"100% Preventable": The Death of Bucknell Football Player Calvin Dickey Jr.

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Campus Files: Scandals, Secrets & Crimes at American Universities

Episode: "100% Preventable": The Death of Bucknell Football Player Calvin Dickey Jr.

Release Date: April 8, 2026

Host: Margo Gray

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Episode Overview

This episode investigates the tragic and preventable death of Calvin "CJ" Dickey Jr., a freshman football player at Bucknell University who died during his first week of practice from complications resulting from undiagnosed risks related to sickle cell trait. The story exposes systemic failures in college athletics, particularly around the enforcement of NCAA safety protocols meant to protect vulnerable student athletes. Through the voices of CJ’s parents, legal representatives, and investigators, "Campus Files" unveils a culture of negligence, secretive university responses, and the personal devastation felt by the Dickey family in their search for truth and accountability.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sickle Cell Trait and NCAA Protocols

• The episode opens by recounting previous deaths—such as Rice University player Dale Lloyd (2006)—from sickle cell trait complications during football practice, leading to NCAA-mandated screening and protective protocols in 2010 ([01:46] – [03:24]).
• Since protocol implementation, sickle cell-related deaths in college football were almost eliminated—until CJ’s death at Bucknell in July 2024 ([03:24]).

2. The Dickey Family Background and CJ’s Journey

• Nicole and Calvin Dickey, after years of infertility struggles and the adoption of their daughter Patrice, unexpectedly had CJ ([04:11] – [07:01]).
• CJ was always physically imposing, kind-hearted, and academically accomplished, with a 3.8 GPA ([07:01] – [09:14]).
• He chose Bucknell for its academic and personal growth opportunities, committing as a football student-athlete ([09:14] – [10:05]).

3. Screening and Knowledge Gaps About Sickle Cell Trait

• CJ’s parents were notified before Bucknell preseason that he carried the sickle cell trait ([12:25] – [12:41]), which Nicole had as well but did not think was a risk for athletic participation:

  "The extent of what I knew about sickle cell trait and why it was important was really around having—If you were to decide to have a child, to know your status of your partner and yourself."
  —Nicole Dickey ([12:45])

• No enhanced precautions were mentioned by Bucknell’s trainer, nor was the family informed of any risks ([13:46]).

4. Arrival at Bucknell and the Day of the Incident

• Upon arrival, CJ and his parents felt reassured by promises of attentive care from coaching staff ([14:39]):

  "You don't have to worry, Mr. Dickey. We're going to take very good care of him... we're going to deliver a man to you and you're not going to even recognize him."
  —Bucknell Coach, paraphrased ([14:39])

• CJ was initially held from his first workout due to medical hold but quickly cleared, joining the session ([15:39] – [16:10]).
• During what was supposed to be a light workout, freshmen were punished with 100 burpees for a botched drill. CJ collapsed during the drill and was taken to the hospital ([16:51] – [17:19]).
• Hospitalized, CJ rapidly deteriorated due to rhabdomyolysis, severe kidney failure, and multiple cardiac arrests before passing away on July 12, 2024 ([18:06] – [19:42]).

5. Devastation, Stonewalling, and Accountability

• The Dickeys recount the aftermath: Bucknell President reached out via a text message but never visited or called in person ([22:19]).
• The only direct contact was an administrative phone call to discuss sharing news of CJ’s death with the team ([23:01]).
• The family received no concrete updates or investigative findings from the university; their son’s belongings were eventually mailed back, incomplete and damaged ([23:47] – [24:01]).

6. The Dickeys’ Independent Investigation

• Outraged and desperate for answers, the Dickeys hired investigators and learned:

  • The first practice was run by strength coach Mark Colbus, known for brutalizing freshmen regardless of medical risk ([26:42], [26:55]).
  • CJ’s sickle cell trait status, fully documented, was accessible to the coaching staff yet ignored ([26:55]).
  • No athletic trainer was present (NCAA violation) and no emergency action plan was in place, both critical safeguards ([28:04] – [28:42]).

  "What we found in our investigation is that Bucknell University's athletic department has severe financial strain... There’s no trainer there. And I dare say that the trainer would have probably stopped Colbus from running this kid into the ground."
  —Mike Caspino, Dickey Family Attorney ([28:14])

• The Dickeys were offered limited findings from the university only upon signing a strict non-disclosure agreement, but these findings were unsatisfactory and incomplete ([25:12] – [25:40]).

