.
136) 1982
Towson State University
Alpha Omega Lambda
Sleep-deprivation hazing-related accident during servitude
Victor (Ricky) M. Siegel, 20, died behind the wheel wearing a Playboy bunny costume when he rolled his car in Lutherville, Maryland, while on a mission to get signatures from chapter alumni members. Alcohol use not cited in press clippings or police investigation. Two other pledges were injured. Towson State revoked the charter.
137, 138) 1982
University of Virginia
Sigma Chi
Pledging accident
Two young pledges were killed when the rental van they were stuffed into with other pledges and members rolled and collided with an oncoming vehicle, severely injuring that driver. A passenger and a driver were in the cab and about 62 Sigma Chi pledges and members in the back of the truck. Alcohol was inside the cab in the fatal accident.
The dead were Christopher Meigs, 18, and Brian H. McKittrick, 17.
At least 13 people were hospitalized, three critically. A resident adviser behind the wheel, David H. Holmes, 21, of Smithtown, New York, was sober but cited for reckless driving.
139) 1983
Tennessee State University
Omega Psi Phi
Pledging-related drinking and physical hazing session
Pledge Vann Watts died of an alcohol overdose. A fellow pledge claimed they had been beaten and made to drink, but other pledges denied hazing had occurred. Alcohol was a factor. Physical violence was present. This death is a prime example of how the definition of hazing needed to be defined explicitly in future state laws. A second death occurred years later: same school, same chapter.
140) 1984
University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez
ROTC Panther Society
Physical hazing
Arnaldo Mercado Perez, 18, was beaten, deprived of sleep, and physically and mentally abused at an extended hazing session and 30-mile hike that began December 26, 1983. At least ten students participated in activities that led to his death on January 5, 1984. Officer in charge Maj. Juan Robles stayed button-lipped. The civil case went nowhere.
141) 1984
University of California, Davis
Kappa Alpha Order
Alcohol-related death
A truck filled with pledges and members on a mission to paint a rock with graffiti crashed on Interstate 80, killing Brad Bing, 21. Alcohol was a factor in the fatal accident.
142) 1984
Texas A & M University
Corps of Cadets
Hazing by calisthenics
Second-year member Bruce Dean Goodrich, 20, died from heatstroke while performing strenuous exercises at 2:30 a.m. One student was found guilty of destroying evidence (a company exercise schedule, and three pleaded guilty to hazing. Alcohol was not cited in police investigation or press coverage.
Three Cadets pleaded guilty Monday to hazing in the death of Bruce Goodrich. A fourth student was expelled for tampering with evidence.
Update: The Fish Drill Team, disbanded in 1997, when nine drill team upperclassmen were arrested with 54 assault and hazing charges. The drill team came back in 2001.
The school honors Goodrich by presenting an annual award to an outstanding cadet.
143) 1984 American International College
Zeta Chi local chapter of athletic team fraternity:
Alcohol-related hazing death
Pledge Jay Lenaghan, 19, died following a drinking marathon with a blood-alcohol level of 0.48. Alcohol overdose (mixed with non-otc drugs) was direct cause of death.
144) 1984
California State University, Chico
Tau Gamma Theta local fraternity (now unrecognized but alumni group is active: listed president is Michael W. Da Virro)
Prior to 1998, chapter operated as Phi Kappa Tau (also has had notoriety).
Alcohol-related pledging death
Pledge Jeffrey Franklin Long, 23, was killed by Michael W. Da Virro, a fellow pledge, who hit him in a speeding car. Ten pledges consumed at least two gallons of wine the night of the death. Members still maintain that the press overreacted to the death. Alcohol was a prime factor in the death. Jeffery was the son of Alden and Judith Long.
The fraternity previously was the scene of a 1973 party attended by more than 1,500 guests in which guest Patricia Cathaline (Cathi) Farish was raped and strangled by another party guest, Aden R. Trey Miller III, a farm worker, who killed himself in police custody.
