Prosecutors have charged former Bucknell University strength coach Mark Kulbis with criminal hazing and manslaughter over the death of a football player in 2024.
On Monday, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office announced the filing of criminal charges regarding the death of a Bucknell University freshman football player who collapsed during a hazing incident on campus and died two days later.
On July 10, 2024, Bucknell student Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr. was on campus for the first day of freshman football practice when Kulbis instructed him to perform an extensive set of exercises, which may have killed him because of his sickle cell trait.
“Mark Kulbis, Bucknell University’s strength and conditioning coach at the time, subjected Dickey to the hazing, even after being made aware of Dickey’s medical condition and receiving training from the university on Sickle Cell trait and state law and NCAA standards regarding hazing,” the Attorney General said in a statement announcing the charges.
An investigation determined the player’s death was avoidable
According to an investigation, Kulbis made Dickey and the other players perform several full-body plank drills and 100 “up-downs” before the first practice on July 10, 2024. Other coaches allegedly instructed against this, warning that such exercises were unsafe or inappropriate for training, yet he made Dickey do them anyway.
The only coach in the training room, Kulbis, allegedly did not call for assistance until Dickey passed out, despite the football player’s visible struggles with the workout. Dickey passed away on July 12, 2024, despite receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
An autopsy revealed that Dickey’s Sickle Cell trait, body weight, and exertional rhabdomyolysis, along with Kulbis’s fitness regimen, were the causes of Dickey’s death.
“The facts show this was an intentional, deliberate hazing perpetrated by a coach who knew C.J.’s health condition made him vulnerable to extreme workouts,” said Attorney General Dave Sunday. “The facts show this defendant received information about C.J.’s health condition, along with training about NCAA anti-hazing standards, and disregarded that information. This is an extraordinary tragedy, worsened by the fact that C.J.’s death was preventable.”
Mark Kulbis faces five charges, including one felony count of aggravated hazing and misdemeanor complaints of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, hazing with brutality of a physical nature and hazing with a “reasonable likelihood of bodily injury.”