7. Lawsuit and Ongoing Fight for Change

• In April 2025, the Dickeys filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bucknell University and affiliated parties ([29:11]).
• No administrators, coaches, or staff were held publicly accountable or dismissed ([29:48]).
• Bucknell sought to condition full transparency on a perpetual gag order, which the Dickeys rejected ([30:26]).

  "We keep trying to turn this pattern and the purpose and share because the more we talk about him, the more people are aware and they'll hopefully prevent this from ever happening again."
  —Nicole Dickey ([29:54])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Playing sports should never be a death sentence. And practice should not be killing athletes."
  —Calvin Dickey Sr. ([03:34])

• "This is a pain that would never go away. And as parents, this is one of those things that you felt that you let your kid down because this is something that as adults, as a parent, I should have known more about the sickle cell trait."
  —Calvin Dickey Sr. ([21:58])

• "This was 100% preventable."
  —Mike Caspino, Dickey Family Attorney ([29:01])

• "Within those protocols, it is very clear that on day one there should not be any intense workout to the point where there would create a situation where a player could have rhabdo... Something isn’t adding up.”
  —Nicole Dickey ([24:46])

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Key Timestamps

• [01:46] Introduction to sickle cell trait and college football deaths
• [12:25] – [13:46] Family discovers CJ has sickle cell trait; lack of risk communication
• [15:39] – [17:19] CJ’s first day, denied and then cleared for workout, collapse
• [18:06] – [19:42] Diagnosis, rapid medical decline, and CJ’s death
• [22:19] Bucknell President’s text, lack of institutional support
• [23:47] – [24:13] Family receives CJ’s belongings, no investigation details
• [26:42] – [28:42] Independent investigation findings: coach conduct, NCAA violations
• [29:11] – [30:55] Lawsuit, continued push for transparency, university’s non-disclosure proposal rejected

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Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, speakers mix investigative journalism with poignant, emotional testimony from CJ’s parents. The tone is somber and urgent, aiming to hold institutions accountable and educate listeners about a risk that, while widely known in policy, was dangerously absent in practice.

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Conclusion

"100% Preventable" is a heartbreaking exposé of systemic failure and secrecy in college athletics. The Dickeys’ grief is compounded by Bucknell’s stonewalling, propelling them to become advocates for awareness and institutional reform. Their message is clear: knowledge and transparency around medical risks like the sickle cell trait are non-negotiable when lives are at stake. This episode serves as both a cautionary tale and a rallying cry for parents, students, and college administrators nationwide.

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Transcript

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[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

swallowed after you yelled drop it. Dale Lloyd had been an athlete his entire life. He was rarely sick, rarely injured. So when he went off to play football at Rice University, his parents weren't worried. Then came a practice in late September of 2006. It was supposed to be a light workout, but the team was coming off of a humiliating loss and the coaches made them run a lot. Dale collapsed on the field during practice. By the next day he was dead. He was 19 years old. The autopsy showed that Dale had sickle cell trait. Not sickle cell disease, which can be debilitating, but the trait something that's generally harmless unless the body is pushed to the point of extreme exertion. It turned out Dale wasn't the first football player to die this way. At the time, sickle cell tree was the leading cause of death in college football. That changed in 2010 after Dale's parents sued the NCAA. As part of the settlement, the NCAA agreed to mandate testing for sickle cell trait at every Division 1 football program and to put protocols in place to protect players. The result was dramatic. Sickle cell related deaths in college football essentially disappeared. Which is why what happened at Bucknell University in July of 2024 should never have happened at all.

[Nicole Dickey]

The NCAA have clear protocols. We want to know one, did you have them? And then two, did you follow them?

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

Playing sports should never be a death sentence. And practice should not be killing athletes.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

I'm margo gray. This week on campus files, what happened to calvin dickey jr. Okay, we are recording now. Again, if you need to take a

[Podcast Host/Producer]

break at any point, please just let me know.

[Nicole Dickey]

Thank you.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

I will have you start by introducing yourselves.

[Nicole Dickey]

Sure. Nicole Dicke.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

Calvin Dicke Senior.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Nicole and Calvin Dickey have been together for more than 30 years. They were college sweethearts. They were friends at first, but the spark was there from the start. And by junior year, they were dating. They got married just a few years after graduation.

