EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Over time, stretching back more than a century, at least six hazing-related deaths have been reported in Michigan. Though the number may appear small over such a long span of time, each loss is a powerful reminder that hazing remains a persistent and deadly problem, despite ongoing efforts at reform.
This information comes from a report published in Campus Safety Magazine, a media company geared toward professionals responsible for safety, security, and emergency management at schools, colleges, universities, and healthcare facilities. Information compiled in the report highlights data from an investigation that resulted in the creation of an interactive database that catalogs what they consider to be hazing-related deaths and honor lives lost since 1838.
Hazing kills too many.
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The Campus Safety Magazine report says that there have been 122 people nationwide who have died from hazing in last 25 Years and 333 total since 1838.
The colleges that have had highest number of hazing deaths are the University of Texas at Austin (8), Northern Illinois University (6), Cornell University (5) and Yale University (5). The college fraternities with the most hazing deaths include Delta Kappa Epsilon (10), Lambda Chi Alpha (10) and Pi Kappa Alpha (10).
Six Michigan students died from hazing.
In Michigan, six hazing deaths are documented in the database. One of those was 21-year-old Phat Nguyen, a Michigan State University junior at the time, who died on November 19, 2021. During a Pi Alpha Phi fraternity “blackout event,” Nguyen consumed excessive alcohol and later died of acute alcohol intoxication. Three other pledges were hospitalized.
While Nguyen is the most recent student in the database who died, five other hazing-related fatalities have occurred in Michigan. The other hazing deaths include Bailey Broderick (2021), Matt Epling (2002), Stephen Petz (1999), Courtney Cantor (1998) and Merrill A. Putnam (1929).
Bailey Broderick.
Bailey Broderick was hit and killed by a drunk pledge near Western Michigan University campus’s Fraternity Village while he was performing pledge duties. This involved the Sigma Chi fraternity. After her killer, 20-year-old pledge Hunter Hudgins, was sentenced to 35 months to 15 years in prison, Bailey’s mother told the judge, “I not only lost my baby, but I also lost my mind. I have been paralyzed for a year. Hunter has totally destroyed our lives, he has ensured that we live the rest of our lives in pain, tears and constant yearning for a daughter that should be here.”
Matt Epling.
14-year-old, a student in East Lansing, Matt Epling became the face of a hazing victim after committing suicide, according to his father, Kevin, and numerous media reports. His death, which
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occurred on the last day of being in the 8th grade when he was assaulted by high schoolers. His father said, “They restrained him. They smashed eggs on him. They poured syrup on him and basically told him his life in high school was going to be hell.”
Epling’s death resulted in the Matt Epling Safe School Law – or “Matt’s Law” – which was enacted to address bullying in schools.
Stephen Petz.
Pledge Stephen Petz, 19, died during an initiation that was videotaped at the time. Petz died of cardiac arrest due to alcohol poisoning. He had been playing a game called the “wheel of torture’ and consumed 27 shots of alcohol. This happened at Ferris State University and the organization involved was the Knights of College Leadership, an off-campus, unauthorized fraternity.
Courtney Cantor.
19-year-old Courtney Cantor had alcohol and the date-rape drug, GHB, in her system when she fell to her death from a dormitory at a Phi Delta Theta fraternity event. The exact circumstances surrounding her final moments remain unclear as there were not witnesses to her fall – and both national organizations involved, Phi Delta Theta and Chi Omega organizations claimed have strict policies enforcing alcohol-free pledging. However, despite these regulations, alcohol was present in Cantor’s system. This happened at the University of Michigan.
Merrill A. Putnam.
Merrill Putnam died of blood poisoning back in 1929. He was only 7-years-old and two older boys, aged 11 and 14, had repeatedly slammed him to the ground in a prank they called the “Royal Bumps.” This happened in Flint, Michigan four days before the boy’s death.
Michigan News Source uncovered an article from the Flint Journal dated August 17, 1929 that said the two boys were exonerated of blame in connection with the death of Putnam. Although the physicians who performed the postmortem said the injury was primarily responsible for the blood poisoning from which Putnam died of, it was determined that the two boys had no knowledge of Putnam’s condition and could not be held responsible even though their treatment of Putnam hastened the end of his life.
Michigan’s anti-hazing statute sparked by a middle schooler’s broken leg.
Michigan has hazing legislation that was codified in 2004, and is referred to as Garret’s Law. It prohibits anyone affiliated with a school – whether as a student, employee, or volunteer – from participating in hazing. The passed legislation defines hazing as intentional, knowing, or reckless acts done for the purpose of joining or remaining in an organization that endanger someone’s physical safety. It includes physical brutality, forced consumption of harmful substances, and dangerous or criminal acts. Penalties escalate based on harm: up to 93 days in jail for injury, five years for serious impairment, and 15 years for a hazing-related death.
The law is named after 8th grader Garret Drogosch, who broke his leg during a football practice at Meads Mill Middle School in Northville. After it happened, Drogosch said about the incident in an interview, “It wasn’t football that broke my leg. It was hazing. I had never heard about it. I learned what it means.”
According to a report on the “Education Week” website, the 12-year-old had been targeted by three coaches because he was an 8th grader and it was “8th grade hit day” according to the student’s father, Paul. It was described as a day where an 8th grader choses a 7th grader and hits him after a running start of five yards. The 7th graders were ordered to stand still with their feet together and their arms by their sides – and not to protect themselves.
Garret, who was 4 feet 11 inches tall and only weighed 85 pounds at the time, was chosen three separate times to be hit. According to a lawsuit, the third student – an eighth grader nearly a foot taller and at least 45 pounds heavier – delivered a blow that broke two bones in Garret’s leg. During an investigation into the event, the Northville school district officials use the word “drill” to describe what happened and not “hazing.”
Nevertheless, the district ultimately suspended the coaches responsible for the practice from their teaching positions for three days. They were also barred from coaching football at the school again. Also resulting from the event was the passage of Garret’s Law, in which Drogosch wrote letters to state lawmakers to urge them to vote for the legislation – and testified in front of the State Senate about his experience.
The bottom line.
Hazing isn’t just a relic of the past – it’s a current and deadly problem that continues to cost lives, including here in Michigan. Behind every statistic is a grieving family and a young life cut short. Laws like Garret’s are a step forward, but enforcement, transparency, and cultural change are critical to ending this cycle. Until universities, fraternities, and schools stop treating hazing as tradition and start treating it as the crime it is, more names may be added to Michigan’s grim tally.
