When I contemplate pointless ways to die, the most likely for me is probably being run over by some fool driver running a red light while playing with their phone. One I don’t have to worry about is dying during a fraternity initiation ritual, since women generally don’t join fraternities and I’m a bit old for that sort of thing anyway. But unfortunately too many young men do die as a result of fraternity hazing, and it’s not a problem confined to any particular population group or region of the country.
The first fraternity in the United States was established in 1776, and “secret bylaws and rituals” were part of the package from the beginning. That’s not surprising—many organizations have ways to differentiate insiders from outsiders, and hazing can create a “justification of effort” mindset where a person becomes more loyal to an organization if they’ve had to suffer to join it.
Letting teenage boys dream up ways to torture and humiliate other teenage boys, without adult supervision, may not be the greatest idea, as evidenced by the fact that over 300 college students have been killed by fraternity hazing and many more seriously injured. A culture of silence enables such practices to continue, and it’s all part of the same mentality that emphasizes loyalty to other members over common sense (a similar mindset is on display in the Cornell fraternity rape accusations now making headlines, so women as well as men can be victims).
Daniel E. Catullo III’s documentary 4000 Days looks at the efforts by the parents of three young men killed by fraternity hazing rituals to reform the system and get national anti-hazing legislation passed. Each family’s story is different yet all three share important commonalities. Gary DeVercelly Jr. died after attempting to drink an entire bottle of vodka during fraternity initiation at Rider University in New Jersey in 2007. West Virginia University student Nolan Burch died after over-consumption of whiskey during hazing in 2014, and Adam Oakes died in 2021 after being coerced to finish a bottle of Jack Daniels as part of an initiation ritual at Virginia Commonwealth University.
None of the university administrations were interested in taking any action, and in fact they weren’t obligated to do so. Fraternities are generally privately owned and their houses are not sited on university property, and often universities have legal agreements that say they are not responsible for what happens in fraternities. Hoping to bring about change at the national level, the parents focus their efforts on getting an act of Congress passed.
The families did a great deal of personal lobbying, which took them the 4,000 days (over 10 years) referenced in the title. On-screen counters track the progress of their efforts, while the twists and turns of this effort are a real education in how things get done in Washington. The families were fighting an uphill battle because they didn’t have suitcases of cash to make the legislators motivated to expend energy on passing their legislation, plus many of the legislators were fraternity members themselves and didn’t want to suggest anything improper might be going on in frat houses.
Several points come to mind. First, none of the young men who died were old enough to consume alcohol legally, and probably most of the fraternity brothers weren’t either, yet no one seemed interested in criminal prosecutions even on such open-and-shut grounds. Second, the young men were neglected and sometimes their bodies abused after they passed out, when a trip to the emergency room might have saved their lives. Third, an elaborate legal structure has been created to protect both fraternities and universities from being responsible for harms caused in frat houses, and their lawyers are willing to use to the most underhanded techniques imaginable in an effort to win their case (again, the parallels with the obstacles that female victims of sexual violence face when seeking justice are obvious).
4000 Days is a traditional documentary relying heavily on interviews and archival materials. It’s not the most imaginative of films but treats an important subject; my main criticism is that it would be more effective with tighter editing and a shorter running time than almost two hours. After all, the behavior that resulted in the deaths of the young men in question was inexcusable, as was the lack of response from figures of authority, and it should be possible to make those points a little more quickly. | Sarah Boslaugh
4000 Days will be screened on Nov. 14 at 7:00 pm in Brown Hall Auditorium at Washington University as part of the 35th annual Saint Louis International Film Festival. Tickets are free but it is advisable to reserve them online as many showings many “sell out.” Director Daniel E. Catullo III and film subjects Julie and Gary DeVercelly will attend the screening and participate in a post-film Q&A session. Further information about the festival schedule is available from the Festival web site.