[Nicole Dickey]

When we met, Calvin was pretty firm at 18 that he was in no rush to have kids because he was in a situation where he helped his mom with his older sister's kids. And he just was a very responsible person. And he understood that having children came with a lot of responsibility at a very young age.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

But waiting wasn't really an option. Nicole had undergone surgery for fibroids. Doctors warned her that having kids could be hard.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

As a man, unfortunately, I always thought, you know, I just have kids whenever I want to pop them out, right? Life shortly humbled me.

[Nicole Dickey]

We weren't able to get pregnant, and we went on a journey. We went to specialists and IVF clinics and talked to different doctors.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Nicole went through IVF three times. On the last attempt, she became pregnant, but she miscarried and had to deliver a stillborn child.

[Nicole Dickey]

Trying to have a child and not being able to the emotions, the fear, you know, it's just so much that I personally got to a point where I said, I can't do this.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

After 10 years of trying to conceive, Nicole and Calvin decided to adopt. They got lucky almost immediately. They got a call from their adoption agency about a three month old named Patrice. Overnight, they were new parents.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

So we both took off work. Because at the time when we got Patrice, we had nothing. We didn't have a bottle, we didn't have a crib, we didn't have a baby rattle. We had nothing. And the week before, I was supposed to go back to work. Nicole go, hmm, Calvin. I think I need to take a pregnancy test. Wait, what?

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Nicole was right. She was pregnant. Miraculously, he was a baby boy. They named him after his dad, Calvin Dicke Jr. He'd go by CJ. Nicole gave birth two months early. So CJ was small at first. He didn't stay that way for long. By the time he started elementary school, he was towering over everyone else.

[Nicole Dickey]

He was always the biggest kid, but he was one of those kids that would look out for the smaller kids, always stand up for his friends, like Jimmy, who was the more smaller kid, and always willing to befriend anybody.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

I'm blessed because, remember, he was 6, 5, and 290 pounds. I'm just 5' 11, 210 pounds. So he skyrockets over me. So luckily, I didn't have to discipline him. So he was just a really, really good kid. I couldn't ask for anything better from a child.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

CJ's size gave him an edge in sports. And as a kid, he played everything. Karate, basketball. But his first real love was baseball. He started in Little League, then moved on to travel ball. And before long, the Dickey family schedule basically revolved around baseball tournaments.

[Nicole Dickey]

Let me be very clear about something. I don't like sports.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

Somebody don't understand the game?

[Nicole Dickey]

Yeah, no, I don't. I don't. And CJ made me love to see him. It's something about seeing your child do something that they put so much energy and effort into being good at. I loved every minute of watching him do something that he loved.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

That's why Nicole supported C.J. when he said he wanted to try football in high school, even though it scared her. C.J. was a natural. He didn't just make the team, he became a standout player. He could play both offensive and defensive line.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

Toward the end of his junior year, right after football season, is where he started getting looks and coaches started coming to the school.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

CJ got a lot of interest from recruiters. It wasn't just because of his athletic ability. It was his academics, too. He had a 3.8 GPA. He got offers from multiple Division 1 schools. His parents were pushing for schools in Florida, where they lived.

[Nicole Dickey]

You're here, you're local, you have so many of your friends that are going to be going to usf. It would be great.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

But CJ had his eye on another school, Bucknell University, a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

[Nicole Dickey]

He knew the opportunities that Bucknell as an institution could offer him beyond football and the connections that he could make. We were proud that as a young man he didn't want to follow the crowd. He wanted to make his own choice.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

In his senior year, CJ Committed to Bucknell and landed a scholarship for his dad. It was particularly emotional back when Calvin was in high school. He'd actually gotten an offer to play college football himself, but he couldn't make it work financially.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

I was really living through him a little bit with all the traveling and going, visiting all the schools. Just imagine when I was growing up his age, going off to college and as a father, I wanted to give him that opportunity that I did not have. And I really pride myself in allowing him to have that opportunity. The hard part of that, of this whole story for me, is how it was taken away from it.

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[Nicole Dickey]

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[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

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[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

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[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Getting ready for college requires a lot of prep. There's the paperwork, the forms, the dorm room shopping. And if you're a student athlete, you have to deal with even more requirements. Physical exams, medical records, all sorts of testing. Since 2010 that's included testing for the sickle cell trait.

