By Jared Good
A lawsuit was recently filed this spring in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County against Bucknell University; the president of the University John Bravman, the former vice president and director of athletics and recreation, Jermaine Traux; the current vice president and director of athletics and recreation, Tim Pavlechko; the associate director of athletics, sports medicine, Ian Wood; Head Coach for the Bucknell University Football team, David Cecchini; strength and conditioning coach, Mark Kulbis; and 35 unnamed individuals sued under fictitious names as DOES. The plaintiffs alleged a failure by the defendants to take proper steps to protect a former football player that was known to have the sickle cell trait.
Calvin Dickey, Sr. and his wife Nicole Dickey, lodged several causes of action against the above-mentioned parties, ranging from negligence, to intentional infliction of emotional distress, to wrongful death, all stemming from the untimely death of their son Calvin Dickey, Jr. (hereinafter “CJ”) after he collapsed during the first day of summer football practice.
Prior to arriving on campus, CJ went through the NCAA-mandated sickle-cell testing, which revealed he was a carrier of the trait. Upon discovery of this, the records were uploaded to Bucknell University’s medical record reporting platform prior to the July 1, 2024 deadline. Around the same time, Rayna Murphy, a trainer for the University, reached out to Nicole Dickey to discuss the positive results from CJ’s test, and assured Mrs. Dickey that adequate protections would be taken to protect her only son. CJ was cleared for participation and moved into his dorm on July 9, 2024.
CJ’s diagnosis with sickle cell trait placed him at a higher susceptibility for a condition known as “rhabdomyolysis” (hereinafter “Rhabdo”). Rhabdo has been linked by the United States Military to the sudden death of recruits during basic training. Recruits that were found to have the sickle cell trait were found to die at a rate of thirty times more than a recruit that did not. Instances of exertional rhabdomyolysis are two-hundred times greater for those who have the sickle cell trait. Exertional Rhabdo is characterized by the breakdown of skeletal muscle cells due to intense or unaccustomed exercise.
Given the risk to individuals with this condition, the NCAA began mandating that all Division I, II, and III football players to be tested prior to beginning their careers. The National Athletic Trainers Association established treatment guidelines and protocols for ensuring the safety of athletes that carry the sickle cell trait, with the biggest component being ensuring that those with sickle cell are not pushed to exertion on the first day of practice. Likewise, the NCAA issued their own medical manual for coaches and trainers. Guideline 2R of the manual focuses on athletes with sickle cell and requires the following precautions to ensure the safety of the athletes:
- Student athletes should, “set their own pace.” Student athletes should engage in a slow and gradual preseason conditioning regimen to be prepared for sports-specific performance testing and the rigors of competitive intercollegiate athletics
- Build up slowly while training (e.g., paced progressions)
- Use adequate rest and recovery between repetitions, especially during “gassers” and intense station or mat drills
- Not be urged to perform all out exertion of any kind beyond 2-3 minutes without a breather
- Be excused from performance tests such as serial sprints or timed miles, especially if these are not normal sports activities
The years preceding CJ’s arrival at Bucknell had been detrimental to the school’s financial position. The Patriot League, Bucknell’s conference, began offering scholarships in 2014, putting pressure on a small school that lacks the financial capability of the larger Division 1 schools. Due to cost overruns resulting from the construction of the Pascucci Team Center, which opened in 2024, the already tense financial position that the school was in became worse. Due to these concerns, President Bravmen ordered cuts to the athletic department, which were made by Truax, Pavlechko, Wood, and Ceccini, leading to severe cuts to the medical treatment and prevention services for the student-athletes, including the loss of several athletic trainers.
Upon moving CJ into his dorm, Calvin Sr. spoke with CJ’s offensive line coach, who assured Calvin Sr. that the coaching staff would protect CJ. Unfortunately, tragedy struck during CJ’s first day of practice. Less than two hours after beginning practice, CJ collapsed and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment. Prior to his collapse, CJ told his parents that some of the freshmen had “messed up” on some drills, and as punishment, the coach made all freshman players perform “up-downs” (AKA “burpees”). CJ’s parents were informed that CJ appeared to have been suffering from Rhabdo and acute kidney injury. Given the severity, the doctor indicated that CJ needed to get to the nearest trauma center as soon as possible.
