On Nov. 7, 2019, Dylan Hernandez, a 19-year-old San Diego State University freshman, fell off the top bunk of his bed after becoming inebriated during hazing at Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, resulting in a catastrophic brain injury which later resulted in his death.
SDSU recently reached a $7.9 million settlement with Hernandez’s family, according to a spokesperson for the university.
The spokesperson said that California State University and Aztec Shops both contributed to the settlement amount, which was paid out from the California State University’s risk management authority and private insurers.
In the fall of 2019, Hernandez attended a “Big Brother, Little Brother” event at Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity’s house, which included hazing activities, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, being struck with paddles and being verbally demeaned.
Hernandez returned home, fell asleep on the top bunk of his bunk-bed and, at some point in the night, fell off the bunk – striking his head. He was helped back into his bunk that night, but was unresponsive the following morning.
Hernandez was declared brain dead by doctors on Nov. 8, 2019 and was taken off life support the following day.
Hernandez’s family sued the university for negligence in 2020.
The lawsuit alleges that, in order to cut costs, SDSU purchased bunk-beds from Foliot Furniture, a manufacturer that the lawsuit claims has a questionable history. Hernandez’s family said that the bunk-beds were “dangerous, defective, lacked required warnings and instructions” and had caused the deaths of 550,000 individuals.
The lawsuit also named eight fraternity members who were involved in the hazing, forcing new members to drink copious amounts of alcohol and alleges that they encouraged other members of the fraternity to withhold information about the event from the police.
“Tell your Little Brothers if they want to have a fraternity, they better shut up and remember that silence is golden,” read one text to fraternity members.
Following a six-month University Police investigation into the death of Hernandez, the school announced they would perform their own investigation into the incident and outlined changes which had already been implemented.
“Since November, and through the recommendations of the task force groups, SDSU has introduced a number of changes in policy and practice meant specifically to enhance a culture of safety and accountability,” the school wrote in a statement in July 2020.
Despite this commitment, SDSU has seen numerous instances of fraternity hazing resulting in significant harm or death to students since Hernandez’s death.
Just two years after Hernandez’s death, freshman Benjamin Brennan was given a 1% chance of survival after a staggering 0.489% blood alcohol level after a hazing incident in 2021.
Four Phi Kappa Psi fraternity members are currently facing felony charges after a fraternity pledge was set on fire in a pre-planned skit in February 2024.
The fraternity members, including the injured pledge, were also involved in a conspiracy to withhold information from police.
Following Hernandez’s death, all 14 student fraternity chapters at SDSU were suspended. Phi Gamma Delta was expelled from recognized university chapters and has remained unrecognized since August 2020.
According to the University, they have no record of continued operations of Phi Gamma Delta since their expulsion.
