The parents of a football player at Bucknell University have filed a civil lawsuit against the institution and allege that freshmen hazing led to their son’s death. Calvin “CJ” Dickey, an 18-year-old student, collapsed and died after he participated in a workout during his first practice.

Dickey attended his first football practice on July 10, 2024. He was scheduled to attend a team meeting, meet medical staff, attend a “walkthrough” practice outdoors and “a light workout with no weights” at the Pascucci Team Center gym, according to the lawsuit and as reported by NPR.

What happened during practice?

Freshmen players were told they had made mistakes during the drills and were told to do up-downs to make up for them. Up-downs are exercises that consist of going to the ground in a pushup and quickly standing back up. Dickey was told to do 100 up-downs even though he struggled.

Strength and conditioning coach Mark Kulbis and several students were present at the time, according to the lawsuit. However, an athletic trainer was required to be there during workouts. Dickey collapsed and died two days later at the hospital.

The family’s attorney, Mike Caspino, alleges that Bucknell University is “doing everything it can to hide the facts surrounding CJ’s death.”

“I dare to ask, what in the world are they hiding? What is so bad that they can’t tell the parents, the grieving parents of a son who died, what happened and don’t want to share it with the world?,” he said during a press conference.

Bucknell University released a statement in response to the allegations and the lawsuit.

“The death of a student is always a tragic loss,” it said in a statement to NPR. “While the University will not comment on pending litigation, we again extend heartfelt sympathies to CJ’s family, and we will continue to focus on our most important priority — the health and safety of all Bucknell students.”

The family accuses the school of negligence considering their son’s medical history

At the hospital, Dickey was diagnosed with “exercise collapse associated with sickle cell trait,” as well as rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure, according to NPR. Sickle cell trait is a genetic blood disorder that can be deadly when combined with rhabdomyolysis.

Dickey’s parents Calvin Dickey Sr. and Nicole Dickey said the trainers and coaches at Bucknell were aware of their son’s medical condition. They said the team “failed to take the steps necessary” to prevent the incident and they have not taken responsibility for Dickey’s death.

“We have asked repeatedly for not just a high-level overview of what happened that day, but for the details, the specific fully transparent details of what happened to him that day,” Nicole told NPR. “We’ve reached the point with Bucknell where we do not feel that we’re going to get that.”

“The only path for us to get that truth is to file the civil lawsuit,” she adds. “I have got to get justice for my child.”

The lawsuit points to routine hazing of freshmen players

The suit alleged that several members of the Bucknell community knew that Kulbis practiced hazing against freshmen football players. It accused Kulbis of “cruelly abusing freshman players on the first day of practice.”

The lawsuit mentioned Bucknell President John Bravman, Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine Ian Wood, Interim Vice President and Director of Athletics and Recreation Tim Pavlechko, Head Coach Dave Cecchini and former Athletic Director Jermaine Truax as having “approved of and condoned Kulbis’ reckless conduct.”

The lawsuit also pointed to another freshman football player who “suffered rhabdomyolysis following one of Kulbis’ abusive conditioning sessions” three months after Dickey’s death and “that player survived but suffered serious injury.”

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