Missouri hazing case featured in new TV series. What happened at Mizzou fraternity?
A new six-episode series on the cable network A&E looks into the controversies of fraternity and sorority life on college campuses in the United States. It starts off with a case that happened at the University of Missouri.
“Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life,” debuted Aug. 12 with the episode “Bingeing to Belong.” This episode looks at an incident involving Daniel Santulli, a Mizzou fraternity pledge with Phi Gamma Delta who was allegedly pressured to drink a full bottle of vodka during “Pledge Dad Reveal Night” on Oct. 19, 2021.
“On October 19, 2021, Phi Gamma Delta pledge Danny Santulli was hazed into drinking excessive quantities of vodka and beer on what was supposed to be a celebratory evening in the fraternity,” the episode description says. “Poisoned and neglected, Danny approached the precipice of death — and it was all caught on camera.”
Santulli passed out sometime before midnight, according to a lawsuit filed by his family in January 2022.
After drinking, a fraternity member found Santulli partially on a couch around midnight. Santulli had pale skin and blue lips, and he was driven to a hospital. When hospital staff went to the car, they found Santulli wasn’t breathing and he was in cardiac arrest, according to the lawsuit.
Hospital staff used CPR to restart his heart,and he was rushed to intensive care and placed on a ventilator. A blood test revealed Santulli had a blood alcohol content of 0.468 — more than five times the legal limit, according to the lawsuit. He suffered significant brain damage and is unable to communicate, court records show.
The episode includes more details leading up to the incident, including a conversation in which Santulli broke down to his older sister Meredith as he was struggling with the recruitment of the fraternity.
The episode also reveals that he was previously hospitalized after an older fraternity member told him to climb inside a trash can filled with broken glass.
Phi Gamma Delta, also known as Fiji on Mizzou’s campus, lost its recognition in October 2021 after the incident. Over the past four years, the organization had violated policies around alcohol distribution or consumption six times, according to previous reporting by The Star.
“’Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life’ exposes the dark side of Greek Row and its impact on some of the young men and women who participate,” a description of the series on A&E’s website says. “Each episode features first-hand accounts of how the power, control, and secrecy of fraternities and sororities can create a cult-like dynamic leading to an environment where nefarious activity—from drug use to sexual assault—is able to thrive.”
The episode can be watched at any time on A&E’s website with a cable provider login.
Boone County prosecutors filed criminal hazing charges against 11 University of Missouri members. Seven, including Santulli’s “pledge dad,” have taken plea deals, according to prior coverage by the Columbia Missourian.
