BATON ROUGE — Caleb Wilson wanted to work at NASA. Instead, Louisiana now has a law named after him that aims to prevent others from dying the way he did — in a fraternity hazing ritual gone terribly wrong.
The Caleb Wilson Hazing Prevention Act passed through the legislature in the most recent legislative session without opposition and goes into effect Aug. 1. It requires expanded training to prevent hazing and establishes reporting requirements and punishments for organizations and institutions involved.
Wilson, a 20-year-old Southern University student and member of the school’s famed Human Jukebox marching band, died in February 2025 from injuries he got during an unsanctioned hazing ritual for Omega Psi Phi fraternity. It required pledges to be punched in the chest by members wearing boxing gloves.
Wilson collapsed when he was punched four times in the chest, according to the coroner’s report. The people involved did not get him medical help. An autopsy found that the blunt force punches to the chest had caused his heart to stop suddenly.
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Wilson’s parents spoke to House and Senate committees when the bill was being considered.
Urania Wilson, his mother, told lawmakers that her son had met NASA astronaut Victor Glover at Essence Fest when he was younger, and the encounter solidified her son’s commitment to getting a degree in mechanical engineering so he could pursue a career with the space agency.
“To have that taken away from him is the unimaginable,” she told legislators.
Glover recently piloted the Artemis II mission that traveled around the moon and back.
Bill author Vanessa Caston LaFleur, D-Baton Rouge, told colleagues that hazing has not been eradicated in college organizations.
“Hazing is just not a tradition. It is not brotherhood. It is not harmless. It is dangerous, illegal, and preventable,” she said.
The bill, which Gov. Jeff Landry signed May 22, expands training at several levels — requiring that new students, advisors and organization leaders get enhanced training in what the law prohibits and how to report violations. It also requires organizations to report to universities if they discipline members or if the national organization affiliated with the campus group disciplines members for hazing.
It requires universities to make public some details of hazing incidents by reporting them to the Board of Regents and by displaying them on a public web site. The Board of Regents will include the information in reports to legislative committees.
Universities that don’t comply risk losing the opportunity to seek approval from the state Bond Commission to issue bonds for university projects.
Organizations face what LaFleur called “permanent banishment” if hazing activities result in a death.
“It requires awareness, accountability, and consistent enforcement, so dangerous behavior like this is identified and addressed before another tragedy occurs,” LaFleur said.
Urania Wilson reminded committee members about the bill passed in 2018 after the death of LSU student Max Gruver. That law established training requirements, mandated that schools suspend or expel students involved in hazing and mandated reporting of hazing.
Gruver died in 2017 after a hazing event involving Phi Delta Theta that required pledges to chug high-proof liquor. At the time of his death, his blood alcohol measurement was 0.495 grams percent. A measurement of 0.08 grams percent is considered presumptive evidence of drunken driving in Louisiana.
Urania Wilson said that after her son’s death, she was grateful for the people who told her positive things about Caleb. They affirmed that he was listening to his parents’ lessons and had become a good man.
“Caleb was a God-fearing child, and he was just a sweet young man. He was smart, and his life was cut short, and it should not have been,” she said. “And I just don’t want to see another mother or family go through something (like this).”
The law takes effect Aug. 1 but training requirement doesn’t go into effect until the fall semester in 2027.
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