![]() | This article needs to be updated.(February 2022) |
The Andrew Coffey lawsuit involved the death of a young man who was killed in November 2017 during a fraternity event, triggering an anti-hazing movement in Florida. On November 3, 2017, Florida State University junior Andrew Coffey was killed by acute alcohol poisoning after participating in Big Brother Night, a fraternity event hosted by Pi Kappa Phi. Coffey was found unresponsive on a couch the morning after the event, and his death became part of a national wave of criticism of fraternity hazing practices. Members of the fraternity were eventually prosecuted for their role in Andrew Coffey's death. The majority of Pi Kappa Phi defendants pled guilty to misdemeanor hazing in April 2018. The final two defendants, Luke Kluttz and Anthony Petagine, pled guilty to felony hazing in June 2021 after the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear their case.
Andrew Coffey, a junior who transferred to FSU to study civil engineering, was a prospective member of Pi Kappa Phi—commonly referred to as a pledge. On November 2, the fraternity was hosting "Big Brother Night" at an off-campus house. Big Brother Night was intended to celebrate pledges becoming mentored by their sponsors, and it was typically a night of heavy drinking for the fraternity. At the time, the fraternity was under a liquor ban, but fraternity members told pledges that the liquor ban was lifted specifically for Big Brother Night. [1] [2] The fraternity's Executive Council arranged for rideshare vehicles to take fraternity members and pledges from the fraternity house to an off-campus location. The arrangement was meant to circumvent university policies and national chapter policies regarding alcohol.[ citation needed ]
At some point during the party, Coffey was given a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon and was coerced into drinking it all in a tradition known as "the family bottle." [3] [4] [2] Court records said that while pledges were not physically forced into drinking, "it is clear the environment created by the leaders and fraternity members led to an expectation of abusive drinking or the pledges would face ostracism by the group." [2] He drank enough that he passed out. [1] [4]
In the morning, another pledge found Coffey was unresponsive. Before calling 911, he called and texted fraternity members, creating an 11-minute delay between Coffey's discovery and an eventual call for help. An autopsy revealed that Coffey had a blood alcohol level of 0.447, or over 5 times the legal limit. [5] [1] At the time of his death, his BAC might have reached as high as 0.558, or about 7 times the legal limit. [2]
During the 911 call, someone can be heard saying "We had a party last night and my friend passed out on the couch on his side and his lips are purple. His body is extremely stiff and I can't wake him up, and, honestly, I don't feel a pulse." Fraternity members reportedly didn't know the address of the house or the nearest intersection. Most of the audio tape of the 911 call has the dispatcher leading the caller through chest compressions. [6]
CNN reported that law enforcement was frustrated by the general lack of cooperation with the investigation among fraternity members. Of the 9 fraternity leaders, 7 refused to speak, and 19 pledges refused to speak to law enforcement as well. The grand jury presentment alleged that those who did speak to the police were reciting a pre-rehearsed script that offered mostly self-serving information. [1]
Regardless, the grand jury found the evidence worthy of indictment. On January 17, 2018, nine fraternity members from Pi Kappa Phi were arrested and charged with hazing causing injury or death, which is a third-degree felony in Florida under the Chad Meredith Act. [6] 5 of the defendants pled guilty to 2 counts of misdemeanor hazing, and 4 of them spent 60 days in jail. One of the defendants, Connor Ravelo, was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 20 of which he had previously served. [4] Ravelo was the only one called to testify before the grand jury. According to court records, he was the one who bought the Wild Turkey bottle that Coffey was coerced into drinking. He was underage when he purchased it with a fake ID. Investigators said there were, in total, 21 underage drinkers at Big Brother Night who were encouraged to drink to excess. [2]
Three of the men charged with felony hazing pled not guilty. [4] A judge initially dismissed the felony case against the three men after defense lawyers argued that the charges under Florida's hazing statute were "too vague," but it was overturned in the First District Court of Appeals. The First District ruling established that individuals who organize or oversee the use of hazing can be charged under Florida's anti-hazing statute, regardless of whether they were physically present. [7]
The Florida Supreme Court declined to hear the defendants' case, [8] and the last two defendants in the Coffey hazing death investigation pled guilty to felony hazing in June 2021. [9]
The Coffey family filed a civil suit against the nine men who were charged with Andrew Coffey's death, the national Pi Kappa Phi fraternity organization, the chapter's former adviser, and others. [4] [10] [11] With the exception of Ravelo, all fraternity members named in the lawsuit were part of the Executive Council that arranged the party. The lawsuit also includes the two people who rented the off-campus home to the fraternity. [11] In the suit, the Coffeys alleged that the national office for Pi Kappa Phi, through action and inaction, perpetuated a culture of abuse and hazing at the FSU chapter.
