A college football coach has been charged in connection with the death of a freshman student during an alleged hazing incident.
On Monday, July 6, Mark Kulbis was charged with felony aggravated hazing, along with misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and hazing, according to a press release from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.
The charges stem from the July 2024 death of 18-year-old Calvin “CJ” Dickey Jr., who died two days after Kulbis, then Bucknell University’s strength and conditioning coach, ordered him to perform an extensive series of calisthenics on his first day of football practice.
Prosecutors said the workout put Dickey at risk of death because of his sickle cell trait. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the inherited genetic condition is generally harmless but can lead to serious complications under certain conditions, including dehydration and low-oxygen environments, which can occur during extremely strenuous exercise.
Prosecutors also allege Kulbis subjected Dickey to hazing despite knowing about his medical condition and after receiving university training on sickle cell trait, state laws and NCAA hazing standards.
Credit: Calvin Dickey Jr./Facebook
Before the team’s first practice on July 10, 2024, Kulbis allegedly required Dickey and other players to complete 100 “up-downs” and several full-body plank drills, which prosecutors described as extraneous calisthenics.
They allege Kulbis did so despite training and guidance from other coaches that the exercises were unsafe and not appropriate for training.
According to the release, Dickey, who had been recruited to play on the offensive and defensive lines, was visibly struggling while doing the exercises. Kulbis, the only coach in the training room, did not call for help until Dickey passed out, per prosecutors.
Credit: LinkedIn
Dickey was taken to a local hospital for treatment but died two days later on July 12, 2024. An autopsy determined that his death was caused by a combination of the exercises he was subjected to, his sickle cell trait, his body weight, and exertional rhabdomyolysis, according to prosecutors.
“This is an extraordinary tragedy, worsened by the fact that C.J.’s death was preventable,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in the release.
Dickey, a native of Tampa, Fla., was remembered in his obituary as a “loving son, brother and friend to many.” He received a football scholarship to attend Bucknell University and hoped to pursue a career as a pharmacist, per the obituary.
Credit: Calvin Dickey/Facebook
According to the release, Kulbis turned himself in to authorities Monday morning and was subsequently arraigned on the charges. His bail was reportedly set at $10,000. It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
Prosecutors said the aggravated hazing charge was added by the Pennsylvania Legislature in response to the 2017 hazing death of Tim Piazza, a student at Pennsylvania State University.