Charges against the members and pledges named below were dropped:
Letter from chapter in local paper:
Hi! I was at Chico State the semester following the death of Jeffrey Long. I made the mistake of pledging Sigma Phi Epsilon in spring 1984. The house was right next to the Tau Gamma Theta house. I was able to piece together a bit of information in regards to that incident and hazing in general at that point. The TGs (Tau Gamma Theta), had no problem getting pledges the following semesters, until they were allowed campus recognition in fall 1985. The general feeling of most in the greek system was “it could have happened to any fraternity’. While true it could have, there was a lack of compassion or awareness to the death of someone. To put it another way, a complete indifference. The Inter Fraternity Council was made up often of junior actives, who were members of hazing fraternities, that viewed meetings as a waste of time, and did it as a way to earn their stripes so to speak. In other words a rather impotent entity. One fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, had a big brother little brother drink off, that always resulted in the pledges being sick for days after. They even made t-shirts for it. I quit the fraternity I was in, in disgust at the beginning of the next semester, as did a number of other guys in it. I have not come across a college where hazing is policed by the campus administration or any student government entity. I went back to Chico State in 1998 to pursue another degree. Hazing was still rampant, and the administration had nothing but cop out excuses when an incident took place. If you have read this far, thank you. I hope you can heighten the publics awareness that hazing still goes on. Neil Jones
Tau Gamma Theta also experienced the suicide of Benjamin Kovar in 2002, a fire caused by carelessness of members, and a fire started by an arsonist that destroyed the house. When former Chico President Paul Zingg announced fraternal reforms in 2006, he was opposed by the chapter’s alumni association.
145) 1985
University of Colorado
Kappa Alpha Theta
Alcohol-related pledging death
Under-aged pledge Sherri Ann Clark’s blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit when she fell to her death at a party sponsored by two sororities. Fraternity and sorority national executives then and now have defined giving alcohol to pledges to be a form of hazing, but Clark’s death at the time was classified as a non-hazing alcohol-related death. Alcohol was a factor in the death. Read about a prestigious scholarship established in her name to honor her memory by her family. John Bennett Rosen was the last to see her alive. Charges against Rosen were dropped.
146) 1985
University of Missouri, Columbia
Lambda Chi Alpha
Alcohol-related, pledging-related accident
Rushee Richard “Rich” Allyn Butler, 18, of Gladstone, Missouri, was being driven home from a rush party by member Robert B. Sexe, 19, when he was killed instantly in a car accident in Montgomery County. Alcohol was a factor in the death. See Springfield News-Leader, October 4, 1985. The car flipped and rolled for 200 feet. Sexe of Baldwin City, Missouri, was listed in serious condition.
147) 1986
Lamar University (Texas)
Omega Psi Phi with involvement by non-member
Physical hazing
Pledge Harold Thomas, 25, died on a track of heart failure when a non-member in a fraternity shirt made him exercise. Authorities ruled the death non-hazing, but the incident sparked national interest in taking strong measures against renegade chapters and members. Thomas did not have the university-mandated grade-point average required for pledging eligibility. Alcohol was not a factor in the death. Overexertion led to death. A professor observed the abuse and failed to interfere or report.
148) 1986
University of Texas
Phi Kappa Psi
Alcohol-related hazing
Mark Seeberger, 18, died with a blood-alcohol level of 0.43 when members gave him rum and beer. A Travis County grand jury refused to indict anyone. Alcohol was a factor in the death.
149) 1987
University of Mississippi
Kappa Alpha Order
Alcohol-related fall after Big Brother-Little Brother party
Although the death of Harry (Skip) Cline Jr., 18, of Clearwater, was ruled an accidental, non-hazing death by university officials, despite the fact that it occurred after an annual drinking party at the house in which pledges were encouraged to drink.
Alcohol was a factor in the death, according to Frank Hurdle who was student newspaper editor at the time. “Alcohol was definitely a factor in the death of Skip Cline, following a Big Brother/Little Brother in which pledges went around asking actives if they were their big brother. If no, they were offered a drink but not forced to drink. Cline passed out at the house and is estimated to have reached a BAC of .45. He woke the next morning and walked out the back exit and fell down 17 steps. BAC at that time I think was .24.”
