Updated July 8, 2025. Hank Nuwer’s Hazing Deaths Database Clearinghouse information is accessible at HazingInfo.org, where you can access, interact with, and download data on all recorded hazing deaths from 1838 to the present. HazingInfo, the University of Maine, University of Washington and Hank Nuwer are pleased to announce that the hazing deaths database is live on the HazingInfo website.
Remembering the lessons of Chad Meredith (video).
Note: At least one school hazing death each year occurred 1959 through 2025, as of July 2025. The latest was a 2022 death of a sorority member claimed in a 2025 federal lawsuit.
You may consider reading a sad, brilliant piece of creative nonfiction in The Georgia Review. The title is “If Your Dreams Don’t Scare You” by Joni Tevis, and it is a tale of a hazing gone wrong but much, much more. I find it very sad, very engaging. You can read the story at this link. https://lnkd.in/gM_ReAr2
More recent work: Read Hank Nuwer’s new forward published in Cultures of Sport Hazing and Ant-Hazing Initiatives for the 21st Century published by editors Jay Johnson and Jessica W. Chin. You will also find the chapter “Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities” by Hank and co-author Elizabeth Allan (U. of Maine) in the recent Gender-Based Crime edited by Kathleen A. Bogle.
–In addition, there was a tragic and covered-up (victim’s wife claims) occupational death (police recruit) in 2022.
189) 2000
Chico State University (California).
Pi Kappa Phi. Alcohol death caused by hazing
Pledge Adrian Heideman died after being encouraged to drink. Three brothers (Brandon Bettar, Richard De Luna, 21, Sam Dobbyn, 21 were sentenced to 30 days in county jail, three years court probation and $640 in fines, Prosecutor Michael Ramsey said.
chapter’s web page on the very day of Adrian’s death:
Pi Kappa Phi exec Mark Timmes condemned photo
as “inappropriate.”
They and three additional fraternity members, Mark Bates, Nicholas Sutton and Theodore Bloemendaal, paid the Heideman family $75,000 each in return for being dropped from a lawsuit.
190) 2000
Alpha Tau Omega, Old Dominion University
Big Brother/Little Brother bottle exchange led to death on Dec. 1, 2000. The victim who died of alcohol poisoning was Terry Ryan Stirling, 19. The family sued ATO.
191) 2000
Alpha Tau Omega, University of Georgia
Road trip death: Pledge sneaks—events in which pledges kidnap members—have widely been condemned by national organizations. Blindfolded and handcuffed Ben Folsom Grantham III died on an apparent pledge sneak. The university condemned the activity but did not rule hazing had occurred. The university student newspaper resorted to freedom of information act requests to uncover fraternity sanctions for hazing and more after University stalled. Tareq Hawasli tribute to Grantham.
Appearing before a judicial review: Stephen Ashley McNally, a freshman from Richmond, Va.; Robert Walter Dailey, a freshman from Dalton; and Daniel Christopher Macken, a sophomore from Norcross.
Timeline courtesy of the Red & Black: March 30, 2000: Ben Grantham Folsom III, a sophomore from St. Simons Island, is ‘abducted’ by pledges in his fraternity. Pledges find Grantham at his apartment, handcuff him, and intend to take him to Oconee County to find his own way back.
Other Alpha Tau Omega members leave in separate cars to find Grantham and bring him home. The car carrying Grantham later hits a tree and flips, killing Grantham. Three other students are hospitalized.
192) 2001
Theta Chi, Indiana University
Accidental rush death: Seth Korona of New Jersey died from the effects of a head injury contracted after consuming beer during a keg stand. Alcohol was a contributing factor but other factors also were involved (namely a previous illness).
193) 2001
Omega Psi Phi, Tennessee State University
Pledging death: A coroner ruled that Joseph T. Green died on a run during an exercise session “suggested” by members. Physical hazing was a cause of death. Unknown if alcohol was present but seems unlikely. This is the second death at this university’s chapter.
194) 2001
Kappa Sigma, University of Miami (Fla.)
Video: by Hank Nuwer’s journalism class.
Accidental drowning of pledge (hazing was ruled out until May 2002 when family attorney reopened and won case
Chad Meredith Chad Meredith, 18, of Indianapolis, drowned in Lake Osceola while with two Kappa Sigma brothers. A judgment in a civil suit awarded the family $14 million from those present at Meredith’s death. Alcohol and inaction of brothers present contributed to the death. Florida’s tougher Chad Meredith Act was signed into law by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
195) 2001
Men’s & women’s rugby initiation, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Death ruled an accident: Ken Christiansen drank to access at combined men’s and women’s team initiation party. Veteran players scrawled pictures on rookie faces. He died of an incident termed an “accident” when he fell dead drunk 4/13/01 into a creek and perished, according to a police investigation. Alcohol consumed prior to going out in freezing temperatures and failure of other athletes to monitor factors in his death. Law suit link.
Christiansen left with a friend but separated perhaps because of Christiansen’s impaired condition.
196) 2001
Texas Tech University
Delta Sigma Phi
Hazing-related auto fatality
While the country was in morning due to the tragic events of 9/11, the Delta Sigma Phi chapter at Texas Tech conducted a week of illicit and unsanctioned (by the nationl organization) activities their chapter called “The Ritual.” Years after the death of their son, the family learned that hazing with sleep deprivation likely contributed to the death of Zachary Aaron Michael Mullins, 20. Depositions from pledges said Hell Week commenced on October 21, 2001. Mullins and other pledges went through three days of authorized and mandatory events that deprived them of sleep and left them exhausted, according to an investigation by the Daily Toreador newspaper. The events occurred on campus in Coleman Hall. Driver Zachary Jameson fell asleep and flipped the car he was driving, killing Mullins unintentionally. The information, as in similar cases, would have been kept secret save for the determination of family attorney Thomas Herald. Pledges said members directed them to keep silent about Hell Week. Neither Lubbock police nor the school investigated due to the cover-up. It is not known whether members misled their national organization. The case was at least three years old when details came to light because of Herald’s deposition-taking.
197) 2001
Manatee High School “Interact” Club sponsored by the Bradenton (FL) Rotary Club.
Beating death related to initiation
James Brier was hazed while trying to gain admission into the Manatee High School “Interact” Club sponsored by the Bradenton (FL) Rotary Club. Alcohol was served and he was hazed. He behaved badly and was subsequently bullied by classmate John (Juan) Albert Acosta, son of a Cuba-born physician, Jose Acosta.
Acosta killed Brier with his bare fist in a sucker punch, and then pounded the unconscious boy’s head into a curb, according to court testimony. John Albert Acosta lost an appeal.
Acosta served a nine-year sentence for homicide. The Interact club was closed by the school.
198) 2002
Texas Tech University
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Preventable accident due to sleep deprivation
Tragically, the year following the death of Mullins at Texas Tech, another preventable death occurred, this time in TKE. “New member” Clay Randall Warren, 18, the son of Mark and Freada Warren, perished after a hazing retreat in which members were deprived of sleep.
A TKE national executive called the event a camping trip. Police investigated and placed no charges, saying they did not see a hazing connection. Details finally came out in a civil suit brought by Clay Warren’s parents. Fellow new member Alex Gunn fell asleep at the wheel and crashed, throwing the sleeping Warren and Drew Dubocq through the windshield. Gunn and Dubocq survived.
Mark and Freada Warren became champions for risk management prevention to save the lives of young people like their son. They donated their son’s organs following the tragic mishap.
199) 2002
Zeta Beta Tau, Alfred University
Suicide after beating for revealing hazing tradition:
Member Ben Klein was beaten after turning his chapter in for hazing and later died in a creek near the fraternity house. State investigators ruled Klein’s death a suicide without foul play. Members drank on their porch, refusing to search for him with rescuers. Alfred University banned fraternities as a result. The campus mourned his death. Student Christopher Cowan testified that two members beat up Klein.
Ben Klein
Substance abuse was present night of death. 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
200, 201) 2002
Tau Kappa Epsilon, San Diego State University
High-speed pledging-related truck crash and rollover accident: Two males associated with the SDSU Tekes, on suspension for hazing, were killed when thrown from their truck as pledges were being taken somewhere from campus. The dead were identified as Brian Nicholas Jimenez (photos below from his Legacy memorial) and Zachary Jacobs, both 18. An angry mother demanded to know why pledges had been taken out when the chapter was under suspension. Joji Peters survived.
Jimenez (above) scholarship keeps his memory.
202, 203) 2002
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, California State, Los Angeles
Drowning but hazing disputed by chapter:The Associated Press reports that the mother of a drowning victim and her friend may have been partaking in a sorority ritual. The students Kenitha Saafir, 24, and Kristin High, 22, died in waters off Playa del Rey, according to police officers contacted by AP. High may have been performing an unsanctioned hazing ritual for Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, according to her mother’s allegations. Those present denied hazing occurred. No hazing charges have ever been levied. Alcohol or direct physical violence never mentioned in press coverage or attorney’s claims and is unlikely.
204) 2002
Pi Kappa Alpha, University of Nevada, Reno
Drowning Death: Pledge Albert (A.J.) Santos drowned in a University of Nevada campus lake. He was a pledge of Pi Kappa Alpha. There were no arrests. A district attorney refused to call it hazing but instead a prank. Alcohol contributed to the death.
