Adam Oakes’ Family Files Damage Action Against Delta Chi Fraternity

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com Adam Oakes, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University (“VCU”), died of alcohol poisoning allegedly resulting from hazing at a Big Brother event organized by members of the campus’s Delta Chi Chapter.  Since that...
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Gruver Jury Trial Outcome

Micah E. Kamrass, Fraternal Law Partners, mkamrass@manleyburke.com Earlier this month, a jury found that the Gruver family was entitled to $6,100,000 as damages because of the 2017 death of Max Gruver. Gruver was hazed to death by members of the...
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Last Straw in Las Cruces: New Mexico State University Releases Men’s Basketball Head Coach Amidst Hazing Allegations

Haellie Gordon, [1] Fraternal Law Partners, hgordon@manleyburke.com   On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, New Mexico State University (“NMSU”) fired its first-year men’s basketball head coach, Greg Heiar, and suspended the remainder of the team’s 2023 season.[1] This decision came as...
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Anti-Hazing Bill Awaits Governor’s Signature in Kentucky

Ilana Linder, Fraternal Law Partners, Ilana.Linder@manleyburke.com Thomas “Lofton” Hazelwood, a freshman at the University of Kentucky (“University”), died in 2021. Although his death was originally suspected to be the result of hazing, the University eventually released a report, concluding, in...
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FIRE Publishes Additional Resources for Fraternal Groups

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which has a remarkable record of defending the freedom of speech, association, and due process rights of students and faculty members across the country, has...
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Greek Life Revitalization Report

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com Northern Illinois University, located in DeKalb, Illinois, had seen its student population decline from a high of 18,200 in the 1990’s, to 11,834 in the 2020-21 school year. Greek life on the campus,...
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New Suit Alleging Procedural Deficincies Filed Against USC

Ilana Linder, Fraternal Law Partners, Ilana.Linder@manleyburke.com On January 4, 2023, an unidentified Petitioner, who was the former president of his fraternity at the University of Southern California (“USC” or the “University”), filed a Petition for Writ of Administrative Mandate (“Petition”)...
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Cornell University vs. New York Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi Association

Timothy M. Burke, Fraternal Law Partners, tburke@manleyburke.com Members of Phi Kappa Psi were part of the first graduating class at Cornell University in 1869, and for the next century and a half, the University and the Fraternity maintained a beneficial...
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Hazing Death Settlements: Serafin-Bazan and Foltz

Gracie Woodyard, [1]­­  Fraternal Law Partners, Gracie.Woodyard@manleyburke.com Sebastian Serafin-Bazan was a freshman at the University at Buffalo when, in April 2019, he passed away days after being found unresponsive in the yard of an off-campus fraternity house.2 His death followed...
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“We’ve Got You Covered” – Qualified Immunity Provides Protection to University’s Title IX Investigators

Haellie Gordon, [1] Fraternal Law Partners, hgordon@manleyburke.com On December 22, 2022, the Kentucky Court of Appeals reaffirmed the protection of university employees and officers performing investigations of misconduct, such as Title IX investigations, under qualified immunity.[1] Loandrea Dahmer was a...
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