University of Missouri proposes discipline for 13 students

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The University of Missouri has proposed disciplinary sanctions against 13 students as part of its investigation into an October fraternity pledge party that left a student from Minnesota with brain injuries.

Federal student privacy law keeps the school from naming the students or providing details about the disciplinary decisions, but the sanctions could include suspension or expulsion, the university said in a statement Thursday.

The students will have the option to contest the proposed sanctions at a hearing and can appeal any sanctions, the university said.

The university's action comes months after Daniel Santulli of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was found in cardiac arrest inside a car at University Hospital in Columbia on Oct. 20 after a pledge party at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. A university police investigation found that Santulli and other Phi Gamma Delta pledges were forced to drink dangerous amounts of alcohol.

A lawsuit filed on Santulli's behalf says the pledges were each forced to drink a bottle of hard liquor. The national fraternity and university both suspended the Missouri chapter following Santulli's hospitalization.

Santulli's family has reached settlements with 20 of the 23 defendants named in the lawsuit, according to the family's attorney. Details of the settlements have not been released. The national fraternity is among those with whom settlements have been reached, The Columbia Tribune reported.