This College Student Suffered Brain Damage While Pledging: Now, His Parents Have Filed A Lawsuit Against A Fraternity For Hazing
Daniel Santulli, a nineteen-year-old student at the University of Missouri, was found unresponsive and with a blood alcohol content six times greater than the legal limit after a fraternity party.
Now, Santulli’s parents are suing Phi Gamma Delta for the alleged hazing that left their son with severe brain damage.
From Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Santulli decided to pledge for Phi Gamma Delta during his freshman year of college.
According to Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain (STFBC), the law firm who filed the suit, Santulli “suffered a month of abuse” while pledging.
Santulli was responsible for “Retrieving food, alcohol, and marijuana on command, buying things for fraternity members with his own money, and cleaning the bedrooms at the chapter house.”
On October 19, 2021, the hazing allegedly culminated into a “pledge dad reveal night.” On this night, “all pledges were ordered to report to the chapter house via text. They were blindfolded before their appointed ‘pledge dad.'”
This tradition is not unique to Phi Gamma Delta but rather is when an older member of any Greek life organization acts as a “mentor” to younger pledges.
After Santulli’s pledge dad was appointed to him, Santulli was given an entire bottle of vodka that “he was pressured to finish before the end of the night.”
Santulli complied until around midnight when he allegedly collapsed on a couch. Eventually, a fraternity member did find Santulli and deemed him unresponsive. STFBC also said that Santulli had “pale skin and blue lips.”
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Rather than immediately calling an ambulance, a fraternity member drove Santulli to the hospital, where staff realized that he was in cardiac arrest.
“They immediately restarted his heart and admitted him to the ICU. His blood was tested, and he had a BAC of .468,” STFBC said, “He required a ventilator for a few days. While Santulli can breathe on his own now, the brain damage he sustained means he’s unable to communicate and is not aware of his surroundings.”
Following Santulli’s hospitalization, the University of Missouri suspended all fraternal activities. Phi Gamma Delta was also suspended temporarily under the order of both the university and the national fraternity organization.
“The International Fraternity suspends the chapter at the University of Missouri, and we continue to provide support and cooperation when requested by local authorities as they pursue their investigation,” Rob Caudill, the Phi Gamma Delta Executive Director, said in a statement.
“We expect all chapters and members to follow the law and abide by the Fraternity’s policies which prohibit hazing and the provision of alcohol to minors
According to the Columbia Missourian, a large crowd protested outside the Phi Gamma Delta house the following Wednesday and chanted, “Stop the hazing. We want justice.”
The STFBC filed the Santulli family’s lawsuit on January 27, 2022– exactly one hundred days since the incident. Despite this long recovery period, Santulli is still unable to speak or comprehend his surroundings.
“This story is one of the most tragic hazing cases we have ever encountered,” STFBC said, “Now, a young man has been robbed of his future.”
To read the entire statement by STFBC, visit the link here.
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