Robert Champion's Mother Calls For FAMU's Band To Disband (UPDATE)

The parents of Robert Champion, a Florida A&M drum major in the famous "Marching 100," are calling for band's breakup until its alleged hazing culture is stomped out.

They say charges filed against 16 members of the marching band don't go far enough and alleged that a "calculated conspiracy" attempted to cloud the circumstances of his death and protect band members.

Champion collapsed on a chartered bus outside the team's Orlando hotel and died Nov. 19, allegedly from injuries sustained during a hazing ritual. He was covered in cuts and bruises following a beating with no known motive. The Associated Press reports that one witness saw Champion vomiting before he was found unresponsive on the bus.

Christopher Chestnut, the Champion family's attorney, said in an Atlanta news conference today that hazing charges filed five months after Champion's death points to conspiracy.

It did not take five months to figure out who murdered Robert Champion. This is not a murder mystery. There is no excuse for the lack of accountability. We have learned that there was a calculated conspiracy to cover up Robert Champion's murder. We have heard that alumni were communicating with students on that bus, telling them how to respond, what to say, what not to say in order to ensure that no one would be arrested and charged for murder. That is simply inexcusable.

Chestnut said he has statements that will prove the allegations.

The AP reports 11 defendants were charged with hazing resulting in death, a felony, and misdemeanor offenses that all together could bring nearly six years in prison. Two others face misdemeanor charges.

Champion's mother, Pam Champion, told Anderson Cooper Wednesday night that felony hazing charges don't approach justice for her son's death.

"My first reaction is no I was very disappointed in hearing what the charges would be..." she said, "my husband and I both had been anticipating something that was a little more harsh."

She added that they had expected murder or manslaughter charges, and Chestnut said they family will "absolutely, unequivocally" sue FAMU.

Pam Champion and her husband described the university has a filthy house that needed cleaning.

Robert Champion Sr. said the university "dropped the ball" when the band was allowed back to school and when the university failed to appropriately discipline students involved.

Ultimately, Chesnut says, the case shows how deeply hazing is entrenched in the culture of FAMU.

"We gotta stop the hazing, we gotta stop it all," Chesnut told reporters.

Related on HuffPost: Robert Champion's Funeral

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Comments

[lobotim]

08:24 PM on 05/07/2012

SMU's football program got the death penalty for recruiting violations.........why would FAMU band deserve any less for killing one of its members in a hazing incident.

[lobotim]

08:29 AM on 05/07/2012

The band director was in a limo on his way to his hotel suite, while a drum major got the life beat out of him. What happened to riding the bus with the "team". He didn't sit with the band then but he should sit with them now. Hopefully she will file a civil lawsuit against the band director personally.

[LPIERRE]

06:35 PM on 05/24/2012

Read the story, Robert was in the limo with the Band Director and other Drum majors being brought back to the hotel, (they rode together and the rest of the band rode the busses back to the hotel. Robert went to his room and then later returned to the bus for the Hazing. (HYPE makes you do foolish things) This still does not make it right, this was a terrible incident, I dont think that tried to kill Robert, it just happened..

[Penelope Pitstop]

07:28 AM on 05/07/2012

what? He was 26 years old?

[Eileen Carman]

05:40 PM on 05/06/2012

This death was completely uncalled for. Hazing has got to stop.

[malcurato]

03:39 PM on 05/06/2012

I see hazing as just another form of bulling, and there are strict NEW laws punishing bulling. For years people have classified bulling as a "normal" part of growing up.....It is NOT NORMAL, neither is hazing. Hazing must be stopped. END OF STORY......By any means necessary ..Young people should not be encouraged to turn on one another, we are allowing a sick, and outdated mentality to flourish when we ignore the horrors of hazing to continue. DO what ever it takes, Mrs. Champion, they have taken your son away . Nothing can ever equal that pain, unfairness,loss. May you find peace.

