Hazing — it's a dark tradition that some may view as harmless fun, but it can have deadly consequences.

The definition of hazing is ‘humiliating, degrading, abusive, or dangerous activities that a person or group is subjected to as part of an initiation or activity.’

The culture of hazing isn’t new; it has been going on for hundreds of years.

Acts of hazing have happened locally, around the U.S., and around the world, and take many forms.

When the first reports of hazing emerged in the United States in the mid-19th century, they were primarily physical and based on academic class. But slowly, it moved to other groups, and alcohol started to play a bigger role. As it migrated, it evolved — and continues to grow today.

With today’s technology, cell phones can instantly capture and share any incident, including acts of hazing, meaning acts of hazing can follow a victim everywhere.

Hazing most commonly occurs among high school athletes and young adults in college fraternities or sororities, or in branches of the U.S. military. However, it can also occur in other groups.

Coercion, pressure, and threats all create an environment of compliance and silence.

The National Study of Student Hazing in 2008 found that 55 percent of college students who participated in a group, team or club experienced hazing. That includes 74 percent of student athletes. A vast majority of those students didn't believe they had been hazed.

Content warning: The following web story contains sensitive material, including language and items of a sexual nature.

THE CULTURE

There have been more than 330 hazing-related deaths since 1838, according to hazinginfo.org’s hazing deaths database, which includes accidental deaths and suicides where families say hazing was a contributing factor. The database has counted at least one hazing death every year since 1959. 

Experts generally agree that hazing arrived in the United States in the 1800s, but some argue that it has deep roots elsewhere. According to Hank Nuwer, an adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, hazing has been documented as far back as ancient Sparta. Nuwer said even notable historical figures, including St. Augustine, have been victims of hazing and described Martin Luther of the protestant reformation as “a big proponent of it.”

“Wearing yellow horns, drinking beer after your lip’s been cut and they salt the glass, you tell your confession to what you think is a priest, and then they all laugh at you, beatings,” Nuwer described. 

Experts who spoke with 21 News also described other hazing cultures in Europe from centuries past, such as “fagging” in British schools, which started in the 1700s and existed in some schools through the mid-20th century. 

“It was personal menial servitude, so it wasn't as much of the physical,” said Walter Kimbrough, a former college president who has served as an expert witness in hazing cases. “It was more of, you know, you're a freshman, you have to clean my room and do those kinds of things.” 

Once hazing arrived in the United States in the mid-19th century, it was primarily physical and based on academic class, experts said. But over the years, it spread to other groups and alcohol began to play a bigger role. 

The true prevalence of hazing today can be difficult to measure because so many incidents go unreported, according to psychologist Susan Lipkins. However, some have attempted to address this issue: the most comprehensive research on hazing was conducted in 2008, with nearly 11,500 undergraduate students from 53 colleges and universities participating in the National Study of Student Hazing (NSSH) survey. 

The NSSH found that 55 percent of college students who participated in groups, teams or clubs experienced hazing behaviors, including 74 percent of student athletes. Additionally, 69 percent of students were aware of hazing in organizations other than their own. 

However, the vast majority — 95 percent — of students who experienced hazing did not report it, the study found. This may be because they felt there was nothing to report: 90 percent of students who experienced hazing behaviors in college did not consider themselves to have been hazed. 

Elizabeth Allan, a principal investigator at stophazing.org and one of the lead investigators on the NSSH, said this is due to a lack of “awareness about what the definition is [and] when behavior crosses the line.”

“We heard so many who participated in our study describing hazing with euphemisms,” Allan told 21 News. “For example, they'd say, ‘no, no, that wasn't hazing, that was a tradition,’ or ‘that was just an initiation,’ or ‘that was just some pranks, or horseplay.’”

“When we asked them to describe what it [hazing] looked like, they'd often use descriptions that involved physical force and violence,” Allan added. “Many people were missing aspects of hazing that might not initially look like they involve physical force. … so much of hazing involves coercive environments and behavior.”