205) 2002
Phi Sigma Kappa, University of Maryland
Alcohol connected to Bid Night death:
Daniel Reardon (Photo), 19, was found in a coma in January at the Phi Sigma Kappa house following Bid Night.
Authorities and his family blame an alcohol drinking tradition associated with pledging for his death. No hazing charges were filed. Alcohol was cause of death. The ritual was a half-gallon of bourbon that was passed around a circle with each pledge expected to guzzle from it.
206) 2002
MacDonald Middle School East Lansing, Michigan
Hazing and bullying
Matt Epling became the face of a hazing victim after committing suicide, according to his father and numerous media reports.
207) 2002
Occidental College (California)
Alpha Tau Omega
Sleep deprivation of pledges sent on an annual Eagle Rock, Ca. to Las Vegas pledging “tradition”
On June 25, 2022, the Hazing Deaths unofficial clearing house adds the previously overlooked death of Gregory (Greg) Randall Davis, an 18-year-old baseball player and Alpha Tau Omega pledge. He and four other ATO pledges were returning from a roundtrip pledge scavenger hunt when pledge driver Andrew (Andy) Crocker fell asleep at the wheel. His Mazda 929 flipped, throwing the unbelted Davis from the car. He died while being airlifted to a hospital. The injured were Crocker, Emerson Nagle and James (Jim) Hart. Theodore (Ted) Helgert was uninjured. Police said the driver had not used alcohol nor drugs. Occidental ATO had earned headlines (right after the tragedy) in 1992 after a scandalous rape poem was sent out in a newsletter that also announced an abhorrent “buddies and slutties” party.Occidental ATO also had previously been in the news after a pledge was seriously injured in a hazing incident.
In an unrelated action, Occidental baseball players after the death demonstrated no-confidence in Coach Jeff Henderson, a former Occidental player.
History: Occidental presidents allowed freshman hazing in the form of a pajama parade to continue until a 1913 ban.
Occidental ATO in 1957 had said it ended hazing in its chapter. The chapter’s attitudes toward pledges shown here in a video.
Thank you to Gregory’s aunt for alerting this site.
208, 209, 210, 211) 2003
Yale University
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Death after Night of Chapter “Ride” into New York (ruled accident and non-hazing but WAS pledging-related)
Following an old custom of pledges taking a senior fraternity member on a “ride” into New York City, a caravan of brothers and pledges returned to New Haven. Near Bridgeport, one of the DKE vehicles hit a semi that had broken down. Four young men were killed and five were injured. Yale sophomores Nicholas Grass, Kyle Burnat, Andrew Dwyer and junior Sean Fenton perished. An alumnus of that fraternity chapter in 2011 angrily wrote me that a scavenger hunt should not be called hazing. This seems to be a case of hidden harm. While the four deaths occurred after a scavenger hunt, the driver himself was not intoxicated. Alcohol was consumed by all or some of the deceased but alcohol was not the direct cause of their death.
212) 2003
Plattsburgh State (State University of New York)
Psi Epsilon Chi (suspended and unrecognized at time)
Torture and alcohol in hazing incident
Hazing convictions Following the death of 18-year-old Plattsburgh State University freshman Walter Dean Jennings, 11 fraternity brothers were convicted of crimes and served smaller sentences. Police stated that
Jennings apparently died of swelling of the brain related to water intoxication. See the story of his death in a documentary distributed by Vimeo.
Some members had been drinking heavily night of the death. Jennings died of a chemical unbalance due to coerced water drinking.
213) 2003
Rochester Institute of Technology (New York)
Kappa Phi Theta
Pledging-related death
Jerry Hopkins, 36, a fraternity pledge attending the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, died on a campout with the Kappa Phi Theta fraternity in Pennsylvania’s Allegheny National Forest. Autopsy was inconclusive.
Circumstances unknown to me. –HN
214) 2003
Plymouth State University
Sigma Kappa Omega sorority (a local that formerly was a national sorority)
Pledging-related death in car crash
Pledge Kelly Nester of Coventry, R.I., died following the crash of Jeep Grand Cherokee. 10 pledges were stuffed in the Cherokee and on the floor without seatbelt restraints to protect them, police determined. A lawyer for the driver of the vehicle denies that any swerving or hazing occurred. A civil suit has been launched. Unknown to me if any pledges had been drinking. The driver was not cited for an alcohol violation, however. The direct cause was the accident itself.
215) 2003
Bradley University
Phi Kappa Tau
Rush-related death
Robert Schmalz, 22, died following a rush event in which he consumed a lethal amount of alcohol. He was a member, not a pledge. Alcohol contributed to the death.
216) 2004
University of Colorado
Chi Psi
Hazing
Gordon Bailey, 18, died after pledges consumed massive amounts of alcohol. It was a traditional bottle exchange at a bonfire in which pledges were expected to share at least 10 bottles of hard alcohol and wine.
Alcohol was the cause of death. Members delayed calling 911 for hours. Members wrote all over him with markers as he lay dying.
217) 2004
University of Oklahoma
Sigma Chi
Alcohol death of pledge
Blake Hammontree was found dead in the house at 10:30 a.m. following a function at the house. Family called the incident hazing, but coroner termed death accidental. It was a bottle exchange. Hammontree and his pledge brothers were given gifts of Hot Damn and expected to chug. Five were charged with minor crimes.
Alcohol was the cause of death.
Update: 2017–Oklahoma State University’s Sigma Chi was no better than Oklahoma. New member Brandon Cavazos died of alcohol poisoning in 2016, and the chapter went on probation Jan 2017, but no hazing charges resulted.
Cleveland County District Attorney Tim Kuykendall filed felony charges Tuesday against four OU students as a result of the investigation into the death of OU freshman Blake Adam Hammontree.
John Abbott Frame, John David Hall, Jordan Scott Mitchell and Raymond Henry Davis faced felony charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor. All men are Sigma Chi members.
218) 2004
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
Pi Kappa Alpha
Underaged pledge drowned in a canoe accident after being given alcohol by a member or members. The group previously had participated in a scavenger hunt, a form of hazing.
Although the university declared that hazing was not a factor in the accidental drowning, most schools in the years that follow post that giving alcohol to pledges is a hazing violation. The chapter was cited for eight alcohol violations and expelled the chapter. The victim was Brent E. Johnson, 19. The location was Cedar Lake. Source: Fraternal Law, September 2004. Tribute link
Charges were filed in late May 2994 against 21-year-old Bjorn Eric Westlund for the alleged delivery of alcohol to Johnson, 19, in the early morning hours of April 4 shortly before Johnson drowned in Cedar Lake.
219) 2005
Chico State University (California)
Chi Tau (college-banned chapter)
Hazing death
Eight men were charged with crimes in the death of pledge Matthew Carrington, 21. Convictions included one felony count for a sentence of one year in prison. Members who demanded Matthew drink water to the point of death were heavily intoxicated.
Matthew’s mother Debbie Smith tells of her son’s ordeal and her family’s in her chapter in “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives.”
220) 2005
University of California Irvine
Lambda Phi Epsilon
Pledge beating death and coverup
Pledge Kenny Luong of Cal Poly Pomona died in August after competing in a football game with other pledges against members of the Irvine chapter. There were many more members than pledges in the roughly played game.
221) 2005
University of Texas
Lambda Phi Epsilon
Alcohol death of a pledge
Phanta “Jack” Phoummarath died of acute alcohol intoxication during a fraternity event. Toxicology ruling came January 2006. Alcohol was direct cause of death. Pledges were pressured to drink and eat spicy foods.
Jack Phoummarath Video
Per the plea agreement reached Tuesday, Chan, 24, then-chapter president; Nguyen, 22, a former pledge captain; and Pulukuri, 23, the “Hell Master” for Phoummarath’s pledge class, must serve two years deferred adjudication, perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $1,000 fine each. Criminal defendants who successfully complete the terms of deferred adjudication avoid final conviction, but the fact that they were charged remains a part of their record.
See the powerful video about Lambda Phi Epsilon devoted to Jack’s death.
222) 2006
University of Texas
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Death in fall
Police said hazing may have been a factor in the death of pledge Tyler Cross who died in a fall while under the influence of alcohol. Scholarship in Tyler’s name.
223) 2006
Limestone College (South Carolina)
Athletic party death
The death of athlete Zach Dunlevy received little national attention although many elements of the definition of hazing were present when he died of an alcohol overdose at a party attended by the school’s athletes. The college was content to let this death slip under the radar screen with as little public scrutiny as possible. See http://www.stophazing.org/nuwer/dec06column.htm
224) 2007
Stephen F. Austin University (Texas)
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Fraternity party death
The alcohol-related death of Nikolas Gallegos, 18, at a fraternity party led to a letter to the student paper by a relative who pleaded that no fingers be pointed at anyone in the death. A school official declared the incident non-hazing, but circumstances of the death pointed to clear violations of the school’s own hazing code. Alcohol was a factor.
Update: In 2013, a drunk SFA TKE made a U-turn, collided with a semi. The result was 3 dead, one injured. Does not appear to be hazing.