[Nicole Dickey]

We were at CVS going in for the last part of the vaccinations when we got the call from the school and it's a trainer and she says, well, we received your test and you just wanted to confirm that you were aware that you have sickle cell traits.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Nicole wasn't surprised C.J. had the trait. She was a carrier herself.

[Nicole Dickey]

I personally didn't think anything of it. The extent of what I knew about sickle cell trait and why it was important was really around having. If you were to decide to have a child, to know your status of your partner and yourself.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

If I also had sickle cell traits, CJ would have had what's called sickle cell anemia. Anemia, which is the sickle cell disease.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Calvin had thankfully tested negative. That meant their son was in the clear. CJ could inherit the sickle cell trait, but not the disease.

[Nicole Dickey]

The trait. Is that a trait? Right. It's benign. I personally never experienced any issues. And again, CJ never had any issues from a health perspective.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

And remember, CJ had played competitive sports his entire life without any issues. Plus, Calvin and Nicole didn't know the trait had ever been linked to deaths in college football. And nothing the trainer said that day suggested there was any reason to worry.

[Nicole Dickey]

And it was a quick call where she said, well, I'll update this in the record that we talked. And that was the extent of it. There wasn't any, like the reason why we're asking or please know that we're going to do anything different.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Two weeks later, in July 2024, the dickeys flew from Florida to Maryland and drove the rest of the way to Pennsylvania. C.J. lit up when they got to Bucknell.

[Nicole Dickey]

He loved the campus. It was so idyllic. It looks like something out of a movie. So he felt very good in his decision in selecting Bucknell.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

CJ couldn't access his dorm until the afternoon, so his dad suggested they use the time to meet with his offensive line coach. Calvin wasn't at the meeting to talk about his son's football career, though. He wanted to make sure C.J. was in good hands.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

I need someone to just make sure that they're going to take care of him and make sure he's going to class, he's doing what he's supposed to be doing, and if he's not feeling well or someone reached out to me, let me know. I made sure he had my cell phone number and had mom's cell phone number, and he's like, sure, no, we're going to take care of him. You don't have to worry, Mr. Dickey. You don't have to worry. We're going to take very good care of him. You bringing Me, a young man right now, and in four years we're going to deliver a man to you and you're not going to even recognize him.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

That afternoon, the family moved CJ into his dorm. They took a photo of him smiling in front of his bed. That night, C.J. stayed at the hotel with his family. He wanted one more night with them before football orientation started. The itinerary for the first day of orientation was relaxed. A team meeting, a check in with medical staff, some technical work with the offensive linemen. The last thing on the schedule was a light workout for freshmen.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

I think it was 3:30. CJ called mom and said, mom, hey, they won't allow me to work out. There's something with my either medical or something of that nature that I can't work out.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

C.J. sounded frustrated on the phone. He didn't want to miss the first freshman practice. Nicole tried to reassure him.

[Nicole Dickey]

I said to him, it's okay. You got four years. You're gonna be there. You know, this is just day one. If you don't get to work out on day one, it's okay. It's not a big deal.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

About 10 minutes later, CJ called her back. He said everything had been sorted out and he was cleared to go into the weight room. He told her he'd see her for dinner. But less than two hours later, Nicole's phone rang again. This time it wasn't cj. It was a Bucknell athletic trainer. She said CJ had collapsed during practice and was being taken to the hospital. The trainer didn't sound alarmed, but Calvin and Nicole still rushed as fast as they could to meet cj.

[Nicole Dickey]

We had to wait a little bit in the waiting room while they were evaluating him. And then we got a chance to go back and he was breathing a little heavy, but he to tended talk.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

They asked CJ what had been happening when he collapsed. As far as they knew, it was supposed to be a light workout. CJ said some of the freshmen had messed up a drill and the coach made them do up downs or burpees as punishment. His parents would later learn that CJ, 6 foot 5 and nearly 300 pounds, had been made to do 100 burpees.

[Nicole Dickey]

He was just like, Ah, day one, you know, I'm a little embarrassed that I collapsed. And I was like, it's okay, dude. That's not important. The most important thing is just to make sure you're okay.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

The emergency room doctor pulled them aside. CJ's kidneys were failing. They needed to get him to a trauma center as soon as possible. The doctor tried to get a helicopter, but the stormy weather made it impossible. So CJ went by ambulance for the 40 minute ride to Geisinger Medical Center.