150) 1987
University of Arkansas
Pi Kappa Alpha
Alcohol-related pledging death
Rushee Todd Alan Prince, an underage drinker, was killed outside a restroom by a passing vehicle during a fraternity hayride in which the chapter supplied alcohol. Alcohol was a factor in the death.
151) 1987
Stanford University (California)
Zeta Psi
Alcohol-related Rush accident
Rush chairman David Dunshee, 20, died during a fraternity party held on a lake. Alcohol was a factor in the death. The chapter was suspended for five years.
Moderator: Here is a helpful note from a member of Zeta Psi edited only for length, not content.
Hi Hank. This email will likely sound like one of self-preservation or defense on behalf of my fraternity, but I am simply submitting it to you because I figured you’d appreciate it. I found the original article about the incident on the Stanford Daily archives: https://
152) 1988
Rutgers University (New Jersey)
Lambda Chi Alpha
Alcohol-related Pledging Death
Pledge James Callahan died after members set up more than two hundred mixed drinks for he and other pledges to consume. Alcohol was primary cause of death.
Below: Central NJ Home News, Feb. 21, 1988
153) 1988
State University of New York at Albany
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Electrocution during pre-initiation “cleansing” ritual
School and law-enforcement officials ruled that hazing did not occur when pledges and members agreed to enter a lake that, unknown to them, was laced with an electric current due to a malfunctioning cable. Pledge Bryan Higgins died in the high-voltage death trap. Unknown to me whether alcohol was consumed in this episode.
154) 1988
University of Richmond (Virginia)
Pi Kappa Alpha
Accidental death during servitude
Matthew S. McCoy, 18, died asleep at the wheel while on a pledge errand. A school official ruled the incident was non-hazing although such pledging errands were not permitted by the international fraternity. Alcohol was not cited in investigation of fatal accident.
155) 1988
University of Texas
Delta Tau Delta
Pledging-related Accidental Death
Member Gregg Scott Phillips, 21, fell from a cliff while trying to escape pledges intent on tossing him fully clothed into a swimming pool. Unknown to me whether alcohol was consumed in this episode. Not mentioned in press coverage, however.
156) 1988
Rider College (New Jersey), now Rider University
Theta Chi
Pledging- and Alcohol-related Death (aka “pledge sneak”
Pledge Sean T. Hickey, 19, died in a car filled with pledges and a kidnapped chapter member. A 19-year-old driver received a one-year sentence for his reckless speeding at the time of the accident. Alcohol was cited in investigation of fatal accident.
157) 1989
Morehouse College (Georgia)
Alpha Phi Alpha
Physical hazing
Pledge Joel Harris, 18, who had an enlarged heart, died after physical hazing. His death is covered in Nuwer’s “Broken Pledges.”
158) 1989
Dickinson College (Pennsylvania)
Alpha Chi Rho
Pledging-related death
Rushee Steven Butterworth fell out a window to his death after consuming ten quick drinks at a rush party. The death was ruled accidental, not a hazing. Alcohol was cited in investigation of fatal accidental fall.
159) 1990
Western Illinois University
Lacrosse Club
Athletic hazing
Nick Haben, a non-drinker ordinarily, died from an alcohol overdose while participating in alcohol games for a school athletic club. Several members were convicted by the courts of serving alcohol to a minor. Alcohol was direct cause of death. Nick’s death is covered in “High School Hazing” (Scholastic) by Hank Nuwer. Mother Alice Haben fought for a tougher Illinois hazing law. She and son Charles were advocates against hazing,
160) 1991
University of Missouri, Rolla
St. Pat’s Board
Alcohol-related hazing
Mike Nisbet, 28, choked on his own vomit during a drinking initiation into a campus local club. Alcohol was direct cause of death.
161) 1991
University of California, Berkeley
Phi Gamma Delta
Alcohol-related pledging death
Pledge John Moncello, 18, came to the house when ordered even though he warned members he had been drinking. Unsteady, he fell to his death from a fire escape. Alcohol was a factor in the death.