225) 2007
Rider University (New Jersey)
Phi Kappa Tau
Hazing
Gary DeVercelly Jr. photo
Information was corrected and updated October 8, 2018. 2009 Tribute link is here.
Julie and Gary Sr. DeVercellys’ son, Gary Jr., an avid baseball player and on his way to earn an MBA to become a general manager of a professional baseball team, told his mother he wanted to join Phi Kappa Tau because it stood for leadership and would be good for his resumé and networking. She asked him about hazing. He told her not to worry — hazing is illegal in New Jersey,?and the University takes it seriously. Sadly Gary Jr. died as a result of a fraternity hazing ritual. From the moment detectives walked into the fraternity house, they worked the homicide as a hazing case.
All pledges were ‘required’ to drink. Two went to the hospital with alcohol poisoning, and one of them died. Gary and the other pledges were hazed numerous times leading up to Big Little Night, the most deadly night of pledging. There were numerous, less dangerous forms of hazing that took place prior to this lethal night. It started with making and wearing tee shirts with demeaning words, to studying while standing for hours in the basement, to unity pushups and sit-ups in the woods in the dark, to a scavenger hunt stretching from New Jersey, to New York City, to Philadelphia way into the early hours. From Gary and Julie Devercelly: To this day we still do not know all of the details of this deadly night. Somehow Gary Jr. made it from the basement of the fraternity house, where pledges were required to consume all of their ‘family’ drink before leaving, to the bartender’s room on the second floor. Numerous people knew Gary Jr. was in trouble and told fraternity members to call for help. Unfortunately, no one listened until it was too late. Gary was placed on a futon and left alone. By the time paramedics were called it was too late. Gary Jr’s. parents and younger siblings flew across the country to? be with him in his last hours of life. His parents had to make that decision no parent should ever have to make. With his mother, father, younger sister, and younger brother at his side, Gary Jr. was taken off of life support. LINK to attorney Douglas Fierberg web page: https://schoolviolencelaw.com/estate-of-deceased-college-student-v-rider-university-phi-kappa-tau-et-al/
226) 2008
University of Delaware
Sigma Alpha Mu
Hazing Death after bottle exchange
Brett Griffin, 18, of Kendall Park, N.J died in Newark, DE. The Delta Lambda chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu has been charged with misdemeanor hazing by the Delaware Attorney General’s office, the Associated Press reported. Newark Police have charged University of Delaware students, all members or pledges of Sigma Alpha Mu, had already been charged as individuals by Newark police with alcohol and drug offenses stemming from the investigation of the death of Brett Griffin. However, police emphasized the individuals have no links to the death of Griffin. Griffin, died at a party in November. Alcohol with respect to a bottle exchange was direct cause of death. Southern Comfort was the choice of drink for Brett’s big brother.
WILMINGTON, Del. — Two former fraternity brothers are not responsible for a pledge’s hazing death in 2008, a jury in a civil trial ruled Friday.
Brett Griffin, 18, of Kendall Park, N.J., died early Nov. 8, 2008, from alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking at a Sigma Alpha Mu “Big Brother” party. Fraternity members said the freshman chose to drink.
“This is the reason kids are still dying from hazing in 2013,” Julie Griffin, Brett Griffin’s mother, said as she left the courtroom. “Everyone wants to blame it on the kids.”
Julie and Timothy Griffins filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the national fraternity and several members in 2009, settling before the trial with all but former chapter president Jason Aaron and former pledge master Matthew Siracusa.
227) 2008
Wabash College (Indiana)
Delta Tau Delta
Family member blames death on hazing
The attorney for the family of 18-year-old Johnny D. Smith of Tucson, Arizona who died of alcohol poisoning took the unusual step of calling a press conference calling for investigation of possible hazing. Smith’s grandmother, Monya Ballah, Tucson, wrote that her grandson told her pledges were being pressured to drink alcohol in an e-mail to The Indianapolis Star. Alcohol was direct cause of death.
228) 2008
Lenoir Rhyne (Hickory, North Carolina)
Theta Chi
Hazing denied by school but events fit Theta Chi definition of hazing
Police complained that university officials waited two days before asking them to investigate the death of Harrison Kowiak, 18, in what has been called a physical initiation game. The death has not officially been ruled hazing, but the father of Kowiak said the event certainly met the definition of hazing. The mother of Kowiak, Lianne Kowiak, became an anti-hazing advocate
Earlier in the year the Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer team was videotaped in a hazing incident involving alcohol. Alcohol not a factor in Harrison’s condition. Death caused by head injury. Lianne Kowiak has become an activist and winner of the Hank Nuwer Antihazing Hero Award. It is unknown if brothers had been drinking since they waited many hours before getting Harrison medical treatment.
229) 2008
Utah State (Logan, Utah)
Sigma Nu (with Chi Omega participation)
Hazing (alcohol given to male pledges by sorority members)
The death of Michael Starks sent several fraternity and sorority members to jail in 2009. Chi Omega and Sigma Nu were suspended following the death. Michael’s father, George Starks, is an advocate for shutting down all fraternities.
Alcohol supplied by Chi Omega was direct cause of Michael’s death. Members of Sigma Nu fraternity and Chi Omega sorority were charged with third-degree felony hazing.
Judge Willmore sentenced 20-year-old Whitney K. Miller to 30 days in jail and three years probation Monday for supplying alcohol to a minor the evening Michael Starks, then 18, died after consuming vodka at a fraternity pledge event.
230) 2008
Cal Poly (California)
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Hazing
The death of pledge Carson Starkey, 18, on December 2, 2008 of alcohol poisoning resulted in convictions of members. His parents are now activists. Alcohol was direct cause of death. It was a type of Big Brother-Little brother exchange of multiple bottles stuffed in a brown bag. Part of the requirement was to consume potent Everclear.
Carson Starkey video on CBS Sunday Morning
231) 2009
SUNY Geneseo Pigs Drinking Club (sub-rosa organization)
Hazing, alcohol caused
SUNY Geneseo Pigs Drinking Club (sub-rosa organization)
Hazing, alcohol caused
Arman Partamian, a recent Eagle Scout, died from an alcohol overdose. Alcohol was direct cause of death. He was required to play dangerous drinking games.
Two young men pleaded guilty last week to the criminally negligent homicide of a Flushing student who died of alcohol poisoning this spring at SUNY Geneseo.
The pleas ended the last of three criminal cases that arose following the death of Arman Partamian, 19, who died in March after attending a pledge event where the men, former members of a fraternity-like organization at the western New York school, plied him with beer, champagne and vodka.
Devin McClain and Alex Stucki are believed to be the first men to be convicted of a felony homicide charge for a hazing-related death in the state, according to Livingston County District Attorney Tom Moran.
Also initially charged was Daniel Wech, 21.
232) 2009
Prairie View A & M (Texas)
Phi Beta Sigma
Alleged hazing
The parents of Donnie Wade Jr., 20, claim that an exercise session in which their son died was a direct result of hazing. Physical abuse and overexertion contributed to the death. Alcohol was not a factor. Settlement
233) 2010
Radford University (Virginia)
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Alcohol-related hazing
The 2010 death of Samuel Mason was called a hazing incident and subsequently resulted thus far in seven arrests in 2011. Punishments were unusually light. A $1,000 fine given most of those charged. Alcohol was direct cause of death.
Hank Nuwer wrote about the death for the Orlando Sentinel.
Hazing Deaths Since 2010: U.S. News & World Report
234, 235) 2010
East Carolina University
Delta Sigma Theta
Traffic deaths allegedly from sleep deprivation
Victoria Carter
A 2012 lawsuit by the mother of a deceased sorority pledge at East Carolina University maintained that the 2010 deaths of her daughter and a second pledge were directly caused by sleep deprivation due to hazing. East Carolina State University Delta Sigma Theta pledges Victoria Carter, 20, and Briana Latrice Gather, 20, died in a car accident. Alcohol was not involved.
236) 2011
Cornell University (New York)
Hazing of member by pledges
The mother of member George Desdunes blamed SAE over allegations this member’s death was the result of pressure to drink put upon him by the chapter’s pledges. Alcohol was direct cause of death.
Full details at New York Times
237) 2011
Florida A & M
Band Hazing involving physical beating
Band Hazing involving physical beating
Band member Robert Champion died on a bus in an incident police have called hazing-related but Robert’s mother charged is murder. One participant was sentenced to six years in prison. All others received probation. Physical violence caused the death. Alcohol not a factor.
Fraternal Law report
238) 2012
Delta Gamma Iota
Vincennes University (Indiana)
Hazing death–Heart attack following alcohol served during a pledge night
William (Will) Torrance’s death at Delta Gamma Iota (formerly Sigma Phi Epsilon) occurred on Bid Night, hauntingly recalling the death of Chuck Stenzel at Alfred University, a hazing death on “Tapping Night” (tapped for membership) that inspired mother Eileen Stevens to form the antihazing group C.H.U.C.K. (Committee to Halt Useless College Killings) Update on July 14, 2021. “The cause of death was ruled a heart attack precipitated by alcohol intoxication, Vincennes Police Chief Dustin Luking said.”
Thanks to Will’s brother, Ira Torrance, for the update of 6/13/21.
