Time to REDRESS® Hazing: Changing the Way Universities Deal with Hazing Claims and Allegations

Abstract

Every year, excited eighteen-year-olds step foot on a college campus ready to start a new chapter. Ready to try new things, these students join various organizations eager to make new friends and connections. Daniel Santulli was no different. He was an excited nineteen-year-old freshman at the University of Missouri in the fall of 2021. Santulli decided to join the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and was ready to make lifelong friendships. However, on October 20, 2021, Santulli suffered a life-altering injury due to an alcohol-related hazing incident. Santulli was “marched, shirtless and blindfolded, into the basement of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house” and was subjected to finishing bottles of hard liquor. Security footage revealed Santulli drinking alcohol through a beer bong and then falling onto the floor. His supposed “brothers” left Santulli on a couch and then later as they moved his limp body, they dropped him on a tiled floor where he hit his head. That evening, Santulli experienced cardiac arrest and suffered damage to his occipital cortex. The severity of Santulli’s injuries resulted him being unable to walk or talk and in need of lifelong care