2 ex-Mizzou fraternity brothers charged with felonies after hazing incident left pledge blind, paralyzed

[Utilit99 4,099]

Holy fock. He nearly had more alcohol than blood in his body.

s

Two men have been charged in connection to the University of Missouri-Columbia alleged hazing incident that left 19-year-old freshman Daniel Santulli blind and unable to speak or walk on his own. 

A grand jury in Boone County, Missouri, on Friday indicted Ryan Patrick Delanty, of Ballwin, and Thomas Andrew Shultz, of Chesterfield, on a felony hazing charges, as well as misdemeanor offenses of supplying liquor to a minor or intoxicated person, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. 

Delanty is around 20 years old, while Shultz is 21, according to the newspaper. 

Santulli, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, outside Minneapolis, is being cared for by his parents, Thomas and Mary Pat, who have sued fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, the owner of the house and 23 members. All except two members have settled in the civil lawsuit out of court, the Post-Dispatch reported.  

MISSOURI FRAT PLEDGE LOSES ABILITY TO SEE, WALK, TALK AFTER ALLEGED HAZING INCIDENT, ATTORNEY SAYS 

Shultz also faces a felony for tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution, the Columbia Missourian reported.

"It’s the worst fraternity hazing injury ever in the United States," Santulli family attorney, David Bianchi, told the newspaper. "We’ve been doing these cases for 30 years. I know the landscape of hazing. I know the defense lawyers who defend the fraternities. And everyone agrees this is the worst ever."

The lawsuit says on the night of Oct. 19, 2021, Santulli reported to the fraternity house for so-called "Pledge Dad Reveal Night," after spending weeks sleep-deprived and stressed over the rushing process, in which he has been "repeatedly ordered to clean the brothers’ rooms and bring food, alcohol and marijuana to them at all hours of the night." He also was instructed to climb into a trash can with broken glass inside, leaving him with a bad cut on his foot that required stitches and left him using crutches. 

As fraternity president, Shultz had picked up the alcohol for the night, the lawsuit says. Delanty, named Santulli’s pledge dad, handed him a family size bottle of vodka and ordered him to finish it. 

Santulli was left on a couch with a blood alcohol level of .468, and the lawsuit says another member witnessed his deteriorating condition but did nothing. Santulli slid off the couch and his face landed on the floor, with his skin pale and lips blue. Members eventually drove him to a hospital, where medical staff noted he stopped breathing, and his heart had stopped. He was revived and placed on a ventilator. 

Days later, he was brought off the ventilator and was able to breath on his own, "but he was unresponsive, unaware of his surroundings, unable to communicate and had a significant injury to his brain," according to the lawsuit. His condition remains the same nine months later. 

The lawsuit says two days before the hazing incident, Santulli had broken crying on the phone to his sister about the stress of the fraternity initiation process and his family asked him to stop pledging. 

"Danny, however, was not a quitter," the lawsuit says, "and, like so many pledges before him, did not want to be humiliated and ridiculed by those whose ranks he was trying to join. The defendants knew this and had seen it all before."

Earlier this month, Wetzler was slapped with misdemeanor counts of supplying alcohol to a minor and possession of alcohol by a minor in connection to the incident last fall. Bianchi said Friday he hopes the Boone County prosecutor will bring more criminal indictments in addition to those for Shultz and Delanty. 

The university said in a May press release that the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity chapter had been removed from campus and 13 students have been disciplined, though without disclosing how. 

"Safety of the Mizzou community is our highest priority, and we must address alcohol use and other concerns in holistic ways to provide education and services that work together to support safer behavior and an overall culture," Mun Choi, University of Missouri president, said in a statement at the time. "In our conversation with student leaders, they are 100 percent with us in making our campus even safer for everyone, but there is continued work to do."

https://www.foxnews.com/us/mizzou-fraternity-brothers-charged-felonies-hazing-pledge-blind-paralyzed

[lod001 1,235]

Make those 2 drink the same amount. 