“The universities can only do so much, but when the national fraternities know these dangerous, illegal traditions are taking place and they turn a blind eye, they’re as guilty as anybody else because they are expecting the tradition to continue,” said David W. Bianchi, the family's lawyer. [10] Bianchi helped draft the Chad Meredith Act after the 2001 hazing death of Chad Meredith at the University of Miami. [12]
In June 2018, virtually everyone named in the lawsuit settled with the Coffey family for an undisclosed amount. [13]
Immediately after the news of Coffey's death, FSU President John Thrasher suspended all Greek life on campus and banned alcohol at all student organization events. [2] [5] At the time, FSU was home to 55 fraternities and sororities and more than 700 student organizations. [5] Thrasher partially lifted the Greek life suspension on January 29, 2018, allowing sororities and fraternities to participate in philanthropic events and to recruit new members. [11] FSU lifted the alcohol ban in March 2018. [14] [15] However, the FSU chapter of Pi Kappa Phi was permanently closed by the national office in response to Coffey's death. [2] [11]
In the wake of the Andrew Coffey incident, the university drafted new alcohol policies. In order to serve alcohol at social events, organizers are now required to go through risk management training. [14] [15]
A string of high-profile hazing deaths in the past few years, including the death of Tim Piazza at Penn State, has reignited the anti-hazing movement. [16] Reporters noted that this is the first gathering of parents of students killed in hazing incidents who have come together to push for new legislation. The Coffeys joined more than a dozen families to form PUSH (Parents United to Stop Hazing). PUSH is part of a nationwide effort to end hazing practices on college campuses. [4] The Coffeys and the rest of PUSH's members want lawmakers to create a nationwide anti-hazing law that makes hazing a federal crime. [17] David W. Bianchi and Michael E. Levine, the Coffey family attorneys, have drafted amendments to Florida's anti-hazing statute to make it tougher and to provide immunity for the first person who calls 911 to report a medical emergency resulting from a hazing incident. That legislative effort passed the Florida House and Senate with unanimous votes, and was signed into law on June 25, 2019. [18] [19]
Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠΚΑ), commonly known as PIKE, is a college fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1868. The fraternity has over 225 chapters and provisional chapters across the United States and abroad with over 15,500 undergraduate members and over 300,000 lifetime initiates.
Beta Theta Pi (ΒΘΠ), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of August 2023 it consists of 142 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada. More than 219,000 members have been initiated worldwide and there are currently around 8,500 undergraduate members. Beta Theta Pi is the oldest of the three fraternities that formed the Miami Triad, along with Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi.
Lambda Phi Epsilon is the largest Asian-American-Interest fraternity in North America. Lambda Phi Epsilon is affiliated with the National APIDA Panhellenic Association, and is a former member of the North American Interfraternity Conference.
Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. (ΩΨΦ) is a historically African-American fraternity. The fraternity was founded on November 17, 1911, the first at a historically black university, by three Howard University students, Edgar Amos Love, Oscar James Cooper and Frank Coleman, and their faculty adviser, Dr. Ernest Everett Just. Since its founding the organization has chartered over 750 undergraduate and graduate chapters.
