S ■ /- Bl 1
i H
wvrajnetltodisLeilii/stuileninieiUa
Methodist College, Fayetteville, NC
Thursday. April 15,2004
^6W/Sn 1“4
Opinions 5-7
Entertainment... 8-9
Sports 10-11
Established 1961 Vol. 42, Issue 15
Hazing lawsuit settled out of court
KENICHI YOKOTA
Staff Writer
m
In the past year and a half,
former Methodist College football
player and student, Kent Murphy
took his hazing case to court
against Methodist College where
he lost, but just recently settled out
of court for ah unspecified mon
etary settlement.
Murphy filed the lawsuit
against Methodist College in May
2003 after a Nov. 11, 2002 inci
dent, in which he claimed he was a
victim of hazing by seven of his
football teammates.
Murphy claimed for unspeci
fied actual and punitive damages of
more than $10,000. Murphy’s law
yer, Tron Faulk said she could not
reveal the amount of the settlement
although Murphy stated he was
satisfied with the amount, but it
could never change what happened
to him according to the Fayetteville
Observer.
According to Faulk, the
settlement was reached on March
Photo by Malia Kalua
The Methodist Monarch Football Team continued into a succesful season after
the eveents that affected 8 of their players.
Chris Ronkettii leads the football team into a season of recovery after the hazing
events.
5 while Murphy and his family con
firmed it two weeks ago. On
March 17, 2004, the court dis
missed the law'suit.
The defendant Elton
Hendricks, President of Method
ist College and his lawyer Rod
Pettey remained silent about the
case according to the Fayetteville
Observer.
The timeline leading up to this
settlement is below:
• Nov. 11. 2002 - Murphy
claimed he was hazed by seven of
his teammates
• Within same year, Method
ist College campus police charged
all seven players.
The college expelled one foot
ball player and placed the other si.x
on disciplinary probation
• January 2003, a state
Court of Appeals dismissed the
campus police charges, and
Cumberland County Sheriffs of
fice charged one player with 2'“'-
degree sexual assault and three
with misdemeanor hazing
• March 2003, a grand jury
decided no players were indicted
on any charges.
May 2003, Kent
Murphy and his family filed
the lawsuit against Methodist
College
July 2003, Method
ist contracted with
Cumberland County Sheriffs
office to provide campus po
lice
Methodist has changed
some policies since the Nov.
11 incident, which include the
Cumberland County Sheriffs
Office policing on campus and
adding a hazing outline to the
school’s judicial code in the
student handbook, which
went into effect Jan. 7"',
2003. in it, a student found
guilty of inappropriate behav
ior will have “a minimum pen
alty of probation and may re
ceive a maximum penalty of expul
sion.’’ The code also said if a stu
dent “is found guilty of having vio
lated the North Carolina hazing
status,” the student will be expelled
from college.
Methodist also requires ath
letes to read a hazing clause and
sign a form agreeing to obey it.
Today. Murphy goes to
Sandhills Community College and
participates in a rhythm and blues
band according to the Fayetteville
Observer.
Inside
this issue:
tn Tbeatejs;
tiellbo?