A grand jury indicted ten members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity after a 2021 incident at the University of Missouri that left a freshman in a wheelchair, blind, and unable to speak.
Ten Pennsylvania high school students are charged in a case that involves sexual assault – perpetrated under the guise of hazing.
Also in 2021, Stone Foltz died at Bowling Green State University after drinking a bottle of bourbon in less than 20 minutes – in another hazing incident.
And The New York Times reports that Virginia Commonwealth University will pay nearly one million dollars to the family of Adam Oakes, a student who died, also in 2021, from alcohol poisoning at a fraternity party.
Despite the fact that school administrators across the U.S. say they won’t tolerate hazing, they’ve launched outreach efforts to educate students and parents, and they’ve suspended Greek organizations that violate school policy, the practice of hazing and the resulting long-term injuries and deaths continue.
That’s the focus of award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s most recent documentary, called Hazing and it’s what we explore on this episode of CoastLine.
Guests:
Byron Hurt, documentary filmmaker whose work includes Hazing, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes and Soul Food Junkies. All three documentaries have aired on PBS’ Emmy award-winning series, Independent Lens.
Jack Abele: Jack and Wendy Abele’s 18-year-old son, Ryan, died in a hazing incident in 2016. After the members of Sigma Nu Fraternity at University of Nevada, Reno forced him to drink a bottle of alcohol, Ryan fell down a flight of stairs – sustaining a head injury. He never regained consciousness and died 11 days later.
Resources:
- Parents United Against Hazing - PUSH: https://push-parentsunited2stophazing.org/
- Hazing Prevention: https://hazingprevention.org/
- Hank Nuwer unofficial hazing statistics: https://www.hanknuwer.com/