Pi Kappa Phi (ΠΚΦ), commonly known as Pi Kapp(s), is an American Greek Letter secret and social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. The fraternity has 187 active chapters (168 chartered chapters and 19 associate chapters), and more than 113,000 initiated members.
Theta Chi (ΘΧ) is an international college fraternity. It was founded on April 10, 1856, at Norwich University then-located in Norwich, Vermont, and has initiated more than 200,000 members and currently has over 8,700 collegiate members across North America.
Phi Delta Theta (ΦΔΘ), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has over 200 active chapters and colonies in over 44 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces and has initiated more than 310,000 men between 1848 and 2024. There are over 180,000 living alumni. Phi Delta Theta chartered house corporations own more than 135 houses valued at over $141 million as of summer 2015. There are nearly 100 recognized alumni clubs across the U.S. and Canada.
Phi Gamma Delta (ΦΓΔ), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with more than 144 active chapters and 10 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848. Along with Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Gamma Delta forms a half of the Jefferson Duo. Since its founding in 1848, the fraternity has initiated more than 196,000 brothers. The nickname FIJI is used commonly by the fraternity due to Phi Gamma Delta bylaws that limit the use of the Greek letters.
Zeta Beta Tau (ΖΒΤ) is a Greek-letter social fraternity based in North America. It was founded on December 29, 1898. Originally a Zionist youth society, its purpose changed from the Zionism of the fraternity's early years when, in 1954, the fraternity became non-sectarian and open to non-Jewish members, changing its membership policy to include "All Men of Good Character" regardless of religious or ethnic background, while still being recognized as the first Jewish Fraternity.
Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity, Inc. was an American university-level fraternity. It was founded in 1929 at the University of California, Berkeley. On August 1, 2023, Pi Alpha Phi Fraternity announced that it was closing all of its chapters. At the time, it was the oldest active Asian-American interest fraternity in the United States. It was a founding member of the National APIDA Panhellenic Association.
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. (ΚΑΨ) is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed or national origin though membership traditionally is dominated by those of African heritage. The fraternity has over 160,000 members with 721 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state of the United States, and international chapters in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Japan, United States Virgin Islands, Nigeria, South Africa, the Dominican Republic, and The Bahamas.
Sigma Phi Epsilon (ΣΦΕ), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of Richmond, and its national headquarters remains in Richmond, Virginia. It was founded on three principles: Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love. Sigma Phi Epsilon is one of the largest social fraternities in the United States in terms of current undergraduate membership.
Tau Kappa Epsilon (ΤΚΕ), commonly known as ΤΚΕ or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an international organization. Since its founding in 1899, Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity has never had an exclusionary or discriminatory clause to prevent individuals from joining and has instead admitted members based on their "personal worth and character". As of fall 2023, there are 221 active ΤΚΕ chapters and colonies with over 298,000-lifetime members.
Kappa Sigma (ΚΣ), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and colonies in North America. Its endowment fund, founded in 1919, has donated more than $5 million to undergrads since 1948. In 2012 alone, the Fraternity's endowment fund raised over $1 million in donations.
The Penn State fraternity hazing scandal involves a case related to Timothy John Piazza who died as the result of hazing at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Pennsylvania State University at University Park, Pennsylvania. The incident led to closure of the fraternity's chapter at the university, and at least 26 members of the fraternity had charges of involuntary manslaughter dropped by a presiding judge.
Maxwell Gruver died in a hazing ritual while pledging at the Louisiana State University chapter of Phi Delta Theta. He reportedly had condiments thrown at him while reciting the Greek alphabet and was forced to drink alcohol if he made mistakes. Phi Delta Theta suspended the university's chapter after the incident and ten men were arrested. Four of the men were indicted on charges of negligent homicide in March 2018.
Stone Justin Foltz, a sophomore Bowling Green State University (BGSU) student, died of alcohol intoxication three days after attending a Pi Kappa Alpha new member initiation event held at an off-campus house. On April 29, 2021, eight men were indicted for hazing, six of whom were further charged with manslaughter in connection with the event.