[Nicole Dickey]

We get to Geisinger Intensive Care and that's where they explained to us that this was going to be very, very serious.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

C.J. was suffering from rhabdomyolysis, rhabdo for short. It's what happens when muscles break down and release toxins into the body. People with sickle cell trait are especially vulnerable. They're up to 200 times more likely to develop it during extreme exercise. Over the next 48 hours, CJ's condition kept getting worse. He became disoriented. He didn't recognize his parents. His organs started shutting down one by one. Doctors rushed him into multiple surgeries, one so urgent they didn't even have time for anesthesia.

[Nicole Dickey]

During surgery, his heart stopped and he had to be resuscitated. And they took him down to his room and while he was en route, his heart stopped again and they resuscitated him. And we went through that, I don't know, at least four to five times. I'm a person of faith and I have never prayed so hard. And I wasn't going to give up until we got to the point where there was absolutely no way that he could make it.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

That became clear on the afternoon of July 12, 2024. Calvin and Nicole made the painful decision to tell the doctors to stop trying to resuscitate cj.

[Nicole Dickey]

The entire time. I could not understand how someone as healthy, who had never had any issues could collapse and get to the point where he just didn't even know who we were, that we were his parents at the end. And to have him go through what he went through, I just couldn't conceive how that was possible. So I kept questioning, like, I don't understand what kind of a workout would lead to this. How did we get to that point?

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Answering that question would turn out to be a lot more complicated than Nicole or Calvin ever expected.

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[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Calvin and Nicole were in shock. Just three days after moving their 18 year old son into his dorm, he was pronounced dead.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

This is a pain that would never go away. And as parents, this is one of those things that you felt that you let your kid down because this is something that as adults, as a parent, I should have known more about the sickle cell trait.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Calvin and Nicole would later learn that his CJ lay dying at Geisinger Medical Center. Bucknell President John Bravman was in the same hospital for routine medical tests. He'd texted football coaches to say he might stop by to see Calvin and Nicole Dickey. He never did. Instead, President Bravman sent Calvin a text message offering his prayers. Text messages, it turned out, were all the Dickeys would receive from the university. Even after Calvin reached out directly to the head football coach and the chief medical officer with news of CJ's death. The only person who called was the athletic director.

[Nicole Dickey]

He talked to my husband and expressed condolences and asked if we would be open to them sharing. But CJ had passed with the team.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Calvin asked about getting his son's belongings, but the athletic director told him they couldn't enter CJ's dorm. An investigation was already underway. They'd have to wait until it was over.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

I was under the impression that if there was going to be an investigation, they were going to tell us what the investigation found. We were looking forward to that.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

A month later, they still hadn't received a single update. The only thing they'd gotten From Bucknell was CJ's belongings sent in the mail.

[Nicole Dickey]

We didn't even receive all the things from his dorm room that he never slept in. And there wasn't like an inventory list. There wasn't a point of contact if something was missing or broken. Some things were even broken.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

It really paints a picture that someone

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

did not care over the Next few weeks, the Dickeys kept waiting for news about the investigation. They heard nothing.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

We thought there would be a liaison from the president's office, someone just kind of reaching out. Hey, this is what's going on. This is what we're doing. Just someone be in contact with us or our attorney at the time. And we didn't get anything.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Calvin and Nicole began looking into things themselves. They learned there had been multiple deaths linked to sickle cell trade in college football. Enough that the NCAA had put strict protocols in place. Bucknell apparently hadn't followed them.

[Nicole Dickey]

Within those protocols, it is very clear that on day one there should not be any intense workout to the point where there would create a situation where a player could have rhabdo. Bucknell said that it was just a light workout. That's all we've ever heard. It wasn't too intense in the weight room. And still our son ended up with rhabdo. Something isn't adding up.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Around three months after C.J. died, Bucknell finally reached out. The university said it would share a limited version of its findings, but only if Calvin and Nicole signed a non disclosure agreement. The parents were desperate for answers, so they agreed. But when they got the information, it didn't answer their questions.

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

No real specific details that we were asking for. They did not care about us knowing what really happened to him.