239) 2012
Madison, South Dakota
Madison High School (S.D.) athletics
Hazing prank (revenge shooting; homicide)
Ericsson left, Johnson right above photos
Murder as revenge for athletic hazing: Madison High School graduate Carl Ericsson, 73, received life in prison for the revenge killing of one-time Madison athlete Norman Johnson who Ericsson claimed had hazed him as a schoolboy by flipping a jock over his face. Photo below shows Ericsson as 16-year-old high school student.
Johnson was shot twice at his own home on January 31, 2012.
South Dakota Magazine Viewpoint by Cory Allen Heidelberger: “This discussion got me thinking about one prisoner making the Lake County jail more crowded this spring. Carl V. Ericsson allegedly drove down from Watertown to Madison one January night and killed Norm Johnson, a man who taught me English at MHS. If anything could get me muttering to my neighbors about frontier justice methods of reducing the prison population, it would be the murder of which Ericsson stands accused.
“The 73-year-old Ericsson allegedly shot the 72-year-old Johnson over a grudge from when they were MHS students over 50 years ago. Over fifty years ago. Ericsson and Johnson had lived more than twice as much life as they had when they knew each other in high school. After all that time, to let an adolescent grudge drive you to murder… well, you’d have to be nuts.
“Ericsson will increase the state prison population by one for the rest of his natural days.
“Ericsson probably isn’t the kind of prisoner my neighbors at the Spearfish forum had in mind. Asking how we could have kept him out of prison is as futile as asking how we could have saved Norm Johnson’s life. (Despair, if not madness, lies down that road: we’ve lost Norm, and we can’t get him back.) Ericsson’s parenting and schooling were just fine. His brother Dick became a successful attorney and city official in Madison. Carl Ericsson got a college degree, stayed married to one woman for 44 years, and had no criminal record… until one winter day, something cracked.
“South Dakota’s prison population and expenditures are growing. I hope our candidates will spend this election year talking about why that’s happening and what we can do to change that. We can keep some prison cells empty by strengthening education, economic opportunities, and other policies to reduce the poverty and despair that drive some people to crime. We can identify offenders who may benefit from alternatives to incarceration. We can raise our kids with patience and love, not fear and hate.
“But some people will still go wrong. I do not know what personal gesture or policy action we might have undertaken 5 or 50 years ago to keep Norm Johnson alive and to keep Carl Ericsson stable and out of stripes. No matter how hard we try, some prison cells will still be filled.”
Norman J. Johnson obituary: Norman James Johnson was born June 25, 1939, at Madison to Norman B. and Charlene (Laughlin) Johnson. He graduated from Madison High School, attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls where he played football, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in education from General Beadle State Teachers College. He received his Masters Degree from SDSU, Brookings and taught and coached at Madison High School for over 30 years. Norm married Barb Halseth on September 19, 1958, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison. They were married 53 years. He managed the swimming pool and was on a painting crew during the summers. Norm was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church where he was a member of many boards, served as an usher and sang in the choir. He was served on the Madison Community Hospital Board and Lake County Red Cross Board. He loved the Green Bay Packers, going to Twins games with his grandchildren, fishing and playing the piano.
240) 2012
Fresno State University (California)
Theta Chi
Alcohol-related hazing
Theta Chi pledge Philip Dhanens, a 350-pound former football player, died following a weekend binge. He died at a hospital where he had been taken for assistance. Leonard Serrato, 30, served 90 days for supplying the alcohol, and for strongly encouraging Dhanens to consume copious amounts of rum. Serrato expressed remorse following the death. Another member, Aaron Raymo, served a 30-day sentence. Theta Chi president Daniel Baker also served a short jail term. Serrato became a target of criticism from Donald Trump, Jr. for the University of Oregon staff member’s now-made-private heated social media remarks after the election of Donald Trump in 2024.
“This [hazing] is one aspect of college life that must stop,” Mrs. Diane Dhanens said. “This will only happen, gentlemen, if you and I stand together and accept what has happened, accept the punishments for breaking the law, and accept the death of a friend because of poor judgment and not caring about the safety of your fraternity brothers.”
241) 2012
Lafayette College (Easton, Pennsylvania)
Kappa Delta Rho and other fraternity chapters visited by victim prior to his death
Alcohol related
The president of Lafayette College said that a student, Everett Glenn, who died after drinking at a banned chapter of Kappa Delta Rho was a hazing victim. Members of KDR denied that recruiting had occurred, according to the Lafayette student newspaper. Earlier in 2012, an additional Lafayette College student died after consuming a lethal amount of alcohol on his birthday–a non-hazing death. Alcohol was direct cause.
242) 2012
Northern Illinois University
Pi Kappa Alpha
Alcohol overdose during hazing
The alcohol-related death of pledge David Bogenberger was hazing-related, according to an investigative report by Dane Placko of WFLD-TV, Fox 32. Twenty-two Pi Kappa Alpha members were convicted of various misdemeanor charges. Details below are from an article written by Daily Herald reporter Madhu Krishnamurthy,
Bogenberger, 19, a graduate of Palatine High School, and 18 other pledges drank anywhere from three to five 4-ounce glasses of vodka in each of the seven designated rooms at the fraternity house within an hour and a half, according to the amended wrongful death lawsuit filed by Bogenberger’s family against the Pi Kappa Alpha International Fraternity, several of its members, and 16 female defendants.
The pledges were asked nonsensical and personal questions, including about their sexual history and preferences and told to drink after each answer by active fraternity members and women invited to participate in “Mom and Dad’s Night,” a non-sanctioned initiation event. Pledges who expressed reluctance to drink as directed were berated with obscenities until they relented, the lawsuit claims.The pledges were unable to walk on their own and were taken to the basement of the fraternity house and given buckets to vomit in; they vomited on themselves and each other. As they began to lose consciousness, their limp bodies were left in different places in the fraternity house such as the kitchen and hallway floors, according to the amended complaint.
Bogenberger was put on a bed by his “Greek father,” who placed his head and body in such a way that if he vomited, he wouldn’t choke, the lawsuit alleges.
The “Greek parents” decided against calling an ambulance or getting medical help for the unconscious pledges, and they told others not to call 911, according to the lawsuit.
A fraternity officer sent a mass text message to members ordering them to delete photographs and videos of pledges who were unconscious, the suit alleges.
Bogenberger was found dead the morning of Nov. 2. His blood alcohol content was 0.351 percent, authorities said.
Reporter Barbara Vitello added the following in her story.
Three men [Hazel Vergaralope, 21, of Dekalb; Michael Pfest, 23, of Chicago; and Michael Phillip, 20, of Western Springs] charged are in photograph.
243) 2012
University of Idaho
Lambda Chi Alpha Drowning death
Preston Vorhauer A detective investigating the death of pledge Preston Vorhauer ruled that it was a non-hazing death when the pledge died swimming in a deep reservoir accompanied by fraternity members who failed to keep him afloat when the victim faltered. The detective ignored my FOIA request. However, the national fraternity and school clearly have policies forbidding asking a pledge to attempt a risky stunt such as this one. The school was content to let the detective’s conclusion stand, but members of the Chad Meredith family who lost Chad in a similar drowning incident have denounced the detective’s conclusion.
244) 2012
Bethune-Cookman
Band hazing claimed by family
Sleep deprivation death at wheel
In a lawsuit, the family of Marcus Thomas, 19, blamed his death in an auto accident on his lack of sleep due to Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia fraternity of America hazing. Alcohol not a factor. Photo and article link
245) 2012
High Point University (North Carolina)
Delta Sigma Phi
Concussion leading to aspiration of stomach contents, then death.
The parents of Robert Eugene Tipton, Jr. have sued the pledge-master of Delta Sigma Phi, son of school president Nido Qubein, alleging that an alleged attack on their son was during a hazing session gone violent, mainly by a single member who allegedly attacked Tipton in a rage. Also involved in the suit is a university security officer. The mother alleges a coverup and destruction of evidence.
246) 2012
University of North Carolina
Chi Phi
Hazing-related, albeit apparently not directly hazing
David Shannon
June 26, 2018–I have gone back to look over the death of pledge David Shannon. Research done by local reporter Sara Salinas many years after the tragedy demonstrates that the UNC Chi Phi chapter clearly created a classic hazing culture. Like the death of Tucker Hipps at Clemson University, David died in a fall under circumstances not 100 percent clear. Here is what Sara wrote:
“Shannon was found dead on Oct. 27, 2012, after a fall from a concrete mixer at a plant in Carrboro. The death was originally investigated for ties to hazing, though no connection was ever found. New information indicates Chi Phi accepted responsibility for hazing its pledges weeks before Shannon’s death.
On Oct. 3, 2012, Chi Phi imposed a three-week, self-initiated social probation in response to violations of hazing and alcohol policies.
Although the fraternity accepted responsibility for hazing, an investigation by the UNC Greek Judicial Board found the chapter not responsible and imposed no hazing-related sanctions.
New member activities involved embarrassing activities, physical separation of members and pledges, and the positioning of new members in subservient roles — a “clear violation of the Code (of Conduct for New Member Education)” the Board said.
But the Board ultimately found the event in question was not conducted with malice toward the pledges and found the fraternity not to be in violation of hazing policy.