CJ’s condition was dire upon his arrival at the trauma center, and only continued to deteriorate the next day. By Friday, CJ was rushed into emergency surgery due to the right side of his body suffering from compartmentalization. During this emergency procedure, CJ’s heart had stopped. His heart stopped a second time during his transfer from the operating room back to his hospital room. By that evening, CJ’s heart stopped two more times, and the surgeon was set to begin a second emergency surgery for compartmentalization of his left side without anesthesia. Prior to the surgery beginning, CJ again suffered from cardiac arrest. Over the following thirty minutes, doctors informed CJ’s parents that he had suffered cardiac arrest at least four more times, and that his chances of survival were very low.
It was at this point, that CJ’s parents made the decision to cease attempts at resuscitating CJ. He died shortly after, only eighteen years of age.
In the months between CJ’s death and the filing of the suit, the complaint alleges that CJ’s parents have received no information from Bucknell as to what transpired in the hours prior to their son’s death. The complaint alleges that an annual rite of passage exists, where freshmen players are compelled to perform “intense, rigorous exercises that more senior players are not required to perform.” Under alleged threat of being benched or cut from the team, all freshmen must participate without exemption. For strength and conditioning coach, Kulbis, these workouts were allegedly meant to “set the tone” and it was alleged to be known to the other defendants as to what first day of practice would entail for the freshmen athletes.
Per reports from students present at the workout, CJ was allegedly in distress while performing the one-hundred up-downs. NCAA bylaws require that all football practices and workouts must be staffed by an athletic trainer, whether on or off the field. At the time of CJ’s injury, no trainer was present. Additionally, Bucknell allegedly failed to have the mandated emergency action plans at the Pascucci Center, nor had anyone rehearsed a plan. Following CJ’s death, Bucknell has allegedly failed to create an emergency action plan to prevent future incidents from turning tragic.
Just three months after CJ’s death, another freshman offensive lineman suffered Rhabdo during a conditioning session with Defendant Kulbis, but fortunately survived.
Calvin Sr. and Nicole Dickey sued the defendants under several causes of actions over the death of their child. Under a negligence theory, the Dickeys allege that Bucknell owed CJ a duty of care, and failed to exercise reasonable care to protect him, setting in motion the events that led to his untimely death. Bucknell was informed of CJ’s sickle cell trait prior to his first practice, and per NCAA guidelines, football players with such trait are to be treated with caution to ensure their safety during drills.
Additionally, the Dickeys sued the University for negligence per se, due to violating Pennsylvania’s antihazing statutes 18 Pa. C.S. §§ 2802, 2803, 2804, and 2805. § 2802 details that “aggravated hazing” occurs when a violation of § 2802 “results in serious bodily injury or death to the minor and student and [] the person acts with reckless indifference to the health and safety of the minor or student.” §§ 2804 and 2805 define “organizational” and “institutional” hazing as occurring when an organization or institution “intentionally, knowingly or recklessly promotes or facilitates” hazing or aggravated hazing. The Dickeys alleged that the program that occurred on CJ’s first day of practice was part of an initiation process that is meant to breakdown the freshmen athletes on their first day, and is only imposed upon said freshmen.
Likewise, the Dickeys sued Defendants Bravman, Truax, Pavlechko, Wood, Cecchini, Kulbis, and the unnamed DOES for all the same causes of action. The Dickeys alleged that all the aforementioned failed to provide a reasonable level of care after assuming a duty to ensure that CJ was protected, given the awareness of his sickle cell trait, and the risks that come along with it and the precautions that must be exercised to ensure safety.
In addition, the Dickeys also sued Bucknell under causes of actions for survival claims for vicarious liability; survival claim for negligent hiring, retaining, and supervising employees; intentional infliction of emotional distress; negligent infliction of emotional distress; common law negligence; and then wrongful death against Bucknell and all the other named defendants.
As this is the very early stages of litigation, with the complaint being filed only at the beginning of April 2025, it is too early to tell what will come about from this litigation. What is known, however, is another tragic death of a young person participating in collegiate athletics.
A graduate of St. Bonaventure University and Penn State Law, Good has always held a deep interest in the world of sports. Jared’s writings explore the social, economic, and cultural intersectionality of sports.
