FAMU president resigns amid hazing scandal - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

FAMU president resigns amid hazing scandal

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(CNN) - The president of Florida A&M University has resigned, more than a month after the school's board of trustees gave him a vote of no confidence in the wake of last year's hazing death of a school band member, his office said Wednesday.

The president, James Ammons, was given the no-confidence vote June 7 after investigations into the university amid concerns over the November death of drum major Robert Champion.

Champion, 26, died after the initiation ritual aboard a bus. The Orange County medical examiner said the cause was "hemorrhagic shock due to soft tissue hemorrhage, due to blunt force trauma."

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, prompting a police investigation and renewed public scrutiny of hazing in the university's famed Marching 100 band, which got its name in 1950 and actually has about 400 members.

Four students were expelled from the school, and another 30 were dismissed from the band soon after Champion's death.

The police investigation resulted in charges against 14 people. Eleven face one count of third-degree felony hazing resulting in death. Each also is accused of two counts of first-degree misdemeanor hazing.

Last week, the university released a document showing that three days before Champion died, the campus police chief suggested that the band be suspended because of hazing.

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