[Baker Boy 1,475]

Quote

The lawsuit says on the night of Oct. 19, 2021, Santulli reported to the fraternity house for so-called "Pledge Dad Reveal Night," after spending weeks sleep-deprived and stressed over the rushing process, in which he has been "repeatedly ordered to clean the brothers’ rooms and bring food, alcohol and marijuana to them at all hours of the night." He also was instructed to climb into a trash can with broken glass inside, leaving him with a bad cut on his foot that required stitches and left him using crutches. 

I never understood how anyone with any dignity would do this crap. Are there any fraternity brothers out there that can shed some light on this.

[Gladiators 1,900]

7 minutes ago, lod001 said:

Make those 2 drink until their BAC reaches .468

Agreed

[Utilit99 4,099]

2 minutes ago, Baker Boy said:

I never understood how anyone with any dignity would do this crap. Are there any fraternity brothers out there that can shed some light on this.

Not me. Never found the interest of the frats. 

They need to advertise these stories all over school campuses as well as highlight the kid in hospital and especially the penalties that the others all got. 

If that were me all paralyzed up, I would be praying for a mercy killing.  

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Danny should have been a quitter.

[edjr 5,540]

Why don't they just stick to doing gay things like they normally do?

[TimHauck 1,789]

That’s bad but how is this the worst ever?  Or do they just mean the worst besides when they die?

[Utilit99 4,099]

24 minutes ago, TimHauck said:

That’s bad but how is this the worst ever?  Or do they just mean the worst besides when they die?

I'm not sure. Did people die from hazing?

Even if so, I would prefer to die than be a paralyzed vegetable. As well as being a major burden on my family all because I was an idiot. 

[TimHauck 1,789]

17 minutes ago, Utilit99 said:

I'm not sure. Did people die from hazing?

Yes.  Probably most recent well-known incident was at Penn State in 2017

[DonS 3,063]

23 minutes ago, Utilit99 said:

I'm not sure. Did people die from hazing?

Even if so, I would prefer to die than be a paralyzed vegetable. As well as being a major burden on my family all because I was an idiot. 

100x this. 

[Baker Boy 1,475]

List of hazing deaths in the United States

There has been at least one university hazing death each year from 1969 to 2021.[2] According to Franklin College journalism professor Hank Nuwer, over 200 university hazing deaths have occurred since 1838, with 40 deaths between 2007 and 2017 alone.[3] Alcohol poisoning is the biggest cause of death.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hazing_deaths_in_the_United_States

 

 

 

 

[jerryskids 5,157]

On 6/20/2022 at 10:10 AM, Baker Boy said:

I never understood how anyone with any dignity would do this crap. Are there any fraternity brothers out there that can shed some light on this.

Our fraternity never did anything which physically threatened the pledges, including forced or coerced drinking.  And it was 100% inside of the house.

I would explain the benefits of constructive psychological hazing, but you've all made up your minds so I won't waste my time. 

[TheNewGirl 1,018]

17 minutes ago, jerryskids said:

Our fraternity never did anything which physically threatened the pledges, including forced or coerced drinking.  And it was 100% inside of the house.

I would explain the benefits of constructive psychological hazing, but you've all made up your minds so I won't waste my time. 

I don't know that the benefits these days would be the same as when you were in college. 

Psychological hazing = trauma.  Why cause someone additional trauma in order to "fit in" with a group? I know you're not going to waste your time, so this is more rhetorical, I guess. 

[edjr 5,540]

Blind and paralyzed.   I would say that's as bad as the dude from the Metallica "One" video

[cmh6476 748]

As a ku fan all I can say is this isn't indicative if the entire university. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But not being good at sports is

[Utilit99 4,099]

7 minutes ago, cmh6476 said:

As a ku fan all I can say is this isn't indicative if the entire university. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But not being good at sports is

Didn't he go to UofM?

[Gepetto 977]

18 minutes ago, Utilit99 said:

Didn't he go to UofM?

I think he knows and is criticizing UofM while noting he's a KU fan; it was a little difficult to understand though I agree.

[Utilit99 4,099]

1 minute ago, Gepetto said:

I think he knows and is criticizing UofM while noting he's a KU fan; it was a little difficult to understand though I agree.

Gotcha. 