[Nicole Dickey]

Just being parents, our expectation was not something at a summary level when it came to something that resulted in our child's death. I want details. And we've thought about this for 18 months and regurgitated and gone around in our brains and we can't figure out what happened without those details.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

With no answers from the school, the Dickeys launched their own investigation. Their attorney hired more than 30 investigators who spoke with former employees and players, including several players who were in the room the day CJ collapsed. Here's what they learned. The workout where CJ collapsed was run by the team's strength and conditioning coach, Mark Colbus. Every year, Colbus led a workout for freshmen on the first day of orientation, what he called setting the tone for the season.

[Mike Caspino (Dickey's Attorney)]

He takes the freshman and he brutalizes him. He works them till they vomit. He works them out until they pass out.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

This is the Dickey's attorney, Mike Caspino, speaking at a press conference.

[Mike Caspino (Dickey's Attorney)]

Mark Colbus had a workout with CJ Dickey, a young man who's supposed to be eased into his practice. CJ's sickle cell trait diagnosis was given to all the coaches and was put on an electronic format for all the coaches. So he had to have known Mark Colbus just didn't care.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Players who were there that day told investigators that C.J. was clearly struggling. He was falling behind the group. But the coach didn't seem to care.

[Mike Caspino (Dickey's Attorney)]

18 year old kids saw that he was in distress. But Mark Colbus, the strength and conditioning coach, made him continue. We've talked to NCAA coaches from all over the country. When they hear about CJ Case, they are dumbfounded because most schools create a culture of protection for sickle cell kids. The University of Kansas, we talked to their ex head coach. Sickle cell trait carriers in their program wear red helmets. At the University of Miami, we've been informed sickle cell trait athletes wear orange armbands because the coaches want everybody to know we don't overwork the these kids.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

Investigators learned something else too. There was no athletic trainer present for the workout that day. That's an NCAA violation.

[Mike Caspino (Dickey's Attorney)]

What we found in our investigation is that Bucknell University's athletic department has severe financial strain. Prior to this season. They cut half of their trainers. So what do we have that happens? There's no trainer there. And I dare say that the trainer would have probably stopped Colbus, would have probably stopped him from running this kid into the ground knowing that he had sickle cell trait. That's number one. Number two, they didn't even have an emergency action plan there.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

The emergency action plan is pretty much what it sounds like, a detailed plan for what to do in a medical emergency. The NCAA requires one for every athletic facility. Bucknell didn't have one. That almost certainly delayed the fire department and EMTs from getting to the scene.

[Mike Caspino (Dickey's Attorney)]

So there is a lot of culpability. We found out on Bucknell's behalf this was 100% preventable.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

In April 2025, the Dickeys filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bucknell University, its president, coaches and members of the athletic department.

[News Reporter]

The Dickey's lawyers dropped a lawsuit claiming Bucknell knew CJ's blood had sickle cell traits, making him far more likely to get rhabdo. His parents say Bucknell won't share the results of its own investigation. They hope discovery in court will get them their answers.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

I know the lawsuit is still ongoing as of now. Is it accurate to say that no one from the university has been held accountable?

[Calvin Dickey Sr.]

No one was released from their position as a result of our son's death.

[Nicole Dickey]

There is nothing that we can definitively say that happened as a result of CJ and what happened on that campus. I believe they may have postponed one practice. And while we fight for accountability, we keep trying to turn this pattern and the purpose and share because the more we talk about him, the more people are aware and they'll hopefully prevent this from ever happening again.

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

That's why they refused Bucknell's latest settlement offer. The university's lawyers offered to disclose everything if Calvin and Nicole agreed to never tell anyone what had happened. They said no. The Dickeys want this story to be heard. They want other parents to have the knowledge about sickle cell trait that they never had.

[Podcast Host/Producer]

If you've got a story idea, we

[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

would love to hear about it.

[Podcast Host/Producer]

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[Narrator (Margo Gray)]

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[Podcast Host/Producer]

so you never miss an episode While you're there. Leave us a review and a five star rating. Campus Files is An Odyssey original podcast hosted by Margo Gray and Ian Mont. Our executive producers are Leah Reese, Dennis and Lloyd Lockridge. Campus Files is produced by Ian Mont and Margot Gray, sound design and engineering by Andy Jaskowitz and and Zach Clark. Legal support by Laura Berman and Melissa Jean. Original music by Davy Sumner. Special thanks to Maura Curran, Josephina Francis, Hilary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Kate Hutchison, Rose, Sean Cherry, Kurt Courtney and Lauren Vieira.

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