Kordel Davis

Last updated
Kordel Davis
Born (1997-09-19) September 19, 1997 (age 27)
Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education Rutgers University
Occupation(s)singer-songwriter
activist

Kordel Davis (born September 19, 1997) is an American singer-songwriter and activist.

Contents

Early life

Davis was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania. [1] He is a 2016 graduate of Exeter Township Senior High School, [2] where he was a member of the football team. [3]

While a student at Pennsylvania State University, Davis was a whistleblower in the Penn State fraternity hazing scandal. [4] [5] [6] [7] He urged the executive leadership within the fraternity to call 911 in order to save the life of an unconscious pledge. [8] [9] Davis received academic scholarships to attend Penn State, and was on the staff of Berkey Creamery. [3]

Career

Davis serves as advisor to the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees. [10] In 2019, he signed onto a letter addressed to United States Senator Elizabeth Warren analyzing African-American land loss [11] [12] leading to Senator Warren joining Senators Cory Booker, Raphael Warnock, and Bernie Sanders in urging United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to remedy African-American land loss. [13]

In 2020, Davis led George Floyd protests in North Carolina. [14] He has worked as a Hulu consultant. [15]

Davis is a notable Hazing Prevention advocate, delivering Keynote addresses at colleges including University of Missouri and University of New Hampshire. [16] [17] [18]

Davis was a staff member of the Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania. [19] [20]

Media appearances

Davis has appeared on Good Morning America , [21] CNN, [22] Dateline NBC, [23] and A&E. [24]

Bibliography

Selected articles

“Nine. One. One.” [25]

Discography

Singles

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications
YearPeak chart positions Certifications Album
US US

Adult

Pop

US

Hol.

US

Main.

Rock

US

Mod.

Rock

“Pagoda Lights” [26] 2023—————
“Empath” [27] 2023—————
"Love Thy Neighbor" [28] 2023—————
"KENYA [from the vault]" [29] 2024—————
"INVISIBLE. XO" [30] 2024—————

Legacy

Davis is notable for being one of the few people in American history to publicly disavow his college fraternity chapter. His leadership in this capacity has been documented by the Harvard University Press book Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels. [31] Dr. Drew Pinsky compared Davis’ experience within Penn State’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity to the Milgram experiment conducted at Yale University. [32]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hazing</span> Rituals of humiliation used to initiate someone into a group

Hazing, initiation, beasting, bastardisation, ragging or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person's willingness to participate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pi Kappa Alpha</span> North American collegiate fraternity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beta Theta Pi</span> North American collegiate fraternity

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 150 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada. More than 223,000 members have been initiated worldwide and there are currently around 9,500 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambda Phi Epsilon</span> North American Asian-American-Interest collegiate fraternity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pi Kappa Phi</span> American collegiate fraternity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Tau Delta</span> North American collegiate fraternity

Delta Tau Delta (ΔΤΔ) is a United States–based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters and colonies nationwide, with an estimated 10,000 undergraduate members and over 170,000-lifetime members. Delta Tau Delta is informally referred to as "DTD" or "Delts."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phi Gamma Delta</span> North American collegiate social fraternity

Phi Gamma Delta (ΦΓΔ), commonly known as Fiji, is a social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 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, the fraternity has initiated more than 211,000 brothers. The nickname FIJI is used commonly by the fraternity due to Phi Gamma Delta bylaws limiting the use of the Greek letters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Alpha Epsilon</span> North American collegiate fraternity

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is the only one founded in the Antebellum South. Its national headquarters, the Levere Memorial Temple, was established on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1926. The fraternity's mission statement is "To promote the highest standards of friendship, scholarship and service for our members throughout life."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pi Alpha Phi</span> Asian-American-interest collegiate fraternity (1929–2023)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tau Gamma Phi</span> Philippines service fraternity

Tau Gamma Phi (ΤΓΦ), also known as Triskelions’ Grand Fraternity, is a fraternity established in the Philippines. Its members call themselves Triskelions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kappa Alpha Psi</span> International historically Black fraternity

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, it has never restricted membership based on color, creed, or national origin though membership traditionally is dominated by those of Black 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 ten countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Phi Epsilon</span> North American collegiate fraternity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Rho</span> Fraternity in the University of the Philippines Diliman

The Sigma Rho Fraternity (ΣΡ) is a College of Law-based fraternity in the University of the Philippines Diliman. Having been formally organized in 1938, it is the oldest law-based Greek-letter fraternity in Asia. However, it has also expanded its membership base to include undergraduate students, including those studying for degrees in engineering, business, and sports science. It is one of the three fraternities based in the College of Law, the other two being Alpha Phi Beta and Scintilla Juris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kappa Sigma</span> North American collegiate fraternity

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha Tau Omega</span> North American collegiate fraternity

Alpha Tau Omega (ΑΤΩ), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United States and has initiated more than 229,000 members. VMI Cadets are no longer associated with the fraternity. In 1885, the VMI Board of Visitors ruled that cadets could no longer join fraternities based on the belief that allegiance to a fraternal group undermined the cohesiveness of and loyalty to the Corps of Cadets.