[Drizzay 643]

This is a big reason why "drinking" should be introduced to teenagers as a benign event.  You have a glass of wine at dinner, you have a beer at the BBQ.  Don't put such a stigma on drinking underage.  Because, this is what happens.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

1 hour ago, Drizzay said:

This is a big reason why "drinking" should be introduced to teenagers as a benign event.  You have a glass of wine at dinner, you have a beer at the BBQ.  Don't put such a stigma on drinking underage.  Because, this is what happens.

We also need to do away with the notion that ability to consume massive amounts of alcohol is "manly."

I see this crap all the time here in china. "you are so big! How much can you drink?"

Like... In my prime, a lot, but why the fock would I want to?

[Utilit99 4,099]

1 hour ago, titans&bucs&bearsohmy! said:

We also need to do away with the notion that ability to consume massive amounts of alcohol is "manly."

I see this crap all the time here in china. "you are so big! How much can you drink?"

Like... In my prime, a lot, but why the fock would I want to?

 

[DonS 3,063]

Why don't they keep it classy like back in the old days?

 

 

[TheNewGirl 1,018]

11 hours ago, Drizzay said:

This is a big reason why "drinking" should be introduced to teenagers as a benign event.  You have a glass of wine at dinner, you have a beer at the BBQ.  Don't put such a stigma on drinking underage.  Because, this is what happens.

Eh, yes and no. 

Drinking early changes brain chemistry; can really get addiction started at any early age if one is predisposed, or not taught to moderate, etc. 

[jerryskids 5,157]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:40 PM, TheNewGirl said:

I don't know that the benefits these days would be the same as when you were in college. 

Psychological hazing = trauma.  Why cause someone additional trauma in order to "fit in" with a group? I know you're not going to waste your time, so this is more rhetorical, I guess. 

Well, since you used your evil woman skills to go all passive aggressive with me...   I'll attempt to answer.  Note that I've attempted to address this in the past with no success, hence my hesitance, but I'm feeling the muse so...

There are 3 sure things in life:
1. Death
2. Taxes
3. If you weren't directly involved, or had a relative involved, with a greek house, you think they suck

With that backdrop, I suspect many of them do suck.  Any place that just hazes because the brothers were hazed, with no purpose to the hazing, are questionable at best.  And any place that allows what happened to that poor kid should be destined to an eternity in hell.

Our situation was different in a number of ways.  One, it was a technical university, and the students had smartz and were there for school first.  Now, you may still have some bad apples, but those would get weeded out by the sane/smart ones.  Two, because it was a technical university, the greeks had more of what most of society would call "normally social" kids, whereas the dorms tended to have the most socially awkward kids (so think of frats for me was like dorms at most other schools). 

Third, when I was there (not the case today), pledges lived in the house from the get go.  I spent one day in a dorm, the day I arrived.  Rush started the next day, I crashed at the house I was looking at, and was a pledge living there afterward.  From the get go you are involved in the maintenance of the house.  We did it all -- cleaning, repairs and maintenance, treasury, food purchases, etc.  It was not a house for rich kids to join, pay their dues (by the way, with the reduced food costs, it was cheaper for me to be in a fraternity than in a dorm), and party.  You had to belong, you had to help, you had to WANT to make the place better.  Unfortunately that is tough to tell in a single day of decision to pledge, vs. a semester or year to hang around that you had at other schools.

You had to decide if the house was something you were willing to emotionally and physically commit to.  So we needed to make it a little... difficult to join.  I won't go into the details but I'll say that since the pledges lived in the house, it couldn't be 24/7 hazing or else nobody would stay.  It was something of a boiling the frog concept.  The goals were to create unit integrity within the pledge class, and though that a bond through the house.  Nobody was physically in danger, and nobody I know has lasting emotional scars.

33 years later my pledge brothers are still some of my best friends in life.  We still stay in touch, and if any of us was ever in trouble, we would hop on the next plane to go help him.  

My son was in a fraternity, and it was great for him as it was for me.  He knows more details about my experience, which was harder than his house could do in the current age, and he's jealous.  He has good friends including his very best friend and roommate, but he can tell that the adversity I faced created a tighter bond with the house than his experience did.

Anyway, there you go.