Campus death leads state leaders to call for crackdown
The death of a Bowling Green State University student has prompted state lawmakers to push for stiffer penalties, more transparency in investigations and mandatory antihazing education for incoming college students.
State Sens. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, and Stephanie Kunze, R-Hilliard, are making another run at strengthening Ohio’s antihazing laws after an effort last year fell short.
“It really shook me to the core. To be honest, it hit way too close to home,” said Gavarone, a BGSU alum whose son also attends college there.
Police are investigating the death of 20-year-old Stone Foltz. The sophomore was found by friends after an event late Thursday. BGSU placed Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity on interim suspension, halted other Greek life social events and announced support for “Collin’s Law.”
Collin’s Law, sponsored by Gavarone and Kunze, is named after Ohio University student Collin Wiant, who died in November 2018 at an off-campus fraternity house event.
Kunze said the new version of the bill will focus solely on hazing at colleges and universities, expand the
definition of hazing to cover more behavior and mandate reporting and education for students and college personnel. It would elevate hazing to a felony, up from a fourth degree misdemeanor.
Hazing is any humiliating, degrading, abusive or dangerous act expected of a person who joins a group regardless of whether the person is willing to participate. The practices — excessive drinking, heavy drug use, dangerous stunts, sleep deprivation, sex acts — can lead to physical or mental trauma or even death.
Hazing is rampant and under-reported, studies show. A 2011 study by the University of Maine found 55% of college students experience hazing. While it is
most common in athletics and fraternities and sororities, hazing occurs across other organizations as well, researchers found.
Presidents of Ohio’s 14 public colleges and universities signed a letter to legislative leaders and Gov. Mike DeWine in support of the anti-hazing bill.
Some significant hazing incidents have included:
■ March 2021: Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz, 20, died following an alleged hazing incident involving alcohol, his family said.
■ October 2019: Ohio University launched an investigation into hazing allegations in the school’s march- ing band.
■ November 2018: Ohio
University student Collin Wiant, 18, died following an off-campus event at his fraternity.
June 2018: University of Dayton settled a lawsuit brought by a former football player over hazing allegations.
■ February 2018: Miami University suspended all fraternity activities on campus in response to reports of hazing.
■ November 2017: Ohio State University suspended all social, recruitment and new member activities for all 37 fraternities on campus.
■ Spring 2016: Wright State University expelled seven of nine men’s tennis team members and cancelled the spring season over hazing allegations.
■ July 2014: Ohio State University fired its marching band director, Jon Waters, after an investigation documented a culture of hazing and sexual harassment.
■ 2014: University of Dayton permanently expelled the Sigma Chi fraternity after a member’s death revealed the chapter had not been abiding by the parameters of its suspension.
■ October 2013: A Wilmington College pledge lost a testicle as the result of hazing at an initiation ritual.
A legal battle about evidence against a Dayton man accused of killing a Mansfield couple and the woman’s unborn baby has delayed until June a jury trial that was supposed to start this week.
Larry Rodgers, 32, is charged in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court with aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and having weapons while under disability. He’s pleaded not guilty and is incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail on $1 million bond.
Todd Burkhart
Rodgers is accused of killing Kyla Hayton, 20, and her boyfriend Todd Burkhart, 28, both of Mansfield. Hayton was pregnant at the time, and Rodgers is facing two counts of involuntary manslaughter because the killings “caused the unlawful termination of another’s pregnancy,” court records say.
The slayings occurred in November 2019. The couple was found in different houses on West Stewart Street.
In a motion to continue the trial, the Montgomery County Public Defender’s Office said it needed time to review a PowerPoint presentation about a cell phone in the case that was supplied to them by prosecutors. The defense also notes that another phone is a subject in a motion to suppress evidence and that motion has not been ruled on.
The defense filed a motion to suppress nearly a year ago, and a number of court documents have been filed in connection to that request since. The defense is asking for several aspects of the prosecutor’s case to be suppressed, including statements made by Rodgers to police and evidence collected during a search of a home.
Prosecutors have filed responses to the motions detailing Dayton Police’s investigation into the killings and arguing that police acted properly investigating the matter.
The court documents say that authorities believe the couple traveled to Dayton to buy a gun. They said Rodgers was connected to the crime because of the nickname “Backwoods” and the pair were traveling to meet up with a person with a Facebook name of “Backwoods on Wildwood.”
Wildwood Avenue intersects with West Stewart Street, and Rodgers is connected with multiple properties on Wildwood Avenue, prosecutors said in court filings. Rodgers is due back in court June 7 for a final pretrial hearing, and a trial is set to begin June 28.
‘We have never contributed to Mr. Vitale’s campaign and have no plans of doing so in the future.’
Tony Bishop, executive director for the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus
State Rep. Nino Vitale, who raised eyebrows by claiming he is “darker” than many Black legislators, reported that the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus donated $2,000 to his campaign fund last year.
The caucus said Vitale’s report is false.
“We have never contributed to Mr. Vitale’s campaign and have no plans of doing so in the future. We are working with our campaign finance attorney now to have the false claim removed,” said Tony Bishop, executive director for the OLBC.
Late Tuesday Vitale amended his report to say the $2,000 came from another political organization, a Secretary of State spokesman said.
Vitale, R-Urbana, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
In August, Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office referred a complaint about Vitale’s campaign account to the Ohio Elections Commission. The full commission is scheduled to hold a hearing
April 8 on five allegations of campaign finance violations, including failed to keep a strict account of all contributions; failed to disclose all expenditures above $25; and didn’t deposit all contributions received into an account separate from a personal or business account.
Ohio Elections Commission Director Phil Richter said the violations carry fines of up to $1,000, plus $100 to $500 a day for each day a deadline was missed. The commission also has the ability to refer matters to a county prosecutor for consideration.
Vitale has been an outspoken critic of public health orders, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gov. Mike DeWine.
In May, Vitale made national news when he said he wouldn’t wear a mask to protect against the spread of COVID-19 because it would cover “the image and likeness of God.” Last year, he pushed back against resolutions that would declare racism a public health crisis. Vitale said in a Facebook post that he is “darker” than most members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus and was made fun of growing up, including being called a “greasy Italian.”