College and university hazings turned tragic haunt campuses as students begin the fall semester

The family of 19-year-old brain injury victim Danny Santulli speaks out on the dangers of fraternity hazing and seeks justice on 'The Story.'

Hazing, the practice of subjecting new members of a group to varying degrees of degradation for the supposed sake of building solidarity, has been around for centuries and can be found in street gangs, the military, sports teams and numerous other organizations. 

In recent years, a string of tragic deaths related to the hazing of young men, many of them just 18 or 19 years old, has brought increased attention to the dangers of hazing at fraternities in the United States. 

The first death from hazing at an American university likely occurred in October 1873. Mortimer M. Leggett, a student at Cornell University who wanted to join Kappa Alpha, was being led blindfolded by two members of the fraternity when he fell off a cliff near campus, fracturing his skull and dislocating his neck. 

The New York Sun wrote in an Oct. 17, 1873 report that "it had been alleged that they were out hazing," but witnesses testified "hazing was not the object of the evening’s excursion, and that the poor victim was being initiated into some college society."

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Hazing has been a problem at colleges for over a century.  (Associated Press)

Elizabeth Allan, a University of Maine professor of higher education, found in a 2008 study that about 55% of college students involved in campus clubs and organizations reported some form of hazing. By 2018, Allan found that number had dropped to about 26% at seven schools that are a part of the Hazing Prevention Consortium, a group of schools that have committed to stopping hazing. 

"We looked at a wide range of