Michael Deng, a freshman at Baruch College in Manhattan Hazing Death

Case Details

Who: Michael Deng was a freshman at Baruch College in Manhattan and a pledge of Pi Delta Psi, an Asian American fraternity.

What Happened: In December 2013, Michael traveled to a rented house in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania for the fraternity’s “crossing over” weekend. During the retreat, he was hazed as part of a violent ritual known as the “glass ceiling.” The ritual required pledges to run through a line of fraternity members who shoved, pushed, and tackled them to the ground.

While blindfolded and wearing a weighted backpack, Michael fell, struck his head, and was rendered immediately unconscious. Instead of calling for medical help, fraternity members placed him by a fire, searched the internet for his symptoms, and attempted to wake him. According to a criminal complaint, members were instructed by a fraternity member and the national fraternity president to “protect the fraternity and hide all the memorabilia” from police, including clothing, fraternity paddles, banners, signs, cellphones, and drugs.

Michael was not transported to a hospital until two hours after he was injured. A forensic pathologist concluded that the delay in treatment significantly contributed to his death. Michael Deng died from a traumatic brain injury, and his death was ruled a homicide.

Results

The case resulted in criminal prosecutions against fraternity members and civil litigation against Pi Delta Psi and individual defendants for their roles in Michael’s death and the attempted concealment of evidence.

Impact

Michael Deng’s death became a national example of the extreme dangers of fraternity hazing and institutional silence. His story has been featured in national media, including Episode 4 of Death in the Dorms on Hulu and the documentary Deadly Brotherhood, bringing renewed attention to hazing rituals, delayed medical care, and efforts to shield organizations from accountability after a student is critically injured.red.