Chestnut: “There was no choice of whether to be hazed or not.”

Back in January, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Christopher Chestnut, the attorney for the parents of deceased FAMU drum major Robert Champion, believed his client’s son never voluntarily submitted to hazing and received a deadly beating on Nov. 19, 2011 because of his commitment to the university’s anti-hazing rules.

“The parents and Chestnut think his beatings were meant as retaliation,” the Sentinel reported. “Champion, they said, followed the university's rules that prohibit hazing. He also exemplified how a student could be successful in the band — he was slated to be the head drum major next school year — without submitting to the abuse and humiliation some students endure to become part of such a prestigious group.”

The findings of the criminal investigation conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) directly challenged the claim that Champion “followed the university’s rules that prohibit hazing.” It concluded that Champion “willingly participated” in the hazing ritual that took his life.

A comment that Chestnut made yesterday suggests that he might be changing his public relations strategy now that it’s clear that the many people aren’t buying the argument that Champion was really opposed to hazing.

“There was no choice of whether to be hazed or not,” Chestnut said in a quote published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There was a choice of whether to succeed or not. And there was a sacrifice you had to make. And if you failed in that sacrifice, well now you’re on your own.”

Chestnut’s claim that “there was no choice of whether to be hazed or not” does not match the evidence in the OCSO report. The detectives found no evidence that Champion was physically forced to enter the bus on which he was hazed or undergo the “Crossing Bus C” ritual.

The suggestion that a student could not be successful in the Marching 100 without being hazed is shaky, too, because former Director of Bands Julian E. White was the one who made the decision about which person received the band’s top student leadership position.

“He was a very fine drum major who was of excellent character and very trustworthy,” White told reporters shortly after Champion’s death. “I had not told him yet, but he was slated to be the head drum major next year.”

There is absolutely no evidence that White required candidates for the head drum major position to undergo any type of hazing process. The only person a potential head drum major needed to impress was the band director.

Keon Hollis, a fellow drum major who also went through the “Crossing Bus C” ritual on Nov. 19, said he and Champion agreed to be hazed because they wanted more respect from other student band members.

“I felt like that played a major part [in] his decision,” Hollis told ESPN. “because, like me, he probably thought, ‘OK, if I do the bus, I'm going to get more respect from my band members. The people that disrespect me, they’re going to respect me because I did Bus C.’”

Peer pressure does not take any person’s choice away. It’s just like the old saying: Just because all of your friends decide to jump in the lake doesn’t mean that you have to jump in, too.