[shockg2baker]

10:18 PM on 05/05/2012

Even though this "hazing" event caused the untimely death of an individual, in my opinion, I find it unnecessary to persecute the legacy of the FAMU Marching 100. Of course the people responsible should be punished, but to go as far as pursuing the demise of a collegiate band to me is ridiculous. Also, if the family's attorney is indeed a counselor, he should advise against the pursuit of this action. The attorney's mother is an outstanding alumnus of Florida A&M. Despite this tragedy, there are students who pursue a career in music, and are offered scholarships through the band program. I sympathize, but rethink this. One of the few legacies left of HBCUs.

[Shirley Issac]

10:41 PM on 05/05/2012

i went to this school because of the band, there is no need to penalize the whole school. just because some one doesn't know how to call it quits when the game gets rough doesn't mean the bands no good, this kid had to know they were hazing, and he had to how rough it was. If people don't have some common sense or their parents don't teach them common sense...fill in the blanks

[teacupsmommy]

04:22 PM on 05/06/2012

I agree with you. They shouldn't penalize the whole school by disbanding the band. I was in one for twelve years and incidents like this never happened. They should put the guilty parties in jail and have the instructors have more fingers on the pulse of what is happening.

[TinaChris]

04:56 PM on 05/06/2012

I also went to FAMU and I find it appalling, to say the least, that you are blaming the VICTIM, in this incident. You were probably one of the people that participated in hazing during your tenure there. It is irresponsible and pathetic and you should be ashamed of that comment.

[Claudia Renee Burks]

11:15 PM on 05/05/2012

I totally agree shock, the persons responsible for this horrible tragedy should be punished, but to dismantle an entire band because of the actions of a few is much too much. Everyone in the band know the rules concerning hazing and in order for it to be curtailed the hazer and the hazee has to take responsibility. This will forever be a Black spot on FAMU and the Marching 100 but we've got to move forward with a renewed commitment to ensure that all students vow to stop all hazing.

[sheikwil4]

09:03 PM on 05/05/2012

As a native Florida, there is no way that is going to happen, she can't punish the entire band for a few, she can fault the school because there had been reports of this happening before, so I say hey, go for it, sue the school, but there not be the famous Famu famous Marching 100. This historic and well talked about band has been a tradition almost as long as the school has been there. My mother was a Majorette when she was in school and she wanted to try out way back then, she is in her 70s now, but back then, girls were told that they couldn't march fast enough to make the band. In order to make just the march part, you must be able to put your feet up and down 100 times within a minute. They practice harder than the football team. The band is more famous than the football team and there isn't a band that can compare to them, other than the band from Gambling University in New Orleans. So I do feel for his parents, but this band will not be disband and it should not.

[lobotim]

07:49 AM on 05/07/2012

The first excuse for hazing is "its tradition".

The band should be gone and if there was real leadership at the top, this would already have been done.

[myvoyyce]

06:08 PM on 05/05/2012

At some point she needs to accept the FACT that her son played a part in his own demise because he wanted so badly to be part of a "group"....

[Annie Snyder]

08:44 PM on 05/05/2012

At some point, you have to accept the fact you are a malignant sociopath for your blame the victim mentality.

[myvoyyce]

10:19 PM on 05/05/2012

Think what you must but people who are not in denial can understand what I mean without going into some insane diatribe calling someone a sociopath just because I feel differently about this issue than you do.

[Claudia Renee Burks]

11:29 PM on 05/05/2012

myvoyyce you make a very valid point, everyone in the band is made aware of the rules concerning hazing and attest to that by signing acknowledgements. Both the hazer and the hazee bear some responsibility.

[myvoyyce]

03:26 PM on 05/06/2012

Exactly!!!

[lobotim]

07:50 AM on 05/07/2012

And that is exactly why the band should be suspended for no less than 4 years.