162) 1991
Trinity University (Texas)
Triniteers
Alcohol-related Pledging Accident
Pledge Rolland C. Pederson died when struck by a car on the side of the road while headed to a pledge retreat. Even though alcohol was involved, the school ruled the incident merely violated its alcohol policy and was not hazing. Alcohol was present and a factor but unknown if it was primary cause of accident.
163) 1992
University of Vermont
Sigma Phi Society Rush party
Alcohol-related accidental death
Rushee Jonathan S. McNamara, 17, fell from a cliff when he lost his balance while on an outing with members of the chapter he wished to pledge. His blood-alcohol level was 0.125. Alcohol was present and a factor but unknown if it was primary cause of accident.
Donations to the Jonathan S. McNamara Memorial Scholarship Inc. can be sent to: Dylan McNamara, 51 Tanglewood Dr, Essex Jct., VT 05452. Checks should be made to “Jonathan S. McNamara Memorial Scholarship Fund.” 100% of donations go to college-bound high school graduates of Vergennes Union High School.
164) 1992
University of Virginia
Alpha Phi Alpha
Pledging-related Accidental Death
Grossly sleep-deprived pledge Gregory Batipps died at the wheel of a car. A county commonwealth attorney called the death accidental, but the victim’s father disputed that hazing had not occurred. Physical hazing led to the exhaustion, according to news stories then quoting the victim’s father, a doctor.
165) 1992
Frostburg State University (Maryland)
Phi Sigma Kappa
Pledging-related death
An ill and exhausted J.B. (John B.) Joynt III died following a pledge sneak in which pledges rough-housed with members. The fraternity blamed the death on illness and argued that hazing had not occurred. No charges were filed, and police destroyed Joynt’s pledge book. Unknown to me if alcohol was a factor. Victim’s sister cited physical violence, not alcohol, during my interview with her. Scholarship info below:
J.B. Joynt III Memorial Scholarship
The recipient must be a full-time incoming freshman who is a graduate of Laurel High School, Laurel, MD. A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s high school must be submitted. Participation in extracurricular activities is a requirement. In the event of equally qualified applicants, preference will be given to applicants with demonstrated financial need. Please provide a name and email address for a letter of recommendation from a high school teacher or counselor. As a professional courtesy, please be sure to notify the reference before adding his/her name here.
166) 1993
Auburn University (Alabama)
Phi Delta Theta
Alcohol-related Death
Chad Saucier, a pledge even though he was a community college student and not an Auburn student, died from alcohol intoxication following an annual bottle exchange between members and pledges. His death is covered in “Wrongs of Passage” by Hank Nuwer. Pledges were dressed like Santa’s elves.
Alcohol was a direct cause of death. Another pledge was injured when he fell out a window.
167) 1993
Alcorn State University (Mississippi)
Alpha Phi Omega (inactive, banned chapter at the time)
Death During So-Called Prank
Leslie Ware, 18, was shot at 1 a.m. on a school light while stealing a chair. He was shot by the boyfriend of the woman who owned the chair. The surviving pledges originally said they were procuring the chair for a member who requested it, but then retracted the claim to say they were pulling a prank on their own. I do not know if the shooter had been drinking at time of death. No press accounts mention alcohol or physical hazing.
168) 1994
Bloomsburg University (Pennsylvania)
Delta Chi
Alcohol-Related Death of Member at Hell Night
Member Terry Linn, 21, died following pledging Hell Night with a blood-alcohol count of 0.40. Alcohol was a direct cause of death.
169) 1994
Southeast Missouri State
Kappa Alpha Psi
Physical Hazing
“Candidate for initiation” Michael Davis was beaten to death by members. Several members served small sentences
Physical violence was direct cause of death. Alcohol use was never mentioned in press coverage or my conversations with family members.