It also takes many forms, which can change based on the group involved. The three most common environments for hazing are Greek organizations, athletic teams and the military. However, it’s also present in other groups, such as marching bands and other extracurricular activities. 

In athletic and military hazing, Lipkins said, the activities are usually more physical and often involve calisthenics — things like push-ups, squats and lunges. Partying takes on a larger role in Greek life, with new members sometimes forced to drink huge amounts of alcohol. 

However, even within the category of fraternities and sororities, a pattern of different hazing trends emerges. Pietro Sasso, a faculty research fellow at the Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research, said the practice is “extremely gendered.” 

“Men's organizations tend to be more physical and tend to involve more alcohol,” said Sasso. “Trying to force them to actually demonstrate how masculine they are, so that they can fit into this sort of hypermasculine norm that a lot of these organizations have.” 

Meanwhile, Kimbrough said women’s hazing is less often physical and tends to include body shaming and mind games involving sex or drugs. The distinction arises because women’s organizations haze “to prove why you shouldn't be there,” rather than to solicit pledges to prove their worth, according to Sasso.

“It's more cognitive, it's more emotional, and tends to be more individualized,” Sasso said, and “a lot of singling out through humiliation and shame.” 

There are also some differences in hazing with various racial groups. Students looking to join social Greek life organizations can participate through one of three entities: the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the National Panhellenic Conference (PANHEL) and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). The IFC and PANHEL are usually majority-white groups, while NPHC fraternities and sororities are historically black. 

According to Kimbrough, NPHC groups are more likely than other Greek organizations to engage in physical hazing, ranging from calisthenics and physical tests to paddling or punching. 

He explained that most hazing in the United States started as physical. While white fraternities and sororities gravitated more towards alcohol over time, their black counterparts did not do the same. Kimbrough also said socioeconomic factors could be at play, as majority-white fraternities may be able to afford more alcohol.

“You normally don't have the same kind of disposable income for members of historically black groups,” Kimbrough said. “It's cheaper just to have them, you know, get up at three o'clock in the morning and go run five miles.”

The conversation around hazing tends to center on the college experience, but Kimbrough said it needs to begin earlier. According to the 2008 national study, 47 percent of students come to college having already experienced hazing. 

At the high school level, Lipkins said hazing is most common in athletics, and with limited access to alcohol, the activities are more physical — even sexual. 

“Lately, meaning the last decade, across America, there's been sexualized hazing on boys' teams, a lot of sodomy and a lot of any kind of penetration or mock penetration,” Lipkins said, explaining that this is because these acts create more physical and psychological anguish for the victims in a short amount of time. 

“The students on a team, they know exactly where the adults are, but they have a short amount of time to haze,” she said. “So, if you do something sexual … you get the victim to feel completely helpless and understand the hierarchy immediately, in a very quick way.”

Another trend in hazing this century that has impacted all types of groups, including high schools and colleges, is the use of social media and smartphones. Now that most teenagers and young adults have a camera phone accessible at any time, Sasso said, most people film hazing incidents. It may then be posted online or shared with others in private text threads.

The hazing itself can also be planned or take place on smartphones, through fake social media accounts and phone numbers. The rise in technology means hazing follows a victim everywhere, but it’s also been helpful in criminal hazing investigations. 

“I’ve worked on cases where I’ve read text messages that people sent that they thought they deleted, but police were able to get the text messages,” Kimbrough said. “So, I'm reading the text messages about what they had planned to do and what they had confessed to do. … it's a double-edged sword.” 

Whenever a hazing incident comes to light, many people ask the same question: Why didn’t the victims just say no or walk away? Experts say it isn’t that easy. 

“Once you get involved in it, if you decide that, ‘this is hazing, I’m not going to participate,’ you have to make the decision then that you don't want to be a part of the organization at all,” Kimbrough said. “But if you still want to be a member, and you join in good faith, you're not telling. It's just, there's no way in the world that you're going to tell.”

Coercion, pressure, and threats create an environment of compliance and silence. Besides, despite the physical and emotional damage it can do, some people still see hazing as harmless fun. 