[etennial 2000]

04:03 PM on 05/05/2012

This lady is on a witch hunt and trying to force her misery on an entire institution. First of all everybody willing joins the fraternities and know all the implications involved overtly and covertly. Her son was a willing participant and knew of the dangers involved. However its illegal, it's just like the boxing sport. Now she is trying to destroy the future of thousands of students and put college students in jail for years on end for something her son decided to do. Those students DID NOT set out to intentionally kill her son. They see hazing as a sport and it went wrong. This lady is being evil and vindictive.

[myvoyyce]

06:05 PM on 05/05/2012

I so agree with you...Look,her son was 26 and he was older than the ret of the students.Now of course the hazing and what not was wrong but no one FORCED him to be a FOLLOWER and that is indeed what people in the fraternities/sororities are.

[myvoyyce]

06:10 PM on 05/05/2012

I meant "rest" as opposed to ret....

[Joanne Blalock]

12:06 PM on 05/05/2012

Not being mean spirited exactly what would disbanding the band solve.

[cyclomatic411]

01:43 PM on 05/05/2012

It would further hold the University as well as students responsible for their actions and more importantly, the culture that has grown would no longer be encouraged. That´s easy.

[sister power]

11:40 AM on 05/05/2012

These Black College Fraternities need to stop with the Greek traditions. Black people we are not Greek! If the Fraternity is Black, well we then should start our own traditions. Instead of Hazing lets try Praying.

[NAAWPEEPS]

12:15 PM on 05/05/2012

LOL.

[sheikwil4]

09:07 PM on 05/05/2012

Apparently, you didn't go to college or don't understand the Fraternities which has nothing to do with hazing, that's just ignorance that has carried on for years, which they actually picked up from predominately white fraternities. Hazing goes on in a lot of these colleges, so the school needs to put it's foot down with the fraternities or get sued when it happens on their campus. But not punish the entire band for a few chosen fools.

[sister power]

10:22 PM on 05/05/2012

Apparently, you don't know what you are talking about. If hazing has been going on for years, than the Fraternities know about it, are a part of it, and in some college's its a Greek tradition.

[Sistagirl Young]

10:14 AM on 05/05/2012

Never having attended college I don't quite understand "hazing." From the little I am able to grasp it appears to be either humiliating the pledges or inflicting physical pain. This is fun? Well, I guess I'd have to have been there to have a full appreciation. Life.

[Eileen Carman]

05:43 PM on 05/06/2012

True, but you were not. The innocent fun that hazing once was, such as wearing your clothes backwards or inside out, has given way to more and more torturous events.

[Sistagirl Young]

07:42 PM on 05/06/2012

Hello Eileen Carman; Why? Is it worth jeopardizing your life to become a member of a particular frat or sorority. I'm sure those who died did not think such would be the case. But if something looks life threatening to me? Count me out. I don't get it. But to each his own. People oft times amaze me. Participation in such shenanigans is one of my times of amazement. Thank you for commenting. Life.

[beansie]

09:03 AM on 05/05/2012

what an absolute waste of a human life....my sympaties goes out to this family....they should sue....hazing should not be part of any initiations into any group ever......what a slap in the face this is to this family.....

[LadyPurpose]

08:47 AM on 05/05/2012

I think shes completely right. I also think that should be the policy of every school around the country. Disband the bands, the teams, the sororities. Whoever hazes is gone forever. There is no innocent in this. The ones who aren't acutally DOING the hazing KNOW about it. Get rid of them all.

[G2G]

07:55 AM on 05/05/2012

For Robert Champion's mother and any loving parent who has lost a child to other than Natural Causes...

...the penalty visited upon the perpetrator(s) by any magistrate will never equate to 'justice.'

For some, they have found that a firm belief in the 'justice' to be exacted by a Supreme Being is much more comforting and reassuring than any earthly sense of 'justice.'

As with other adults conscious of their own mortality, she knew that one day her son would have to surrender his earthly body...just not now.

Godspeed...