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Robert Champion was known for his opposition to the hazing rampant in the Florida A&M University marching band, but he was vying to be lead drum major and wanted the respect he could earn by enduring a brutal ritual known as "crossing over." With chances for initiation ending with the football season, fellow band members say Champion agreed to run through a bus lined with people kicking and beating him with drumsticks, mallets and fists. The decision would be fatal.
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