170) 1994
Carnegie Mellon University
Pi Lambda Phi
Alcohol-related hazing in the form of gifted alcohol
Awareness about big brother and little brother (member to pledge and pledge to member) gifting was little known when the Pi Lambda Phi chapter conducted an unsanctioned “gifting” of a fifth of Southern Comfort accompanied by member encouragement for individuals to consume additional shots amounting to a third of a bottle of Jack Daniels. The result was the death due to alcohol overdose of sophomore Justin Chambers, 19, of Bellevue, Pennsylvania. The university evicted the chapter immediately. Convictions of furnishing alcohol to minors were obtained against three members. Here are their names and ages at the time of convictions: Stephen Marting, 24, of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania; William Halpin, 23, of York, Pennsylvania; Thomas Hummel, 24, of Philadelphia. The family did not launch a civil suit and so details are sparse. However, the party was known as a “Secret Santa” party. Chambers died with a B.A.C. of .54, according to the Allegheny County Department of Labs.
171) 1995
University of Texas
Texas Cowboys
Alcohol-related Death by Drowning
Gabriel Higgins drowned in the Colorado River after participating in silly drinking games at the initiation party on the ranch of an alumnus who did not partake in the games. Alcohol and possibly exhaustion from exercise during drinking games contributed to the fatal accident.
172) 1995
University of Virginia
Pi Kappa Phi
Alcohol-related Death Following Rush Function
Member Brian Nicholas Cook, 21, died in an auto accident September 22, 1995, following a rush event he himself had chaired. A fraternity brother was convicted of driving under the influence. Alcohol provided by the chapter was a primary factor in the accident. Cook was a resident of Montana. A scholarship was established in his name at Billings (MT) Public Schools.
173) 1995
University of Iowa
Lambda Chi Alpha
Pledge Matthew Garofolo died with Magic Marker colorings and words on his face after being given alcohol to drink by members. He threw up and suffocated. His parents sued the chapter, labeling the activities hazing. The University of Iowa responded with a student alcohol awareness campaign funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The national fraternity suspended the chapter indefinitely. Big Brother Chad Diehl, then 21, of Des Moines, was found guilty of providing alcohol and fined $15. In 2000 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the national was not responsible for the death. The national reinstated its chapter after six years. The family later reached a setttlement
More Iowa news: Kamil Jackowski, 19, of Iowa’s Sigma Chi died from alcohol poisoning in Missouri at a fraternity event but a police invetigation reported no criminal charges were warranted. Mackenzie Wollenzein was paralyzed in 2016 after falling out a window at a Delta Chi formal.
174) 1996
University of New Hampshire
Acacia
Alcohol-related fall from roof
Acacia was well known for its hazing practices and was on probation for 1991 hazing violations. Pledge Todd Martin Cruikshank, 18, drank along with members and other pledges. The party continued on the roof and the intoxicated youth fell to his death on August 31, 1996.
The chapter at the time put the blame for the death of 18-year-old Todd Cruikshank in a roof fall on him, saying he like others in the house and above it had chosen to drink voluntarily.
175) 1997
Texas A & M
Phi Gamma Delta
Asthma attack during pledging activities
A Brazos County grand jury brought no charges against members who soaked a pledge with water on a chilly January day. Although Trey Walker was cleaning the house, members insisted no hazing had occurred. Walker’s family argued hazing was a factor in his death. Alcohol was not cited as used at time of death, according to a family member.
176, 177) 1997
UCLA (California)
Lambda Chi Alpha
Accidental drowning during drinking event
During Pledging Pledges Brian T. Sanders and Brian Pearce died during a pledge and member outing in which alcohol was served pledges. Alcohol likely contributed to the two deaths. Brian died heroically died trying to locate Pearce who had jumped from a cliff and never came up. The national fraternity closed the chapter.
178) 1997
North Carolina State University
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Drowning Following Initiation
Steven Velazquez, 19, died when he and other members and new members dove into a lake for a traditional swim following the initiation of pledges. A 911 call reporting the accident said all had been “roughing around” when the death occurred. Hazing was denied by participants. Unknown if alcohol was a factor in drowning).
179) 1997
Louisiana State University
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Alcohol-related Pledging death
Benjamin Wynne, 20, died at the start of the LSU school year while celebrating his acceptance as a pledge. His alcohol level was nearly six times the legal limit. Alcohol was the cause of death.