“The Chi Phi Fraternity has had a presence on this campus since before the American Civil War. Doubtlessly, the pledge process of the Fraternity is steeped in tradition, and (redacted) would seem to be one of those,” the final investigation reads. “It is the opinion of the Solicitor that the event was likely conceived in a different time, when hazing was considered much more acceptable and considerations such as public embarrassment of the pledges were not kept in mind.”
Here is my reasoning. A hazing death does NOT need to have malice in order for it to be considered a hazing-related death. In many cases, there is no malice. In a few cases, the courts have ruled that a victim must share responsibility for the chapter negligence that led to that victim’s death. I am going on the record to say the Board’s “steeped in tradition” statement is a flawed and unfortunate choice of words. Thus, while this tragedy isn’t as overt and deliberate as the water torture hazing deaths at Chico State and Plattsburgh, it is a case that I feel needs to be included on this list of deaths. [Ed. note: I need to thank reporter Ryan Haar’s questions for prodding me to give this case the attention that Sara’s dogged research deserves–Hank Nuwer]
247) 2012
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Arizona State University
Drowning after alcohol-fueled hazing
The mother of SAE pledge Jack Culolias successfully campaigned in 2022 for harsher hazing legislation in Arizona eight years following the drowning of her son post-party. Lawsuit details
248, 249) 2013
Virginia State University
Men of Honor
Drownings
Marvell Edmonson
19-year-old Marvell Edmondson and Jauwan M. Holmes, 19, drowned after an initiation similar to the 1979 drowning that took two lives at Virginia State.The four defendants charged with hazing were part of the Men of Honor group, police said. They include James A. Mackey, 35 of Midlothian; freshman Cory D. Baytop, 26 of Newport News; and freshman Eriq K. Benson, 19, of Quinton. Police later charged Charles E Zollicoffer, 29. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. Results here
250) 2013
San Francisco State University
Alcohol-related hazing
SFSU officials alleged that an April death from an alcohol overdose qualified as hazing. The dead youth was Peter Tran.
251) 2013
Boston University
Sigma Alpha Mu
Alcohol related death
A national officer of Sigma Alpha Mu said a “meet and greet” party (in the words of BU Dean Kenneth Elmore) for six persons was not hazing when Anthony Barksdale II died from an alcohol overdose. HN: In my opinion, a “meet and greet party” for new members/new pledges is a violation of the national’s hazing policy and similar to past Tapping Night deaths. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/student-dies-bu-frat-party-article-1.1280008
252) 2013
Baruch College
New York, New York
Pi Delta Psi
Chun “Mike” Deng died while being body slammed from all directions by 20 to 30 members at an off-campus site. He was blindfolded. His tormentors waited an hour before calling 911. Alcohol was a factor but physical pummeling was direct cause. On January 8, 2018, the national was expelled from Pennsylvania schools for 10 years and fined $112,500.
The four defendants, Kenny Kwan, Charles Lai, Raymond Lam and Sheldon Wong, pleaded guilty Monday to hazing and hindering apprehension. Wong did not participate in the assault but helped organize the hazing.
253) 2014
Penn State, Altoona, Pennsylvania
Phi Sigma Kappa
Father alleges hazing practices as pledge and member led son to suicide
Media accounts quoting the father of a suicide as putting blame on hazing practices of Phi Sigma Kappa for causing his son Marquise Braham to leap to his death over Spring Break in March. Fraternity members have denied the father’s charges through statements of their attorneys. These are the father’s remarks given at his son’s church eulogy.
Hazing Education Activist Richard Braham’s statement: “Following Marquise’s death, Penn State Altoona suspended his Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity for 6 years! Being primarily a 2 year school, the length of the suspension indicates the degree and seriousness of the abuses they uncovered. But is a 6 year suspension enough? What happens after that, business as usual?? My eldest son is now dead, but I am steadfast in my determination that no one else’s child should have to depart this earth prematurely due to the evils of hazing.”
254) 2014
California State University
Northridge, California
Pi Kappa Phi
The family of Armando Villa and his university claim hazing led to the July 1 death of the CSUN pledge left barefooted in the rugged Angeles Mountains and forced to find his way home. My records show that Villa is the second pledge to die in the same mountains on a fraternity dropoff. The first was Fred Bronner of Chi Chi Chi. No charges were placed.: “Villa, whose temperature rose to 108.8 degrees before he was pronounced dead at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, died of hyperthermia and dehydration, according to coroner’s officials. Alex Terzibachian, the fraternity president who organized and led the hike for pledges and a few other fraternity members, was named as the only suspect in the case.” Howerver, Alex Terzibachian was not charged.
255) 2014
Clemson University Clemson, SC
Sigma Phi Epsilon
Details covered up or unknown
Although an investigating sheriff at first ruled no hazing was involved in the death of pledge Tucker Hipps from a fall from a bridge, he was on an early-morning run with chapter members and pledges. The activity is generally outlawed as hazing by most national Greek groups. He was the second Clemson pledge to die at Lake Hartwell. See memorial page.
256) 2014
University of Albany
Albany, NY
Zeta Beta Tau (a rogue local chapter, not the national fraternity chapter
Trevor Duffy died from acute alcohol poisoning after being convinced to chug 60 ounces of vodka. See the Wall Street Journal interview with Hank Nuwer. See criminal details
Albany Police spokesman Steven Smith said Joseph Angilletta and Austin Bacchus, both 20, turned themselves in and were charged with first-degree hazing, which is a misdemeanor. Police also charged 20-year-old Keith Rosengarten, 20-year-old Olaf Jablonski, 20-year-old Yuval Sucov, 21-year-old Jonathan Maldonado and 22-year-old Stephen Villa with first-degree hazing.
257) 2014
West Virginia University (Morgantown, W.V.)
Kappa Sigma
Alcohol during hazing
Nolan Burch died with a BAC of .493 following a hazing incident in which he was given at least one bottle of hard liquor. See the stophazing.org commentary by Hank Nuwer. See the video used by his parents to prevent future deaths.
258) 2014
Texas Tech University
Alpha Sigma Phi
Alcohol overdose
Dalton Debrick, 18 and an incoming freshman, died of alcohol poisoning while pledging the Alpha Sigma Phi colony. His parents became hazing awareness activists.
259) 2014
FarmHouse Fraternity
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE
Alcohol-fueled hazing
Clayton Real, 18, died of alcohol poisoning following an event that resulted in four individuals facing charges.
As a result of the investigation, four University of Nebraska-Lincoln students were arrested:on charges of procuring alcohol for a minor resulting in injury or death: Vance Heyer, Thomas Trueblood, Cory Foland and Ross Reynolds. The charge is a Class IIIA felony, which can result in a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Instead they got off with probation.
Trueblood, FarmHouse’s freshman social chairman, found a home in which to host the party and coordinated the purchase of a keg, seven handles of vodka and four handles of whiskey, police say.
260) 2015
Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, La.
Physical hazing
Praneet Karki, 22, died following exertion during extreme physical hazing involving the chapter’s annual so-called bonding event. He was born in Nepal. Death not reported until 2016.
261) 2015
University of South Carolina
Pi Kappa Alpha
Alcohol overdose of minor at illicit party
The sudden death of Charlie Terreni, Jr. due to alcohol poisoning occurred at a late night chapter St. Patrick’s party and . All national fraternities regard the giving of alcohol to underage pledges to be a form of hazing. A previous death of a newcomer to a campus group at the University of Missouri, Rolla, was considered to be hazing-related. After correspondence with fraternity leaers that disagree with me calling this a hazing death, I nonethless, given the circumstances, have decided as of May 6, 2017 to include the death of Mr. Terreni, Jr. on the list. As the 2017 death of Tim Piazza demonstrates, a chapter that allows a pledge to drink to the point of death must face consequences, no matter how unintended the fatality was.
262) 2016
Ferrum College; Ferrum, Virginia
Sigma Alpha Kappa
Alcohol-related hazing
Michael Anthony Walker, 20, died in April from an a overdose in an incident that has resulted in providing alcohol to a minor and hazing charges. Charged with various offenses are six individuals.
Three men served very short sentences: Trevin Clark, David Creedon, Michael Rucinski. Three had charges dropped. The mother received a $544,000 settlement.
This is from the Roanoke paper:
“A $25 million wrongful death lawsuit by Melissa Seamster French, Walker’s mother, stemming from the 2016 hazing-related death of a Ferrum College student was settled last year for $544,000….The lawsuit argued that Ferrum College and the fraternity’s adviser failed to train, supervise and discipline Sigma Alpha Kappa and ensure it complied with state regulations and best practices regarding hazing. It said that the six fraternity members — officers, pledge master and big brother to Walker — failed to protect Walker from unsafe pledging activities, including hazing.”
263) 2016
University Of Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Sigma Nu
Pledging-related fall
A chapter at UNR made its pledges clean house and allowed underaged pledges to consume alcohol. Poor judgment led to the death of pledge Ryan Abele. It is listed here as a hazing-related death, despite an apparent reluctance of the Nevada Reno administration to label the tragedy a hazing death. The Sigma Nu national organizationat the time was instrumental in fighting hazing. Hoping for transparency in the circumstances of this pledge death of a very accomplished young man at a well-established Nevada-Reno fraternity now banned for 15 years by the college. [Update 12/22/17 Ryan’s parents have filed a lawsuit.] A member of Sigma Nu in the Seventies acknowledged that he was injured in similar fashion during his pledging days. Link to one of several reports calling this a hazing death.
