Family attorney of fraternity pledge left debilitated from hazing cheers new law as good start but not enough
The family of former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli, who was severely injured during a fraternity hazing ritual in 2021 in what has been described as "the worst hazing injury anyone has ever seen," is cheering the passage of a new law called the Stop Campus Hazing Act.
President Biden signed the bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Democrat Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, in late December.
"It's a good new law, and it's going to help," Santulli family attorney David Bianchi told Fox News Digital. "What it does is: It requires universities to report, on an annual basis, hazing statistics on campus. It also requires that those statistics be readily available on the websites of the universities. It also requires the universities to implement anti-hazing programs on campus, which is always a good thing."
Bianchi noted that it is "the first time that the federal government has weighed in in the hazing space."
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When Santulli was a freshman at Mizzou, he was forced to consume an entire handle of vodka while blindfolded while pledging for Phi Gamma Delta, followed by beer.
"Sometime before midnight, Danny passed out on a couch," a summary of events on Bianchi's law firm website states. "No one did anything to help him. Eventually, some members found Danny unconscious with blue lips and pale skin and realized he was in big trouble, but instead of calling 911, they picked him up off the couch to take him to a car and proceeded to drop him on his head on their way out the door."
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Santulli suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to a local hospital, but the hazing ritual left the then-19-year-old blind, unable to walk and unable to communicate. His parents now care for him 24 hours a day, according to Bianchi's law firm, Stewart, Tilghman, Fox, Bianchi & Cain P.A.
"None of these families want to see something similar happen to someone else, and they rally around one another," Bianchi said. "We tried to advocate for this law, and it took a long time to finally happen. It's a good step in the right direction, but we can do even more."
Bianchi believes the law should also cover punishments for those who are accused of hazing others on college campuses as a way to motivate students not to partake in such harmful activity.
"Something's got to convince the fraternity members who are going to be involved in hazing [that] if they do it, there will be very severe consequences," the attorney said. "And those consequences should include the immediate expulsion from the university and the immediate expulsion from the fraternity and title prosecution and otherwise. Making them do anything short of that isn't going to change behavior."
Santulli's father, Thomas Santulli, told KVLY that his family's next step is to pass Danny's Law, which would give students immunity from the hazing felony if they call 911.
Boone County authorities charged 11 Mizzou students in connection with the hazing incident that left Santulli blind and paralyzed. Six defendants took plea deals.
Phi Gamma Delta has since been shut down at the University of Missouri.