“On one of the deaths, one of the young men told me that it was — ‘I know the death is bad, but it was still the best night of my life,’” Nuwer said. “How do you explain that?”

THE VICTIMS

They live in different states, but their stories echo the same painful truth: silence doesn't protect — it destroys.

  • In Minnesota, a college freshman was left unable to walk, talk, or see after a night that was supposed to be about brotherhood.
  • In Arizona, two high-school wrestlers say humiliation and sexual assault were part of a "tradition" their coaches called culture.
  • And in Ohio, a family turned grief into action after their son's life was cut short by fraternity hazing.

Three families. Three timelines. All haunted by the same code of silence.

The Santullis | A Life Interrupted

In Minnesota, the Santulli home used to be filled with laughter, sports, and weekend chaos. Danny Santulli was the youngest of three — athletic, funny, and full of plans.

When he followed his older brother to the University of Missouri and joined Phi Gamma Delta, his parents thought he was on a good path.

But just a month into his freshman year, subtle changes began to creep in… the daily calls stopped, his grades slipped, and his once-bright demeanor started to fade.

Then, one Sunday night, they said Danny finally broke.

"He just can't deal with this anymore," Mary Pat remembered him saying. "It's just too much."

"We told him, 'If you want to drop out, don't feel the pressure.' I said, 'I love you,' and he said, 'I love you, Mom.' That was the last normal conversation we ever had."

Two nights later, the phone rang again — this time from an emergency room doctor. Danny had stopped breathing.

The Santullis raced seven and a half hours from Minnesota to Missouri.

"He was just hooked up to so many different tubes and on a ventilator," Mary Pat said. "I just couldn't believe what I was seeing."

Inside the fraternity house that night, Danny had been forced to drink an entire bottle of vodka taped to his hand. He was also given a beer funnel and was told, "No pussies in the house tonight."

When he couldn't stand, the others mocked him — and when he collapsed, they left him on a couch, lips turning blue.

"If someone had called 911 — just 20 minutes earlier — we wouldn't be here," said his father, Tom Santulli. "They're brainwashed by the fraternities, like you cannot even call 9-1-1."

Danny's blood-alcohol level was .468, six times the legal limit. He went into cardiac arrest, leaving him blind, unable to speak, and in need of 24-hour care.

During the winter, the family spends time in Florida so Danny can continue therapy and aqua-rehab. Every blink, every movement, is considered progress.

"He's tracking us better," Mary Pat said softly. "He follows our voices; his eyes turn toward us. Now he's starting to move his head more. He's trying to communicate."

Santulli said, "Nine out of ten kids would have died that night and for some reason, Danny's still with us, so I think he's alive for a reason." 

Each small victory reminds them of why they continue to speak out.

"He was cheated," Tom said. "He didn't deserve this. He's 22 years old — he's got a long life. We owe it to him to keep fighting."

The Fortenberrys | Wrestling Room Secrets

More than 1,500 miles away, another family is fighting a similar battle — this one at Liberty High School in Peoria, Arizona.

Brothers Ryder and Rex Fortenberry say they joined wrestling to learn discipline and teamwork. Instead, they found humiliation hiding under the guise of "tradition."

"First week of practice, first day of practice — that's when it started," Ryder said.

As first reported by the Arizona Republic, they describe being groped, pinned, and violated by teammates — while coaches watched.

"One of our heavyweights sat on my face," Rex said. "It was disgusting. My brother pushed him off me — thank God he did, because who knows what else would've happened."

"Another time," Ryder added, "I was in the down position and a wrestler shoved his thumb up my butt. I pushed him off and said, 'What are you doing?' He laughed. He thought it was funny."

The brothers say the coaching staff called it "Red Dot Nation" — a part of the program's culture and twisted version of toughness that normalized abuse.

"If you can't handle being hazed," they were told, "you don't belong here."

Ryder and Rex told their parents, who reported it to coaches — but nothing changed. When the abuse continued, Ryder took out his phone and began recording.

"I hid the phone behind my knee," he said. "I didn't want them to see me filming, but I knew we needed proof."

