ESPN will air another installment of its investigative series “Outside the Lines” Sunday. The topic: Florida A&M and the death of Robert Champion.
The program airs at 9 a.m. on ESPN and 10 a.m. on ESPN 2.
After having worked on the project since January, ESPN Tuesday published an in-depth article that focused on what happened Nov. 19 in Orlando and delved into the culture of hazing that has permeated through the band for years.
New details in the case have emerged after writer Mike Fish interviewed several band members, including Keon Hollis, who experienced the same hazing ritual that Champion experienced, on the same night.
Hollis went into detail about the Bus C ritual, stating they had spoken previously about enduring the beating that was known to come with “crossing.”
The only difference, Hollis is still alive.
In the article, band member Henry Nesbitt, who placed the phone call to emergency dispatchers alerting them to Champion’s status, said he was only an observer. He said his main goal in speaking out about the incident was to promote the truth and to avoid its distortion.
Suspended band Director Julian White, who accompanied Champion to the hospital and told his parents the grim news, was also quoted in the article.
White alleged he had never heard of the Bus C ritual although, in the weeks prior, he passed several letters along to FAMU administrators outlining hazing incidents that occurred in the band and suspended 26 members for the Nov. 19 performance that would eventually lead to the death of one of his own.
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