The wrongful death lawsuit – filed by the parents of Savanna Jones, 18, a Wilberforce band member who died in April 30 – alleges that Wilberforce administrators and residence hall employees failed to stop the “widely known” campus group from conducting dangerous “crossings,” or initiations, that involved drinking alcohol despite the fact that the campus is supposed to be “dry.”
“Had Wilberforce actively enforced its policies and reasonably supervised its residential spaces, Turtle crossings and hazing-related activities would never have occurred in a campus dorm room,” the lawsuit states. “And Savanna Jones would never have died.”
Jones – who had indicated she was “lowkey scared” to do the alcohol-based initiation – later became “visibly and dangerously intoxicated to the point that she could not stand,” the lawsuit alleges. The ritual required prospective members of Turtles to drink a shot of liquor if they correctly answered various questions and riddles but had to drink two shots and move to the end of the line if they answered wrongly, the lawsuit states.
“Students understood that drinking was the price of entry,” the lawsuit states. “Students who could not continue drinking, vomited, or became unable to drink were considered unable to complete the process and could not become Turtles.”
The lawsuit further alleges that rather than render help when Jones became severely intoxicated, students began to circulate a photograph of her passed out on a bed.
“Savanna was later left in her dorm room in a state of severe intoxication, after being carried across campus without any apparent intervention by Wilberforce residence-life personnel, resident assistants, or campus safety,” the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages.
University officials have declined to comment on the case. The alleged hazing incident comes more than a year after President Joe Biden signed the Stop Campus Hazing Act into law. Among other things, the law requires colleges and universities to produce reports on student organizations that violated anti-hazing rules and whether the incidents involved the abuse and illegal use of alcohol or drugs.
Hazinginfo.org says “nearly all” states get a failing grade on the newly required hazing transparency standards. Ohio – where Wilberforce is located – is the only state where more than 70 percent of college campuses publish their hazing incidents, policies and other required information, the organization states. However, Wilberforce is not among those institutions, the organization’s website shows.