264) 2016
Texas State
Alpha Delta Pi
Accidental death at out-of-control, alcohol-fueled off-campus outing where hazing occurred with pledges assigned as security.
The death of a female attendee during an unsafe party thrown by multiple fraternity chapters (Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha) was a preventable tragedy that claimed the life of someone who was not being hazed herself. The hazing that occurred within chapters co-sponsoring the party, as reported in press reports, was marked by alcohol abuse which saw numerous people pass out willy nilly at the scene.During the “Monster Mash” party attended by an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 persons, emergency medical personnel treated at least one person for an alcohol overdose. While pledges were acting as security in an act of servitude, first-year student Jordan Taylor, 20 years old, an attendee, was dragged by a malfunctioning bus (there to haul attendees to and from a river tubing party). She was not found for 12 hours and then not by fraternity members, but rather by workmen sent there to fix the bus she lay under. An investigation was held, but the full circumstances of Taylor’s death remain murky to this day. Somehow she was struck by a bus and slipped under it (only to be dragged 500 feet without the driver or milling attendees noticing her plight). Significantly, a university investigation found that hazing of male pledges had occurred, and that numerous attendees had passed out at the site of the party. (Emergency service personnel were called to the scene but did not treat Taylor). Minors were served. At least one chapter told members to lie and say the event was BYO. There is no indication Ms. Taylor herself had been hazed at the event. The following have been sued by Taylor’s father:
- Skyline Party Bus Co., LLC
- Burleson SMTX Properties, LLC
- Brandon Burleson (employee overseeing the event for Skyline).
- B&B Shuttles, LLC
- VCD San Marcos River, LLC
- Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity
- Alpha Zeta Theta Chapter
- Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity
- Kappa Alpha Order Epsilon Iota
- Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
- Delta Tau Delta Zeta Delta Chapter
265) 2016
University of Louisiana, Lafayette
Kappa Sigma
Pedestrian killed by sleep-deprived pledge
After days awake during Hell Week, Michael Gallagher, Jr. fell asleep at the wheel and his car slammed into pedestrian Rustam Nizamutdinov, 25, killing him. Local activists castigate the university for waiting until a civil suit occurred a year later before ULL officials admitted that the sleep deprivation qualified the death as hazing-related.
266) 2016
Penn State
Alpha Tau Omega
Alcohol given pledge by individual brothers
Joe Dada died after drinking alcohol supplied by individual members and others not affiliated with the ATO chapter. The case is similar to other instances where a national fraternity argues that it and a chapter should not be blamed for what individual members do.
267) 2017
Penn State University
Beta Theta Pi
Physical Hazing and Reckless Disregard for Human Life
Tim Piazza (2nd from Right); Family
Eight men charged in PSU death of Tim Piazza received very little punishment, including house arrest in two cases. Members present when Tim Piazza lay dying included Brendan Young, Daniel Casey, Gary DiBileo, Luke Visser, Nick Kubera, Jonah Neuman, Joe Sala, and Michael Bonatucci.Tim’s parents have become nationally known antihazing advocates. The chapter’s adviser maintained that he was sleep in his room as a drunken night of partying transpired that included the fatal hazing of Tim Piazza who fell without anyone rendering aid or phoning 911 in a timely manner. Adviser Tim Bream claims he slept through the entire raucous party.
October 10, 2024 Two Beta Theta Pi former members (Brendan Young, Daniel Casey) enter guilty pleas in death of Tim Piazza at Penn State. 7 years is an awfully long time following a death compared to other criminal complaints. Wash. Post news update
268) 2017
Louisiana State University
Phi Delta Theta
Alcohol-related hazing death following inane questioning and physical abuse
Jail time for two in Max Gruver Death: July 2019
Convictions followed the sudden death of Maxwell (Max) Raymond Gruver, 18, as alcohol-related hazing that occurred at the Phi Delta Theta house, and that all Greek activities are suspended. The national Phi Delta Theta organization has thrown its support behind police and school officials to investigate the hazing.
Matthew Naquin, 21, who was found guilty in July, 2019, of negligent homicide in Gruver’s death, will likely serve two and a half years because half of his sentence was suspended, and his time behind bars could be cut down even more for good behavior or through jail programs. Lawsuit results.
Max Gruver (lower photo)
East Baton Rouge Parish Prison charges against:.
- Matthew Alexander Naquin, 19, of Boerne, TX (charges of hazing and negligent homicide)
- Zachary Castillo, (charge of hazing)
- Elliott Eaton, 20, of New Orleans, La (charge of hazing)
- Patrick Forde, 20, Westwood, MA (charge of hazing)
- Sean Paul Gott, 21, of Lafayette, La (charge of hazing)
- Zachary Hall, 21, of Charlotte, NC (charge of hazing)
- Ryan Isto, 18, of Canada, (charge of hazing)
- Hudson Kirkpatrick, 19, of Baton Rouge, La (charge of hazing)
- Sean Pennison, 21, of Mandeville, La (charge of hazing)
- Nicholas Taulli, 19, of Cypress, TX (charge of hazing
269) 2017
Hazing Death
Florida State
Phi Kappa Phi
Alcohol-related Death After Bottle Exchange
The alcohol-related death of Andrew Coffey occurred at a fraternity with recent discipline issues for hazing. The nine below faced a judge Feb. 6, 2018.
- Luke Kluttz, 22
- Clayton Muehlstein, 22
- Brett Birmingham, 20
- Connor Ravelo, 21
- Christopher Hamlin, 20
- Anthony Petagine, 21
- Anthony Oppenheimer, 21
- John Ray, 21
- Kyle Bauer, 21
270) 2017
Texas State University
Phi Kappa Psi Hazing
Deadly Bottle Gift
The practice of gifting or exchanging bottles of booze that a pledge is expected to guzzle immediately has claimed the life of Matthew (Matt) Ellis, a pledge. He died Nov. 13. One brother was charged with supplying the alcohol. Austin Rice, 21, sentencing.
Matthew Ellis
271) 2017
University of Southern California
Phi Kappa Psi
Injuries allegedly leading to suicide
Suicide allegedly a result of head injury caused by hazing: A lawsuit by the mother of Alasdair Russell says that complications from a hazing head injury led to his suicide.
272) 2017
Hampden Sydney College (Virginia)
Swim team and Alpha Chi Sigma, a chemical sciences association.
Allegations of hazing
Authorities reported the death of Harrison Carter Cole, Hampden Sydney College, associated with the college swim team and Alpha Chi Sigma on December 21, 2018: Joint Press Statement Issued by John P. Fishwick, Jr., counsel for Bill and Carol Ann Cole The parents and family of Harrison Carter Cole, Alpha Chi Sigma fraternity, on behalf of itself and various individual members of the fraternity, and Hampden-Sydney College reached a settlement of $2,350,000 for all legal claims arising out of the untimely passing of Carter Cole on March 25, 2017 following a fraternity event. Carter’s family has lost a most beloved son and brother. The settlement avoids risks associated with litigation and trial. By: the parents and family of Harrison Carter Cole, Alpha Chi Sigma, on behalf of itself and various individual members of the fraternity, and Hampden-Sydney College.
273) 2017
Northwestern University
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Hazing claimed as contributor to a suicide
The parents of Jordan Hankins allege that hazing contributed to her depression and suicide in January 2017. See the story in The Atlantic magazine.
274) 2017
Rutgers University, New Jersey
Theta Delta Chi
Death in accident following dropoff
In a civil suit, hazing expert witness David Easlick testified that Kenneth J. Patterson‘s death on December 9, 2017 was the result of a fraternity dropoff. This death was added on March 14, 2025, after a malpractice case was filed against the attorney firm representing the family in the civil case. A list of unrecognized chapters in the area follows, including Theta Delta Chi.
- Alpha Epsilon Pi
- Alpha Iota Omicron
- Alpha Zeta Omega
- Delta Chi Psi
- Delta Epsilon Psi
- Gamma Sigma
- Mu Sigma Upsilon
- Pi Kappa Alpha
- “TD/Pike”
- Theta Delta Chi
275) 2018
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Car driven by Alpha Tau Omega Pledge
Death of a Bystander (Death in accident following hazing of pledges)
Marco Lee Shemwell, 4, died at a hospital of his injuries after being hit by what police said was an automobile driven by an ATO pledge. Jacob Heil was acquitted of reckless driving in a surprising jury verdict. Newspaper accounts say under-aged pledges were served alcohol, a hazing offense, at a football tailgate party that day. Editor: Fundraiser for Marco Lee: https://www.wtvq.com/2018/09/19/fundraiser-family-boy-hit-car-raises-three-times-goal/
276) 2018
Texas A & M
Phi Gamma Delta
Hazing
Joseph Little collapsed and died in August 2018 during pledging activities found by administrators to be hazing acts.. He had been accepted into Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), the same chapter where Trey Walker died in 1997. The death first was called suspicious by law enforcement.
