Categories
Hazing News

Out of bounds: Penn State footballer alleges hazing misconduct and sues; no criminal charges named

Here is the story link

And the USA Today  excerpt:

Penn State University football coach James Franklin allegedly forced former player Isaiah Humphries out of the program after he reported violent, sexual hazing by other members of the team, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit names the university, Franklin and ex-teammate Damion Barber as defendants in the case. In the suit, Humphries also claims players Micah Parsons, Yetur Gross-Matos and Jesse Luketa facilitated a campaign to harass and haze the underclassmen.

Players made unwanted sexual contact and threats such as, “I am going to Sandusky you,” Humphries claims in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states the abuse resulted in Humphries giving up his football scholarship at Penn State and transferring to the University of California. Humphries is now seeking unspecified financial damages for the harm it caused to his football career, along with severe physical and emotional distress.

On Tuesday, Penn State said in a statement that the university’s Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response, Office of Student Conduct and Penn State Police all investigated Humphries’ allegations. Police forwarded the case to the Centre County District Attorney’s office, which decided not to pursue criminal charges.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024 and April 2025 , the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

Leave a Reply