13 Charged in FAMU Hazing Death

About time…

13 charged in hazing death of FAMU drum major

Thirteen people have been charged with hazing crimes in the beating death of Florida A&M University drum major Robert Champion, a Florida prosecutor said Wednesday.

State Attorney Lawson Lamar said 11 people are accused of death with hazing, a third-degree felony punishable by up to six years for defendants with no criminal record. Two defendants face misdemeanor charges in the November death aboard a band bus in Orlando.

The state also has filed 20 counts of misdemeanor hazing against others in unrelated incidents. Lamar declined to identifiy those charged because they are in multiple jurisdictions and have not yet been arrested.

“I have come to believe that hazing is a form of bullying,” Lamar said at a news conference in Orlando. “It’s bullying with a tradition.”

Champion, 26, was a member of FAMU’s internationally renowned marching band, the Marching 100, which has a history of hazing incidents. He died after being beaten in what prosecutors said was a hazing ritual on a band bus following a football game Nov. 19.

Champion’s mother, Pam Champion, said she was hoping for charges that could bring longer sentences so that her son’s death would become a cautionary tale for students and administrators around the nation.

“I’m a little disappointed that it wasn’t a harsher penalty considering the case,” she said in a phone interview fromNorth Carolina, where she’s attending a seminar. “We are hoping to use this case to try to end hazing.

Pam Champion, whose family founded the non-profit Robert D. Champion Drum Major for Change Foundation to combat hazing, said she and her family will work to get a federal anti-hazing law passed. “We need a federal law in place with harsh and stiff penalties to deter this. We need to educate our students to the consequences,” she said.

In December, the state medical examiner’s office deemed Champion’s death a homicide resulting from multiple blows to his body so severe that he bled out into his soft tissue. There were no signs of drugs or alcohol in his body.

“This is a homicide by hazing,” Lamar said. He urged anyone with additional information in the case to come forward.

Douglas Fierberg, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and expert on hazing who has represented hazing victims in civil cases for 15 years, said he knows of no other hazing case that resulted in so many people facing criminal charges. He said Florida’s relatively stiff anti-hazing laws could result in jail time.

Fierberg said that would be a departure from what usually happens in hazing cases.

“Florida has a serious, comprehensive law on hazing,” he said. “Ideally, it would be fully expected to bring justice to the family, including jail time.”

Champion’s death touched off a series of criminal and administrative inquires into hazing on FAMU’s campus in Tallahassee and led to the indefinite suspension of the famed Marching 100 and its longtime director, Julian White. It also sparked a rancorous fight between Gov. Rick Scott and the university’s board of trustees that threatened the administration of President James Ammons.

Champion’s parents have filed a lawsuit against the bus company and sent FAMU a state-required six-month notice of their intent to sue for their son’s wrongful death.

Serial Rapist Attacking Deltas in Dallas

This is a strange one…

The man Police believe is attacking Delta Sorority Women

 

Serial rapist may be targeting alumni members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority in Plano, Denton County

A serial rapist may be behind at least four attacks in Plano and Denton County on local alumni members of the predominantly black Delta Sigma Theta sorority, according to local organization members.

An email alert sent to Dallas alumnae chapter members this morning said the attacks have occurred over the past 11 months, including one Friday night. Plano police did not confirm which sorority members were being targeted, but they said in a news release that the victims are all black women in their mid-50s to mid-60s and that they were attacked in their Plano, Coppell and Corinth homes between the hours of 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Two of the area alumni chapters have been asked to release rosters to local police, according to the alumni email alert.

“I am sure this is alarming and the area DFW Chapter presidents have received many phone calls in reference to these incidents,” the email said “Our National President, National First Vice President and Regional Director are aggressively gathering information to distribute to the chapters.”

During each assault, the man has revealed that he knows personal information about his victim.

The Friday night attack occurred in the Denton County community of Shady Shores. Corinth police say the attacker broke into the victim’s Comanche Drive home around 9:15 p.m.

The suspect is described as a heavy-set black man in his late 30s to mid-40s, 5-foot-7 to 6 feet tall and 275 to 300 pounds. He appears to have a short, well-trimmed beard and short hair, possibly with a receding hairline.

Anyone with information can call Plano police at 972-941-2148, Corinth police at 940-498-2017 or Crime Stoppers at 877-373-8477.

It is unclear how or why the attacker is picking his victims, “but we can be assured that this is reason enough to take EXTRA precautions with your identity as a Delta and your general surroundings,” the email said.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Founder’s Day

Alpha Kappa Alpha, Eta Chapter, sorority, circa 1931. PHOTOGRAPH BY ANDERSON & CHICKETT, MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Today is the Alpha Kappa Alpha Founders Day for 2010 as the sorority was established on January 15 1908.

The Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first Greek-lettered sorority that was established and incorporated by African American college women at Howard University in Washington. It was considered a breakthrough for African American women at the time as they had little opportunity or authority in the early twentieth century.

The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority was eventually incorporated on January 29 1913.

Today, over 250,000 women of all descent are part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha, with over 900 chapters in the US and in other countries around the world. Woman can join when they are an undergraduate or through a graduate chapter.

Members take part in community service, education programs, health programs and social and political matters in the community.

Today is the Alpha Kappa Alpha Founders Day for 2010 as the sorority was established on January 15 1908.

The Alpha Kappa Alpha was the first Greek-lettered sorority that was established and incorporated by African American college women at Howard University in Washington. It was considered a breakthrough for African American women at the time as they had little opportunity or authority in the early twentieth century.

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The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority was eventually incorporated on January 29 1913.

Today, over 250,000 women of all descent are part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha, with over 900 chapters in the US and in other countries around the world. Woman can join when they are an undergraduate or through a graduate chapter.

Members take part in community service, education programs, health programs and social and political matters in the community.

Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Update

Like almost any issue there are two sides. The side making the most “newsworthy” claim is likely to get the press. Such is so relative to the ongoing legal battle between the leadership of the AKA Sorority and a group of disaffected members who have charged the current Sorority President, Barbara McKinzie with fiduciary malfeasance and outright theft of the organizations’ funds.

One of the key accusations against Mrs Mckinzie is that she commissioned a $900,000 wax statue of herself to be added to The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum. The Founder of the Museum, Dr. Joane M. Martin seeks to set the record straight in an open letter tot he AKA Sorors –

AKA Sorority Lawsuit

President of black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha sued by members over funds, including $900,000 wax statue

McKinzie, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and its current and some former board of directors members are targeted in a lawsuit filed by eight sorority members last month.

Members of Chicago-headquartered Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority are suing to oust their president -- former Chicago Housing Authority comptroller Barbara McKinzie (center).

Among the allegations: