BATON ROUGE, La. — Steven and Rae Ann Gruver were awarded a $6.1 million settlement by a Louisiana jury for the loss they suffered and for their son, Max Gruver – suffering in his final moments in 2017.
Max died in an alcohol-related hazing incident at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house at Louisiana State University. The drinking game was referred to as "Bible Study," where pledges were forced to chug 190-proof liquor if they couldn't answer questions about the fraternity or were unable to recite the Greek alphabet.
Max was just 18 years old – when his body was found on September 14, 2017. His blood alcohol level was 0.495% which is six times the legal limit.
11Alive's Cody Alcorn spoke to Max's dad, Steven Gruver on Monday evening.
"Every day I think about my son," Steven said. He added, "Max was such a great kid. You know, he made friends very quickly. He really cared about everyone that he met."
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Photos: Max Gruver
Steven said Max loved LSU and every aspect of it.
"Max was really excited about the School of Journalism and Communications at LSU. When he was in high school, he worked for a company called Def Pen Radio and he wrote over 350 articles on sports. So, he was really interested in sports journalism," Steven said.
Sadly, Max never got the chance to write another sports article. His life was cut short but his dad said all someone had to do was call for help that night.
"You know if anybody would have just called 911 in that room that night, Max could have been saved," Steven explained.
Steven and Rae Ann have been on a mission since losing their son to educate teenagers on the dangers of hazing.
"Everyone needs to understand just how dangerous hazing is and particularly when you mix alcohol and hazing together," Steven said.
The Gruvers created The Max Gruver Foundation. Steven said Rae Ann devotes all of her time going around to different colleges and universities educating students about the dangers of hazing, how to recognize it and how to report it. He said they're about to expand into high schools and hopefully get ahead of the curb before high schoolers head off to college.
Steven said they try to instill in everyone that hazing doesn't just impact the victim and their families.
"It's not just our family. It's friends. It's the hazers. It's the pledges that were there that night. The ripple effect goes far and wide," Steven explained.
Matthew Naquin, an ex-Phi Delta Theta member was sentenced to five years in prison for negligent homicide but his sentence was suspended to 2.5 years. He's since served his time and has been released. Naquin was also sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and had to pay a $1,000 fine.
Since Max's death, Louisiana passed an anti-hazing law in 2018 making the offense a felony.
A similar bill called the "Max Gruver Act," which expanded the definition of hazing and established a process for investigating hazing incidents passed in Georgia and took effect in 2021.
However, it classifies the crime as a misdemeanor. Steven hopes they can soon change that and is currently working with state legislators to try and create felony hazing laws in Georgia.