180) 1997
Clarkson University and State University of New York at Potsdam
Theta Chi
Alcohol-related hazing
Binaya Oja, 17, died from alcohol intoxication on bid night. Alcohol was the cause of death. The two schools shared pledging at the time of death.
181) 1997
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Phi Gamma Delta
Alcohol-related Pledging Death
Pledge Scott Krueger, 18, went into a coma and died at a pledge party. Charges were filed against the chapter instead of members, and the chapter merely dissolved with little or no consequence to individuals. The school settled with Krueger’s parents for $6 million. Alcohol contributed significantly to the death. He was removed from life support due to alcohol-related damage to his body.
182) 1998
University of Washington
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Suicide a possible link to hazing incident
John Laduca, 18, a newly initiated member who had endured hazing but also had personal problems, killed himself in the house. The national fraternity said the personal problems, not hazing, contributed to Laduca’s suicide. Laduca’s family insisted the hazing and sleep deprivation might have clouded their son’s judgment. Unknown to me if alcohol was present during the suicide itself. Important Declaration: Although media accounts have linked suicides on this page to hazing, it is important for journalists and the public alike to recognize that depression is the most common link to suicides of all populations. I think it important to report when the parents of victims believe hazing is the cause and quote them accurately, but it is also important to note that it is one thing to note there is a huge difference between an alleged link between hazing/bullying and listing it as “the cause” of such deaths. I try to err on the side of caution. HN
183) 1998
University of Michigan
Phi Delta Theta and Chi Omega
Fall of Pledge out a window
Courtney Cantor had a small amount of alcohol and possibly a date-rape drug in her system as she plunged from a dormitory to her death. In some ways, her death was a mystery in that her final movements were unknown. However, both national organizations strongly insist on alcohol-free pledging. Alcohol was present in the under-aged woman’s system
184) 1998
University of Mississippi
Sigma Chi
Suicide
Dudley R. Moore IV died by hanging. He had been hazed prior to dying, but the family and university blamed personal problems, not the chapter, as the main cause for Moore’s actions. Unknown to me if alcohol was present during the suicide itself. Important Declaration: Although media accounts have linked suicides on this page to hazing, it is important for journalists and the public alike to recognize that depression is the most common link to suicides of all populations. I think it important to report when the parents of victims believe hazing is the cause and quote them accurately, but it is also important to note that it is one thing to note there is a huge difference between an alleged link between hazing/bullying and listing it as “the cause” of such deaths. I try to err on the side of caution. HN
185) 1998
University of Texas
Phi Kappa Sigma
Alcohol-related death
Member Jack L. Ivey, Jr., 23, died after pledges played a drinking game with him. His blood-alcohol level was 0.40. Alcohol was cause of death.
186) 1999
Iona College (New York)
Sigma Tau Omega
Alcohol-related death
Pledge Kevin Lawless, 18, died during pledging from an alcohol overdose. Seven members were fined and given a one-year conditional discharge. Alcohol was cause of death.
187) 1999
Ferris State University
Knights of College Leadership (disbanded from former national fraternity). Also known as Knights of College Lore
Alcohol death
Pledge Stephen Petz, 19, died during an initiation that was videotaped. Members were convicted for serving alcohol to a minor. Michigan later passed a state hazing law. 27 shots of alcohol was cause of death. A member found guilty of a felony had his conviction thrown out by a judge years after the trial.
See Christopher Tabachki, then 23, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
A roulette wheel was used in the initiation.
188) 1999
University of Richmond
First-year class orientation tradition
Drowning accident
First-year student Donnie Lindsey Jr. drowned after jumping into a campus lake in an unsanctioned ritual following a university-sanctioned signing of the school’s honor code. No hazing charges were brought against event organizers. No mention of alcohol was in press coverage. It is unlikely given the circumstances, however. He was a star athlete and competent swimmer.
Continued: See 2000 – 2024 U.S. Hazing Deaths, Hank Nuwer