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Va. fraternities, other college groups required to get hazing training after VCU student death

Luke Lukert | llukert@wtop.com

April 13, 2022, 2:01 PM

All fraternity and sorority members in Virginia will now receive mandatory training on hazing after Gov. Glenn Younkin signed Adam’s Law. The measure is named after a student who died at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2021.

“He was just a lovable teddy bear,” said Courtney White of her cousin. “I mean, he was the sweetest thing that you could ever imagine. He loved and cared about everyone and took care of everybody.”

Adam Oakes, of Sterling, was a student at VCU and had just joined a fraternity there. On Feb. 26, 2021, he took part in a “big brother” ritual where he was told to drink excessively including an entire handle of Jack Daniels.



Adam Oakes, 19, from Loudoun County died in February 2021 during fraternity hazing. (Courtesy Courtney White)

“They tried to get him to throw up … He couldn’t throw up like physically — he just wasn’t a able to throw up the alcohol. And they drug him back into the house and they left him on the cold, hard floor,” White told WTOP.

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