Parents Behind The Corey Act

Nanette and Joel Hausman

Joel and Nanette’s son Corey died from what began as a preventable injury on a campus pathway just 15 days into his freshman year at the University of Colorado Boulder. Shockingly, this was the third student death that semester. Discoveries about how unprepared most families are for emergencies and how college safety is defined, measured, and managed left Nanette in disbelief. Equally concerning was the level of emergency care provided to many students. She is driven to help colleges and injury prevention professionals acquire the data and resources needed to minimize the risk of injury and loss of life. She is equally committed to provide tools to prevent other families from living with the devastating loss hers does, every single day.

Mariellen Jacobs

After a preventable loft bed fall nearly killed her son Clark in his second year of college, Mariellen was shocked to learn that a staggering 71,000 ER visits each year are due to bunk and loft bed accidents, with falls being 75% of that number. After creating Rail Against the Danger, Inc. TM , in 2015, she began the quest to require the University System of Georgia’s 26 colleges and universities to have safety rails on all bunk and loft beds which was accomplished in 2019. Now she has set her sights on changing national safety standards for these elevated beds as a means of preventing needless injuries and death.

Angi Fiege, M.D.

Angi Fiege lost her daughter after a fall down stairs at an off-campus party. Angi is an Indiana Emergency Medicine, Critical Care and Trauma ICU Physician. More importantly, she is Rachael’s Mom and the woman behind the mission to educate students about how to react within minutes of a trauma. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, she shares her heartache with thousands of young people each year with the hope of changing the fate of just one student. She acts as second mom to many of Rachael’s friends, who label her as Momma Fiege.

Leslie Lanahan

Leslie Lanahan lost her beloved son Gordie due to a tragic hazing incident, occurring just three weeks into his freshman year at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Leslie channeled her grief to become a pioneer in collectively exposing the problem and preventing the all-too-common loss caused by hazing. She launched the Gordie Foundation – which serves as the bedrock of the University of Virginia’s Gordie Center – chartered to educate about the dangers of substance abuse and hazing.

Gail Minger

Gail Minger has an unwavering commitment to creating learning environments that are especially safe for individuals in our neurodiverse communities. After losing her 19-year-old son, Michael as the result of a horrific and preventable incident in his college dorm, Gail championed the passage of Kentucky’s Michael Minger Act, a college safety act, and established the Michael Minger Foundation. The foundation advocates to improve campus safety through education and raising public awareness. She creates tangible environments and programs that are physically safe and personally rewarding for some of our most vulnerable and uniquely talented citizens. Gail believes “those that have the privilege to know, have the responsibility to act.

Kathleen Bonistall

Kathleen Cooney Bonistall’s daughter Lindsey was killed in her off-campus apartment as a result of a random act of violence. Lindsey was just 20 years old and a journalism major at the University of Delaware. PEACE OUTside Campus is a non-profit organization whose mission is to advocate safety and security standards for off campus college communities nationwide. Kathleen’s life passion is to help reduce the risk of student victimization through positive empowerment to prevent similar tragedies from happening to other students and families. Lindsey’s legacy and message of safety has reached thousands of students and continues to highlight safety concerns for students living on and off-campus.

Elizabeth Kopple

Elizabeth’s oldest son Henry was killed on his first day of college classes. He was hanging out with friends on campus when an unstable stone pillar fell on him. Several other students were seriously injured. Henry was a kind, generous person and a friend to all. He supported many causes including voting rights and gun control. Elizabeth wants to hold colleges accountable for providing the safest environment possible for students. She supports the passage of the Corey Safety Act. She writes and connects with other grieving parents on Substack: channelinggrief.substack.com

Shawnee Baker

Shawnee lost her daughter, Baylie, at the University of Miami. Baylie, a neuroscience major, was out with her sorority sisters when they unfortunately got separated. Baylie shared an Uber ride with some guys claiming to be medical students. Trusting they would return her to campus, she joined them, but instead they took her on a five mile loop away from the University. They stopped to get some water and gave Baylie a water in the Uber. Her texts revealed some concerning details. She told her fiends she was with some sketchy guys who didn’t give her their real names. That they wanted her to drink the water too much. We now believe it was laced with a date rape drug, we don’t know what one as we did not get blood samples and could not prove this. Baylie spilt the water upsetting the uber driver and got out on the sidewalk at 3am in the pouring rain. Attempting to walk 3 miles, she was hit by a car in six lanes of traffic. She reached out for help, she knew something was wrong, but the safety net just wasn’t there. Shawnee is on a mission to bring awareness to these dangers, educate students, and create a safety campaign called “Keep Me Safe.”