JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As a Raines High School student, Andrew Coleman III remembers the first time he saw the Marching 100.
"I was intrigued. I was hooked the first time," says Coleman, who now runs the A.B. Coleman Mortuary in Jacksonville.
Coleman went on to become a member of the Marching 100 in the early 1980's. He remembers being hazed as part of the initiation.
"The type of hazing that's going on now is more physical," says Coleman. "I would say our hazing was more comical."
Over the last decade, details have emerged of violent hazing incidents at Florida A&M University. Action News has obtained court documents, which show lawsuits were settled with the school and some former band members.
According to a complaint, in 2001, a freshman band member was paddled 20 to 30 times. It was so bad that he suffered renal failure and underwent two surgeries. The student won a $1.8 million lawsuit against other band members.
In 2004, another band member settled a lawsuit with FAMU after complaints of hazing.
Other stories of hazing have emerged in recent weeks, including the story of 26-year-old Robert Champion. Police claim he died after being hazed by other band members.
Coleman says the school and band leaders should not be blamed for the hazing. While under the leadership of Dr. Julian White, the current band director, Coleman says his membership was terminated because of a hazing incident he says he was not a part of.
In an interview with Action News earlier this month, Dr. White said he continuously took disciplinary action against any band members suspected of hazing. He suspended more than two dozen band members just a few weeks before Champion's death.
"I suspended them because I have a firm commitment to eliminating hazing and all it's messages," said Dr. White.
When asked why he believes hazing has continued despite all the suspensions and terminations, Coleman said he believes "it has to do with the mentality of the age group you're dealing with."
Coleman hopes the recent hazing incidents will not damage the reputation of the Marching 100 or FAMU. He believes Robert Champion's death should be a major wake-up call for students to stop hazing.
"If it doesn't, I don't know what will."