277) 2018
Ohio University
Sigma Pi
Hazing
Collin Wiant, 18, passed out and subsequently died after drinking too much, according to a Sigma Pi member who had spoken to a 911 dispatcher. See this moving interview with Collin’s parents conducted by Tara Morgan of ABC-TV in Columbus. The cause of death was nitrous oxide ingestion. The parents label their son’s death as hazing-related.
Read about Collin’s Law in Ohio.
Watch video of Kathleen Wiant’s Ted Talk.
278) 2018
University of Texas
Texas Cowboys
Distracted Driving
Parents allege sleep deprivation was a factor in accidental death The question. Was Sleep deprivation (a form of hazing) a factor in the death of a Texas Cowboys “Newman”? UT officials acknowledged serious hazing and animal abuse had occurred and expelled some members, but denied that sleep deprivation led to the death of a “New Man” trying to join the Texas Cowboys Spirit Group at the University of Texas. The pickup truck accident that killed new man Nicky Cumberland occurred right after the spirit group’s hazing and alcohol-fueled “retreat.” Background: A “retreat” once led to the death of Cowboys “New Man” Gabe Higgins–a death chronicled in “Wrongs of Passage.” Parents also plan a civil suit.
279) 2018
Texas Christian University
Fraternity hazing (Kappa Sigma)
Suicide by member charged with hazing offense
Andrew Walker committed suicide after police charged him with hazing and DUI. He was charged following a hazing in which a student was hospitalized for acute alcohol intoxication. He and Christopher Barker were alleged to have coerced pledges into drinking as many as 15 shots in rapid succession.
280) 2018
University of California at Riverside
Alpha Phi Alpha
Hazing a possible contributory factor in death
Parental allegations surfaced in September 2018 alleging that UC Riverside’s Tyler Hilliard was pledging and hazed prior to his death. Here is the fraternity declaration.
281) 2018
University of California, Santa Cruz
Theta Chi
Alcohol-related fatal fall
Station KSBW first reported that a University of California, Santa Cruz fraternity (Theta Chi) chapter was expelled for a 2018 hazing death. As of July 28, 2019, the only student from Santa Cruz listed in the news as dying June 20, 2018 from an accidental fall is Alexander Beletsis. On October 31, USA Today’s Chris Quintana reported that Beletsis, 20, died following a fall linked to alcohol consumption, a not-so-infrequent cause of death in hazing tragedies. His family has filed a lawsuit. Carolyn Golz, College Administrative Officer for Cowell and Stevenson colleges, had called the death “an accident” back in June 2018. 
282) 2019
Delaware State University
Kappa Alpha Psi
Hazing that allegedly led to sleep deprivation and a fatal auto accident
Marlon Jackson, 23, died and three other young men in the car were injured, one critically, when their car collided in the wrong lane with a pickup truck.
283) 2019
University of California, Irvine
Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Alcohol-related Big Brother Night death
Noah Domingo died at a Sigma Alpha Epsilon event. The cause was acute alcohol intoxication. Noah’s father said the youth’s death was the culmination of many illicit pledging activities that constituted hazing. The chapter was tossed by the school and its national. SAE has been called “America’s deadliest fraternity” by Bloomberg News. Police called the death alcohol-related but said no hazing is involved. Most fraternity programs forbid giving alcohol to minors under the description of a hazing offense.
284) 2019
University of Buffalo (New York)
Sigma Pi
Alleged Physical Hazing and Sleep Deprivation
Death following alleged/suspected hazing linked to illness and exertion (the latter the definition of physical hazing)
The University of Buffalo reported the death of student Sebastian Serafin-Bazan. Several members or pledges fled as Sebastian lay dying, according to witnesses. Link to Buffalo News story
The national Sigma Pi, the Buffalo chapter and three fraternity members were ordered to pay the family $665,000 for his death in September 2019.
Court papers said Serafin-Bazan had blunt force injuries to his head, chest, back, and legs,
The members ordered to pay the family were Joshua Harasimowicz, Ethan Grauer, and Ian Buchanan.
285) 2019
Lowell High School, Massachusetts
Suicide blamed on hazing and bullying
The Boston Herald on April 21, 2019 linked the suicide of Anna Sophia Aslanian, 16, to hazing and bullying. 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
286) 2019
Cal State Fullerton
Chi Sigma Phi sorority
Allegations that alcohol-accompanied hazing
A lawsuit was filed by the parents of Bea Castro alleging she was coerced to drink a lethal amount of alcohol in a hazing incident.
287) 2019
Washington State University
Alpha Tau Omega
Alcohol-related criminal hazing
This is an update on the tragic death of pledge Samuel Martinez. June 3, 2022. Pullman police have now made arrests in the tragic death.
Wesley Oswald pleaded guilty to furnishing alcohol to Martinez and was sentenced to 19 days in jail, a $500 fine and 24 months of supervised probation.
The family battled to get Sam’s Law passed in Washington State.
For additional information, please see https://www.hazinginfo.org/
288) 2019
Cornell University
Phi Kappa Psi
Allegations of alcohol-related hazing and humiliating hazing at an unauthorized dirty rush party
Citing a family’s frustration over a lack of information related to the death of Antonio (Anthony) Tsialas, family attorney David Bianchi settled a lawsuit against Cornell, the fraternity and individual members.
Parents John and Flavia Tsialas began a foundation.
Although Tsialas died in October, his death at a Christmas theme party was reminiscent in several ways to the death of Chad Saucier at an Auburn Phi Delta Theta Christmas theme party where pledges dressed as elves. Many disturbing details have been uncovered by a private investigator. In particular, the alcohol served and poured that night was dangerously excessive. Still, not enough details have emerged yet for charges to stick. His parents have offered a reward for information.
Background: The story here concerns the first confirmed fraternity hazing death–also at Cornell in a gorge tragedy.
289) 2019 death (reported in January, 2021)
University of Nebraska
Lambda Phi Epsilon
Suicide following hazing
A family member claims Rahat Jalil committed suicide after being coerced to urinate on fellow pledges who disobeyed senior members. He was 18.
290) 2019 death reported 2021 (Updated 2024)
Bloomsburg University
Kappa Sigma fraternity and Alpha Sigma Tau sorority
Fall after illicit pledge activity
The family of Justin King (above) is suing for wrongful death. After partaking in alcohol-related hazing, King fell over an embankment to his death.
Update: Sept. 16, 2024: From Mrs. Carol King, Justin’s mother.: Justin was recruited by a fraternity and attended a combined Kappa Sigma/Alpha Sigma Tau party on 9/13/2019. He died in the early morning hours of 9/14/2019, three weeks into his freshman year at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He fell off a cliff, landing on a walking trail. His BAC was 2.2. He was 18 years old. The cliff was a notorious place at Bloomsburg; several other students have died there over the years. Somehow, he fell from the cliff despite there being walls and fences to prevent access. We are still seeking the truth.”
https://www.inquirer.com/news/bloomsburg-fraternity-sorority-
291) 2019
San Diego State
Phi Gamma Delta
Fall from bed while intoxicated due to an illicit pledge event
Reluctantly, for two years I kept the case of Dylan Hernandez listed as only a possible hazing death while it it was being investigated by California reporters. Although the death seems suspicious, a local D.A. ruled differently. He said this: The tragic 2019 death of Dylan Hernandez, 19, who fell from his bunk after attending a party has no basis for hazing or manslaughter charges. At least two journalists interpreted Dylan’s death as hazing-related. (H. Nuwer, July 13, 2021). New information in this hard-hitting video of July 28, 2021.
292) 2020
Emory & Henry College
Kappa Phi Alpha Sorority
Deadly traffic swerving done as hazing tradition and for kicks
A 2020 death in local sorority Kappa Phi Alpha at Emory & Henry is in the news after a father claims his daughter’s death was caused in a hazing tradition called swerving. Lauren Nicole Sawyer was sentenced to four months in jail in July 2022 for reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter. The victim was Gracie LeAnn Dimit.
293) 2021
Lyon College
Baseball Team
Alleged alcohol-related initiation
James Gilfedder, a Lyon College baseball player, died during alleged hazing. Gilfedder’s parents told Arkansas media that their son’s body was battered, and he consumed a fifth of alcohol after a team “hazing party.” Police are waiting for autopsy results before commenting. Media said the house where he parties was owned by an assistant coach.
Batesville Police Chief Alan Cockrill spoke via telephone to the Batesville Daily Guard regarding statements made by the family of James Gilfedder, the Lyon College baseball player that was found dead in a dorm room.ockrill told the Batesville Daily Guard that his investigators “saw no sign of foul play at this time,” and that they were waiting on autopsy results and the results of toxicology reports.
294) February 2021
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
Richmond, VA.
Delta Chi
Alcohol-related hazing death
Death of a Pledge video
A family member alleges Adam Oakes died during a big-little bottle exchange. Medical Examiner says alcohol the cause of death. The family of Adam Oakes battled for changes and toughening of Virginia hazingh law. Here is Adam’s story.
A lawsuit by the family was underway in 2024.
295) 2021
Bowling Green State University
Pi Kappa Alpha
Alcohol related Hazing
Stone Foltz died allegedly after consuming a handle of alcohol, according to his family and friends. Eight members have been charged.
