Investigation Finds FAMU Ignored Hazing Regulations

The results of a year-long investigation into the 2011 hazing death of a gay drum major at Florida A&M University concluded that the school failed to adhere to state laws and regulations about hazing, reports CBS News. 

Robert Champion, a gay 26-year-old member of FAMU's Marching 100 band, died in a parked bus in Orlando following a football game in 2011, after participating in a hazing ritual called "Crossing Bus C," where the drum major tried to make his way through the bus as fellow bandmates kicked and punched him. 

The report, released friday by the Florida Board of Governors, found that the school lacked internal controls to prevent and detect hazing, according to CBS. CBS also notes that the findings arrived in the same month FAMU was put on probation by a regional accrediting organization, giving the university one year to meet more stringent requirements, or have its accreditation revoked. 

The university has denied fault in Champion's death, claiming that because he was an adult, he was responsible for his own death. In May, 13 people were charged with felonies or misdemeanors in the death of the drum major.