Michael was born on June 12, 1990. He died 18 years later, on November 21, 2008, during a fraternity hazing tragedy at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. Between those dates, he brought much love, joy, laughter, faith, hope, honor, humor, and devotion into our lives. Although he is gone, his gifts are still with us.

Over the last year and a half, we have worked with receptive Utah legislators to refine Utah’s hazing laws. Our goal is to make the laws clear and effective, as well as to bolster their deterrent value and save another family from suffering the same pain. Our target audience is not limited to politicians. We are also educating students, parents, teachers, school administrators, prosecuting attorneys, and the general public. By demystifying hazing and binge drinking, cluelessness will be replaced with awareness, and through awareness tragedies will be avoided.

My sons and Michael’s brothers, Jason and Georgie, will continue meeting with high school and college students, sharing the circumstances of Michael’s death and the simple ways it could have been avoided. I personally offer any help I can give to drug and alcohol abuse organizations. I offer my help to parent teacher associations willing to confront these issues. And I offer my support to any student courageously trying to overcome the pressures of hazing and binge drinking.

As Michael’s family, we have been unwittingly assigned the mission of introducing hazing and binge drinking into the Utah lexicon. We started paying attention to these issues too late, but our eyes are now open to the alarming number of incidents, including deaths, occurring each year in the United States. What we don’t know will hurt us. Parents, talk to your children. Empower them. Tell them that social pressure, when joined with excessive alcohol and lack of responsible supervision, is literally fatal.

Learn about binge drinking. Learn about hazing. Click on Links to find a listing of important websites to visit.

While Michael is gone from our presence, he remains with us always in heart and in mind. We use our son and brother as a vivid example of how we live, how we love, how we value and cherish each other. If, through God’s grace, lives can be spared through Michael’s loss of life, we can all honestly know that we are upholding the best of Michael – what he offered in his lifetime and after – The Michael Starks Creed of Friendship.