In 2024, the hazing allegations were taken to Peoria police, but the case closed just six days later, with police calling the assaults "horseplay".

Ryder and Rex eventually quit the team, the sport they loved tarnished by trauma.

"I couldn't stand the injustice," Ryder said. "Nothing was done about it."

But this past August, when new evidence surfaced, police reopened the investigation, and the head coach was placed on administrative leave.

For the brothers, coming forward wasn't about revenge — it was about accountability and helping others find courage.

"We wanted to give hope to other kids who feel like they don't have a voice," Ryder said. "I'm sure this is happening all across the country, where nothing is being done because no one is speaking up because no one has the courage."

"The coaches need to be held accountable," Rex added. "Everyone trying to cover it up — the athletic director, the people protecting the program — all of them."

The backlash online was swift.

"Parents said we were liars," Ryder said. "They claimed we made it up because we didn't make varsity. But we both placed at state. We just couldn't stay quiet."

Their father, Justin Fortenberry, says watching his sons suffer for telling the truth has been heartbreaking — but he's proud they refused to be silent.

"I trusted those coaches with my kids," he said. "They failed their duty to protect them."

Now the brothers are channeling their experience into advocacy.

The Foltzes | From Grief to Purpose

In Ohio, Cory and Shari Foltz are living with the pain that no parent should ever know — and turning it into purpose.

Their son Stone was a sophomore at Bowling Green State University in 2021. A business major. A dependable friend. The kind of kid who texted his mom every day just to check in.

"He was kind, loving, always cared about others," Shari said. "He always put others first."

When Stone pledged Pi Kappa Alpha, he believed he was joining a brotherhood. Instead, the fraternity's "Big-Little Night" ritual became deadly.

"They marched them into the basement, blindfolded," said Cory. "Standing in front of him was his big brother, holding an entire liter of Evan Williams bourbon. And that's when the drinking started."

Stone drank the bottle in 18 minutes.

Anytime pledges set it down, brothers shoved it back in their hands. Video later showed them laughing as Stone vomited into a trash can, losing control of his body.

He was carried back to his apartment, left on a couch, and filmed again.

"They sent the videos around, laughing that he was 'snoring,'" Cory said. "When, in reality, Stone's organs were failing."

By the time paramedics arrived, Stone's blood alcohol was over .4. His brain activity was barely measurable. Three days later, doctors pronounced him dead.

In the days that followed, his organs saved six lives.

"Forty kids were in that basement," Cory said quietly. "Not one of them did anything."

The Foltz family has since established the I Am Stone Foltz Foundation and travels to schools and universities to educate students and parents about the dangers of hazing.

Stone's situation helped pass Ohio's Collin's Law — the nation's toughest anti-hazing legislation — named after another victim.

"If Stone had any education on hazing," Shari said, "if we had any education on hazing, he'd still be here."

Their foundation's traveling simulation now brings students face-to-face with the warning signs and peer pressure that lead to disaster.

They are hoping to get Stone's Law passed, which would mandate the inclusion of their hazing education curriculum in schools.

"You show them the reality," Cory said. "You show them that 40 people can watch someone die because no one wants to be the one to call for help."

For the Foltz family, awareness isn't enough — they want accountability and empathy to replace the fear and pride that feed the code of silence.

THE LAWS

On February 4, 2017, 19-year-old Timothy Piazza was found unresponsive after being pressured to drink an excessive amount of alcohol, leading to a fall that ultimately led to his death.

On November 12, 2018, Collin Wiant's family was told their 18-year-old son had died from asphyxiation.

It’s heartbreak that has been felt far too many times. Over the last 187 years, there have been 333 deaths due to hazing. Out of those, 122 happened in the previous 25 years.

Each victim has their own story. For Piazza, he was a Penn State sophomore pledging to a Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Wiant was a freshman at an Ohio University fraternity.

Both of these tragedies led to the enactment of anti-hazing laws in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“Often the laws are strengthened after a tragedy, sadly.... the families, typically the parents, and the families and friends and community members who experienced tragedy and loss rally together and advocate for change,” said Elizabeth Allan, stophazing.org principal and University of Maine higher education professor.