This was a Big and Little party. Thanks to sources: Akron Beacon Journal, May 12, 2021, and sharp-eyed Susannah Frame.
Friends Scott Steck, Jacob Krinn, and one sober individual dumped him in his room despite his condition.
The family sued chapter president Daylen Dunson, 23. Judge Kuhlman sentenced Dunson to 21 days in jail, followed by 28 days of house arrest and then three years of probation.
296) 2021*
University of Kentucky
Farmhouse fraternity
Alcohol death in a Hazing Chapter
*The following information came from a University of Kentucky press release and a press conference attended by Zoom by this moderator. HN
University of Kentucky Police: They say the result of their inquiry into the death of Farmhouse pledge Lofton Hazelwood, 18, of alcohol intoxication was conducted by a Farmhouse chapter that hazed all semester. In fact, as Lofton lay dying, pledges were involved in a non-sanctioned event. All but one pledge had consumed alcohol. When a member finally checked on Lofton, he was too far gone to be saved on October 18, 2021. The Lexington Herald-Leader found Hazelwood drank about 18 shots of bourbon. Members found him foaming at the mouth on the couch where members dumped him. A student performed CPR while another called 911. All efforts were too late.
My strong feeling is that, with due respect to the UK police department, a full investigation should have been conducted by a joint Kentucky State Police and Lexington, KY investigation. Unless testimony is given in a civil suit, information as to any coercion to drink by members or fellow pledges is lost to the public.
I see no objection to these UK findings: 1) They found hazing was conducted all semester by Farmhouse Fraternity but did not find criminal hazing. 2) Many pledges and members had illegal IDS. 3) Lofton Hazelwood’s BAC was 3.54.
The family advocated for a successful passage of Lofton’s Law.
297) 2021
Sigma Chi
Western Michigan University
Drunk-driver pledge kills pedestrian
The parents of Bailey Broderick criticized law enforcement in Kalamazoo for failing to provide the name of the drunk pledge who hit and killed her near the campus’s Fraternity Village while he was on pledge duties. Police investigated and built a case. In June of 2023, a judge sentenced Hunter Hudgins, 20, to a sentence between 35 months and 15 years in prison.
298) 2021
Michigan State University
Pi Alpha Phi
Michigan State University
Media reports reported death of new pledge Phat Nguyen as a hazing death. The family sued 18 individuals for the death of Nguyen, 21. The family charged that pledges were ordered “to black out or die.” Three other pledges were saved at Sparrow Hospital. Ethan Tin Cao, Andrew Hoang Nguyen and Hoang John Huu Pham were charged with one felony count of hazing resulting in death and three misdemeanor counts of hazing resulting in physical injury.
299) 2025 lawsuit (Nov. 17, 2022 death)
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha
Parent alleges that physical and mental hazing abuse by at least two Greek groups led daughter to commit suicide
A federal lawsuit claims that in 2019, Lamoree Leandra LaMoree Moore was forced by members of Alpha Kappa Alpha to withstand excruciating physical endurance drills while being berated, the suit says. She had to obey commands from members of a fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, that amounted to hazing, according to the lawsuit.
300) 2023
Theta Chi
Washington State University
Suicide in part blamed on hazing causing or aggravating depression
John and Colleen Tyler, the parents of WSU deceased freshman Luke Tyler, consider hazing as contributing to the depression that led to his suicide in early 2024. His parents, John and Colleen Tyler, wrote in a statement provided to Fox News Digital that their son’s “suicide is a tremendous loss of life, love and potential that we continue to grieve.”
“We are continuing to work with the authorities to determine how in a short 4 months during his first semester at WSU, Luke went from a positive, compassionate, and kind young man to having a depression so deep that caused him to take his own life,” the family wrote. “He had shared with close friends that he was at his breaking point due to hazing at Theta Chi, and we look forward to learning the truth about his experience.”
WSU = Washington State Univ. https://www.king5.com/…/281-101babd7-5dd8-48d6-9386…
Substance abuse (alcohol and drug prescibed for depression) was present in victim. 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_________
301, 302, 303: 2023
Pi Beta Chi (PBX). This chapter was known under various names: Delta Chi, Pi Beta Chi, PBX, Crosskeys Society
James Madison University (formerly Madison College)
Cause: accident during pledging activities
This JMU sub-rosa fraternity experienced hree auto-related deaths on a pledging activity with alcohol after a fraternity activity at a strip club. Previously lost recognition in Fall 2013 due to hazing (forced calisthenics and underage drinking).
The vehicle later crashed in West Virginia, killing Joshua Mardis and two other JMU students John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman, who were already members of the fraternity.
Joshua Mardis, John “Luke” Fergusson and Nicholas Troutman.
Campbell Fortune, the 19-year-old driver in the crash, was charged with three counts of negligent homicide and one count each of reckless driving, underage possession of alcohol, no proof of insurance and speeding on May 15, 2023, according to public records from the Hardy County Magistrate Clerk. He supposedly was a designated sober driver. https://www.facebook.com/campbell.fortune/
A 2025 lawsuit lawsuit claims the actions of the fraternity were hazardous and that hazing and drug use led to the deadly car crash. Howard Mardis, father of rushee Joshua Mardis, claims in the lawsuit his son died due to the fraternity’s recklessness. Now he is asking for $150 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against the fraternity and 37 of its members.
304) 2024
Dartmouth College
Beta Alpha Omega fraternity and Alpha Phi sorority
Reverse hazing where new members were hazed by a sorority
April 7, 2025. Boston Magazine released a report by investigative reporter Susan Zalkind citing police reports that Darmouth College’s Alpha Omega sophomore brothers were obliged to don black clothing and to participate in reverse hazing where Dartmouth Alpha Phi sorority sisters stacked them in a pyramid and put liquor to their mouths to chug beer and MD 20/20. They also smoked marijuana and some were given nitrous oxide. The brothers were doused with chocolate sauce and, despite the heavy drinking, went to the river to rinse off. Won Jang died by drowning with a blood alcohol content of .167. Thank you to Evelyn Piazza for the headsup.
305) 2025
Southern University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Omega Psi Phi
Cause: Alleged physical hazing following punches to the chest of pledges
Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity were reportedly carrying out a ritual where pledges take punches while standing in line when the student collapsed, the source said. An autopsy will determine cause of death. Fraternity member Caleb McCray, 23, was arrested Thursday evening and faces charges of manslaughter and felony criminal hazing in the death of Wilson, a mechanical engineering junior at the school who died in late February. The victim was Caleb Wilson, age 20.
Caleb Wilson
_________________________________
Disclosure: Schools and fraternities 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.
____________________________________________________
UNCONFIRMED-CAUSE DEATHS IN THE NEWS:
1) Currently under investigation and not on 2018 list: Monmouth University, February 2018. Has not officially been linked to an official or illicit pledging event by the school but did follow an unauthorized fraternity party. Activist Evelyn Piazza criticizes Monmouth for a lack of transparency. Here is what is known: Police and prosecutor reports that an accident in the wee hours of February 3, 2018, claimed the life of Monmouth student Dane Fante. Fante was a passenger in the Audi driven by Jose Rivera, a Monmouth Tau Kappa Epsilon member. Toxicology tests have been performed. Mr. Fante was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.
2) News: July 5, 2022. I am looking into Eastern Michigan Halle Library archives regarding the death and subsequent investigation into the 1991 death of Kappa Phi Alpha pledge Eric Scott Fillyaw.
3) Unconfirmed death at Gettysburg College :
1918
Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania)
Freshman hazing alleged (unverified HN and not included in total)
Fatal Illness following hazing
Theological student Harlon H. Rowe, son of Linnie C. Rowe of Hagerstown, Maryland, took ill and died at home. Details were sketchy in newspaper accounts of the day. However, the school’s board and President Granville abolished organized hazing. Other classes blamed the end of hazing on the freshman class. The yearbook reported that upper-class students referred to the freshman class as “yellow” (cowardly). I have been unable to locate a second source to confirm this was indeed a death linked to hazing. Rowe’s name was misspelled as “Harlan H. Rowe” by the Baltimore Sun of January 8, 1918, which said reports alleged the youth’s death was linked to freshman hazing in the fall of 1917. October 10, 2024. Will write archivist at Gettysburg College to see if more details are available.
Update: Oct. 17, 2024. Gettysburg archivist was most helpful. Yes, hazing was an issue confronted by president, but correspondence between the then-president and Rowe shows Rowe’s serious illness, but nothing about it being hazing caused. Therefore, the death remains unconfirmed. It will not be included as a hazing death unless a source can be found confirming Rowe thought his illness was hazing-caused or exasperated by hazing. Thanks to Gettsyburg for getting back to me so quickly and thoroughly.
HN
_____________________
Disclosure and thanks: Rainstorm server payment was donated in 2021 with must-appreciated chip-ins by Natalia W., Gregory, Kathleen, David E., Michelle, Travis, Steve, John B, Kari. TracyMax, Scott, Norm, Alison, Darryl, Mike, Janet, Herb, Lianne, Dan, Paul E., & Bryce. Thank you to these stalwart friends, readers, activists and a family member who came through. HN