The Penn State fraternity hazing scandal is an ongoing issue within the Greek life system at Pennsylvania State University. The scandal encompasses hazing, binge drinking and secretive ritualistic behavior.

Andrew Coffey was killed in November 2017 during a fraternity event, triggering an anti-hazing movement in Florida. On November 3, 2017, Coffey, a Florida State University junior, 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 Supreme Court of Florida declined to hear their case.

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 answering questions about the fraternity, and was forced to drink 190 proof alcohol if he made mistakes. His body was found the next day on September 14, 2017.

References

  1. ↑ Flanagan, Caitlin (2017-10-05). "Death at a Penn State Fraternity". The Atlantic. ISSN   2151-9463 . Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  2. ↑ "Exeter High grad says he wanted to call for help in Penn State fraternity death". Reading Eagle. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  3. 1 2 Snyder, Susan (2017-05-08). "A few Penn State frat members wanted to call 911". Inquirer. Retrieved 2024-11-26.
  4. ↑ Stone, Matthew. "Penn State frat brother says pleas to call 911 for unconscious pledge were dismissed". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  5. ↑ Kitchener, Caroline (2017-10-12). "Speaking Up at Penn State". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  6. ↑ Connelly, Steve (2017-05-07). "Kordel Davis Speaks To GMA About His Attempts To Seek Help For Timothy Piazza". Onward State. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  7. ↑ Brown, Ruth (2017-05-07). "Penn State frat brother tried to call 911 before pledge's death" . Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  8. ↑ Camerota, Alisyn (August 25, 2018). "Senator John McCain Dies at 81". transcripts.cnn.com. Archived from the original on 2024-09-29. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  9. ↑ "PSU student from Berks gives first-hand account of frat death case". WFMZ.com. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  10. ↑ "Raleigh curfew sparks outrage after no charges filed in police-involved shooting". Raleigh curfew sparks outrage after no charges filed in police-involved shooting -. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  11. ↑ Linskey, Anna (August 31, 2019). "Black farmers say Warren's plan wouldn't solve their biggest problem". Washington Post .
  12. ↑ Baszile, Natalie (August 31, 2019). "Justice for Black Farmers" (PDF). Environmental Working Group. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Warren, Booker, Warnock, Sanders to USDA: We Urge You to Act to Address Discrimination Against Black Farmers | U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts". www.warren.senate.gov. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
  14. ↑ "Raleigh protests continue on July 4th at Executive Mansion". CBS17.com. 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  15. ↑ Vendel, Christine Vendel (2022-10-13). "Penn State student's hazing death is the focus of upcoming Hulu series". pennlive. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  16. ↑ Palmer, Kathryn (2018-04-07). "Former fraternity member speaks out against hazing culture". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  17. ↑ Belden, Bret. "Kordel Davis speaks out about hazing at UNH". The New Hampshire. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  18. ↑ Hill, Elissa (2018-04-09). "Former Beta Theta Pi Brother Kordel Davis Talks Hazing Prevention At Mizzou". Onward State. Retrieved 2025-01-14.
  19. ↑ "Kamala Harris Office Grand Opening". Lehigh County Democratic Committee. 2024-08-11. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  20. ↑ "Inflation Reduction Act - Guest Speaker at Kamala Harris - Allentown Office". Southern Lehigh Democrats. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  21. ↑ Good Morning America (2017-05-08). Penn State frat brother says he 'didn't know what to do' about unconscious pledge . Retrieved 2024-11-25– via YouTube.
  22. ↑ "CNN Special Report: Deadly Haze: Inside the Fraternity Crisis" . Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  23. ↑ Donahue, Dominique (2018-05-31). "'DATELINE NBC' EXCLUSIVE: 16 PARENTS FIGHTING TO END COLLEGE HAZING AT FRATERNITIES SPEAK OUT TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME". NBC News Press Releases. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  24. ↑ Fishman, Scott (2024-08-18). "'Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life': Parents Open Up About Son's Hazing Death". TV Insider. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  25. ↑ Davis, Kordel (2021-07-07). "Nine. One. One". Medium. Retrieved 2024-11-25.
  26. ↑ Pagoda Lights by Kordel Davis on Apple Music, 2023-09-15, retrieved 2024-11-25
  27. ↑ Empath by Kordel Davis on Apple Music, 2023-12-15, retrieved 2024-11-25
  28. ↑ Love Thy Neighbor by Kordel Davis on Apple Music, 2023-12-29, retrieved 2024-11-25
  29. ↑ KENYA [from the vault] by Kordel Davis on Apple Music, 2024-06-26, retrieved 2024-11-25
  30. ↑ INVISIBLE. XO by Kordel Davis on Apple Music, 2024-11-06, retrieved 2024-11-25
  31. ↑ Sanderson, Catherine (March 8, 2022). Why We Act: Turning Bystanders into Moral Rebels. Harvard University Press. pp. 91–92. ISBN   9780674271111.
  32. ↑ Pinsky, Drew (May 9, 2017). "Video 911 call released in Penn State fraternity death". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-11-27.
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