Hazing has been illegal in Ohio since 1983, but it was classified as a misdemeanor. Under Collin’s law, which was named in honor of the Wiant family, hazing can be a felony.

Sean Alto, a personal injury attorney specializing in hazing, is one of the attorneys working with Collin's family and helped make the state's antihazing law a reality. He said once Collin's law passed in 2021, Ohio's definition of hazing expanded.

“If somebody is handed a bottle of liquor and told to drink that bottle in a certain period of time, that's the coerced use of drug or alcohol. And if that person drinks that bottle, well, there's the likely result of serious physical harm or death, and so under those facts, I would anticipate a prosecutor who follows the statute would be able to seek and get an indictment for a felony three offense versus a misdemeanor offense,” said Alto.

Under Collin’s Law, colleges and universities must have anti-hazing policies in place. This Ohio law also targets bystanders who don't call for help. They can now be prosecuted.

In Pennsylvania, the laws differ.

“In Ohio, the legislature has criminalized failure to report, and in Pennsylvania, you have an amnesty law. So, if I see somebody who's being hazed in Pennsylvania, and I witness it, if I call 911. As long as I fall under those factors, I won't be criminally or civilly charged for the conduct that I engaged in,” said Alto.

In Pennsylvania, the Timothy Piazza Anti-Hazing Law was enacted in 2018. Similar to Ohio, the law imposes stricter penalties for hazing and mandates that universities adopt an anti-hazing policy.

“Hazing laws generally focus on two things, trying to stop hazing before it happens by criminalizing hazing, and setting forth what the criminal penalties will be for hazing, and then the other focus of the hazing laws, which is a recent phenomenon, is trying to incentivize people to call for help when a hazing victim is in trouble,” said David Bianchi, hazing attorney at Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain.

Many states' anti-hazing laws are not as strict as Ohio and Pennsylvania's. Six states — Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Wyoming — have none on the books.

While hazing is technically legal in those states, other charges can be invoked.

“If there's in those states where there's not a law criminalizing hazing, there's obviously not, you can't be found guilty of hazing, but there's assault, there's battery. There’s providing alcohol to a minor. There's other criminal offenses that could apply. It just doesn't have that imprimatur of hazing like we have in the other 44 states,” said Alto.

There's no federal law criminalizing hazing. The only federal law addressing hazing was passed in 2024 and requires universities to maintain transparency.

“Once a year, they have to have a hazing transparency filing, where that data is accumulated and posted on the university websites. And that will allow people who are thinking about going to a particular college or joining a particular fraternity or sorority to have a convenient place to go and look for the data,” said Bianchi.

Laws surrounding hazing are becoming stricter, but is it enough?

“The laws are in place as they should be, but it comes down to enforcement. When you have obvious instances of hazing where someone's gotten hurt or died, and you don't file criminal charges, that's a gap in the law,” said Bianchi.

Walter Kimbrough is a hazing expert and former president of Dillard University. He sees things differently.

“The law doesn't scare people, because they're still thinking 95 times out of 100, nothing bad is going to happen. We're not going to get caught, so let's just keep doing it. People are not afraid of the laws. So, every place where there are tough laws, in Florida, it hasn't, there are tough laws in Pennsylvania. It doesn't, it doesn't change anything with those laws,” said Kimbrough.

But what it really comes down to is perception.

“The earlier we intervene in the process, we can change the culture. We can empower young students and parents to say no, to step up and to do something. And so, we can break that chain earlier. I think that gives us the best chance at stopping hazing,” said Alto.

CHANGING THE HAZING MINDSET

'While the elimination of hazing may seem impossible, change won't be possible until people are held accountable for the crime and changes are made in the way society views hazing.'    ---  The 21 News editorial staff.


National Anti-Hazing Hotline
1-888-668-4293

Watch the 101 West APP EXTRA full interviews from Hazing - The Code of Silence by clicking the links below:

THE CULTURE

THE VICTIMS

THE LAWS