In support of National Hazing Prevention Week, a group of Louisiana colleges and universities have planned a series of events to train a spotlight on the issue of hazing.
Students from Dillard, Southern in Baton Rouge, Southern University at New Orleans, and Xavier University are sponsoring a discussion about hazing with Michael J. Morton, an ex-convict, turned corporate and civic leader, whose life was forever changed as a result of hazing.
According to college officials, Morton will share pivotal moments of his experience and its impact on his life in a lecture on Dillard’s campus on September 24, 2015.
In 2006, Morton was an honors student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Florida A&M University and served as president of the Student Body Senate and two consecutive terms as president of the Alpha Xi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.
But his life was turned upside down after he and four of his fraternity brothers were charged with hazing. In a nationally publicized trial, he was eventually convicted of hazing and received a two-year prison sentence. The judge in the case said she wanted to send a message with the state’s first prosecution under a felony hazing law.
After serving his sentence, Morton went on to finish his bachelor’s degree at Florida A&M and earned a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Rutgers University. He was recently appointed to the Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering advisory council for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.
Earlier this week, 10 more people were charged in connection with the 2013 hazing death of a New York City college student in 2013.
