Now here’s yet another example of the triple anguish of hazing — a social rite of passage for some groups that has ended in death or permanent damage by those seeking to get into the group or forced to endure what in reality is a kind of exercise in group sadism: the death of a Florida drum major has been ruled a homicide:
The drum major, Robert Champion, died of “hemorrhagic shock due to soft tissue hemorrhage, due to blunt force trauma,” the Orange County Medical Examiner concluded. So far, no suspects have been publicly identified in the hazing episode, and no charges have been announced.
Mr. Champion, who was 26 and “previously healthy,” according to the report, died after collapsing on a bus parked at an Orlando hotel; just hours before, he had marched with the band during a football game between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman University.
The medical examiner’s report describes a horrific night, involving “multiple blunt trauma blows to his body.”
After the beating, Mr. Champion “collapsed and died within an hour,” the report said, adding that “he complained of thirst and fatigue; minutes later, he noted loss of vision and soon after had a witnessed arrest.” Those symptoms, the examiner stated, are consistent with extremely low blood pressure or shock.
During attempts to revive him with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Mr. Champion vomited, blocking his airway.
The associate medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, Sara Irrgang, found “extensive contusions,” or bruising, to the chest, arms, shoulder and back and within interior body tissues. There were no bone fractures or injuries to internal organs, but the autopsy suggested that rapid blood loss caused the death.
You boil it down and its the triple agony of hazing:
More on what has happened in the wake of this unnecessary death and the ruling of homicide — which has had civil legal fallout and developing fallout within the university community:
A joint statement from FAMU President James Ammons and FAMU Board of Trustees Chairman Solomon Badger, said that while the medical examiner’s findings were expected, the news was still “extremely upsetting” for everyone at the university, WC-TV reported.
“We again convey our deepest condolences to the Champion family,” the statement said. “We will continue to cooperate with all agencies looking into the matter and are committed to creating a safe environment for the entire FAMU community and ensuring that this never happens again at FAMU.”
The findings were announced after police earlier this week arrested three FAMU band members for a hazing incident in which they allegedly broke a female band member’s thigh during a severe beating.
Champion’s family filed a lawsuit against the university Nov. 28, claiming school officials did nothing to stop a “culture of hazing” within the famed “Marching 100.”
The band director, Julian White, was dismissed by the university soon after Champion’s death. On Thursday, Florida Gov. Rick Scott “strongly recommended” that the university’s president, James Ammons, be suspended while authorities investigate the hazing incidents.
A notice on the school’s website Friday stated that an emergency FAMU Board of Trustees meeting had been scheduled for 9:00am Monday morning, “to respond to the Governor’s request.”
The board publicly reprimanded Ammons last week, but chose not to fire or suspend him.
A&M is now facing another problem on the hazing front:
A freshman Florida A&M student who filed hazing charges against three members of the school’s marching band is now suing the school, her attorney announced today.
Bria Shante Hunter, whose thigh bone was broken in the alleged hazing incident, has been harassed since reporting the beating to band director Julian White, her attorney, B.J. Bernstein, said.
“For any person who is subject to hazing, this is a big reason they do not come forward,” said Bernstein.
Bernstein also told reporters the freshman is pulling out of the university because of the incident and forfeiting her $82,000 scholarship.
Hunter, 18, was not present at the afternoon news conference in Bernstein’s Atlanta law office as she was completing her last exam, the lawyer said.
The three Florida A&M students accused of beating Hunter appeared in court today. The judge set a bond of $2,500 for James Harris, 22, who is charged with hazing. Bonds of $10,000 were set for Sean Hobson, 23, and Aaron Golson, 19, who are charged with hazing and felony battery. They posted bail and have been released from jail.
The trio are members of a group called the Red Dawg Order, which includes band members from Georgia, mainly Atlanta. The alleged beating victim, freshman clarinetist Bria Hunter, is from Atlanta.
The criminal hazing charges come as Florida A&M and police are investigating the Nov. 19 death of the band’s drum major Robert Champion. Police have said that they believe hazing was involved in Champion’s death. Champion, 26, was also from Georgia.
Four unidentified students were dismissed for their role in Champion’s hazing death, which occured just three weeks after Hunter was beaten. They have since been reinstated.
Schools all over the country are cracking down on all forms of bullying. May have NO BULLYING signs on the walls. There is zero tolerance, when they discover it: it is halted and students can face a menu of consequences. Schools also do school programs and counseling on bullying.
Higher institutions of learning need to do the same. The 911 call as Champion lay dying:
Champion’s parents have used social media to honor their son:
The parents of Florida A&M student Robert Champion, Pamela and Robert Champion Sr., have created a Facebook page, “Drum Major for Change! Robert D. Champion.”
The page is focused on giving individuals an outlet to “share stories and leave comments” Champion’s mother explained in a Dec. 8 interview on Michel Martin’s NPR show “Tell Me More.”
The page has more than 400 “Likes” and photos of Champion throughout his life, many of him smiling in his Marching “100” uniform. The page also has memorial videos created by others and links to news stories about the events surrounding the Champions and FAMU since November.
Champion’s mother also said the family wants to set up an anonymous hotline for students who are victims of or are involved in hazing to call and receive help.
“Our goal is to rid the campus of hazing,” she said.
Champion’s parents claimed in the interview that the university turned a blind eye to hazing in the band prior to their son’s death and that Robert had never complained about hazing to them. Any details they have regarding whether hazing was involved in the death of their son, they have received from media outlets, although nothing official has been released at this time.
Champion’s father also said that a driving force behind creating a Facebook page where individuals could openly discuss hazing was the number of people who have come to him since his son’s death to speak about issues they are facing and asking if now was the time to try and put an end to hazing within school systems.
“This is a problem, not only at my son’s school, but these problems are all over the world,” said Champion Sr. “Now is the time where we need to speak and address the problem.
Meanwhile, a plea deal was reached in a Virginia hazing death case:
Five fraternity members at Radford University have pleaded guilty to hazing a student from Chesterfield County who later died.
The Virginian-Pilot reports that the five entered their pleas Friday in Radford Circuit Court to charges of purchasing alcohol for a minor and for hazing.
The charges stem from the October 2010 death of 20-year-old Samuel Harris Mason. The Radford student was pledging Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity when he was given a “ritual” bottle of liquor and drank it in an hour, according to Radford Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Rehak. In a statement, Rehak condemned the Radford chapter of TKE for a “code of silence, which hindered the investigation” and forced the summoning of a special grand jury.
Mason was found dead at his Fairfax Street home. An autopsy put his blood-alcohol content at .48, six times the legal limit for driving.
OF RELATED INTEREST:
–Wikipedia on hazing
—The 14 Most Brutal College Hazing Rituals
–-Petition: Stophazing.org
—8 Shocking and Disturbing Hazing Stories from Universities
—Personal hazing stories
—Horror stories of hazing
—44 Stories About College Hazing
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.