Robert Champion was a 26-year-old drum major in the Marching 100, Florida A&M University's famous marching band. In late 2011, aboard a parked bus following an away football game, Champion participated in a hazing ritual known as "Crossing Bus C." The ritual involved first sitting in the "hot seat," where a blanket was placed over Champion's head and fellow band members kicked him and hit him with drum sticks and other objects. Champion was then required to walk the length of the bus while band members continued to hit him, kick him and strike him with their instruments. Band members typically completed the ritual as a prerequisite to undertaking a leadership role. Champion, who was well-liked by his fellow band members, decided to participate in the ritual because he wanted to become a drum leader.
After making it to the back of the bus, Champion collapsed. Members of the marching band realized that he was unconscious and called an ambulance. Within an hour, Champion was dead. Medical examiners determined that Champion's death was due to hemorrhagic shock from internal bleeding caused by the blunt force trauma of the many blows he received. An autopsy revealed a degree of muscle damage similar to that seen in victims of car accidents or torture. Champion's death was ruled a homicide and criminal charges were brought against 15 members of the band.
Champion's family sued Florida A&M University, claiming that the university did not do enough to prevent Champion's hazing. Hazing was not new to the band; roughly 20 years before, the director of the Marching 100 warned the university about the severity of hazing within the marching band, noting that "it would be very difficult for the university and the band should someone become killed or hurt."
In response, the university began requiring students to sign a "Hazing and Harassment" agreement in which students certify that they understand the risks of participating in hazing. Just weeks before Champion's death, Florida A&M University's president had contemplated suspending the Marching 100 to address the serious hazing incidents that were occurring. The band director opposed the move and the plan was abandoned. As part of its defense, the university claimed that it was not responsible for Champion's death because Champion, an adult, willingly chose to participate in the hazing ritual.
Such cases of hazing in university bands and other university settings implicate a range of psychological theories and raise a host of interesting research questions for psychologists. For example, those who are hazed and those doing the hazing may begin by participating in a relatively innocuous activity and then find themselves moving along a slippery slope toward more extreme behavior. Escalation of commitment and a desire to act in ways that are consistent with prior decisions and behavior may all contribute to making it difficult to find another path. The illusion of control and overconfidence may mean that participants discount the possibility of hazing's having bad outcomes.
Social conformity, obedience to authority, organizational identification, group effects and the need for acceptance, connectedness and esteem may help to explain the persistence of hazing rituals. Even participants who are disturbed by hazing rituals may not speak out, due in part to pluralistic ignorance, or the misperception of social norms. Having survived hazing rituals, participants may feel a sense of accomplishment, experience the respect of their peers, and experience cognitive dissonance that distorts their memories of their experiences.
All of these psychological phenomena may play a role in how hazing unfolds, complicate questions surrounding whether hazing victims can and do give meaningful "consent" to participation in hazing activities, and can inform policy responses.
"Judicial Notebook" is a project of APA's Div. 9 (Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues).
