When we first meet Julie DeVercelly, she is in the halls of congress. It is 2023. It is day 2,000-something as she’s meeting senators and congresspeople and telling them about her son, Gary Jr., and how he was killed in a college hazing incident back in 2007. Her goal is to get a bill on the floor to make a federal law to end the practice of hazing in fraternities across the country. It’s a bold strategy, and one she and her husband have tried to get done with the 115th, 116th, and now 117th congress.
But, unfortunately, they’re not alone. The film introduces us to three main families. Along with the DeVercelly’s, we’re introduced to TJ and Kim Burch, and their son, Nolan, and Eric and Linda Oakes, and their son, Adam. We follow these families on their journeys of redemption, restoring faith, and getting justice in any form they can. The DeVercelly’s son, Gary, attended Rider University in New Jersey, Nolan Burch attended West Virginia University, and Adam Oakes attended Virginia Commonwealth University. All three schools had a Greek chapter fraternity on campus they signed up for. Even when Julie asks her son about hazing, he says, “Hazing is illegal.” Fully believing it wasn’t allowed anymore in the state.
The film dives into exactly how hazing happens, and why there was little to nothing done about it for years, which is the reason there was such a need for federal legislation. Eric and Linda take center stage for much of the film as they, along with Adam’s cousin, Courtney, start doing college tours and lectures about hazing and what happened to Adam. A few of these tours even included some of Adam’s fraternity brothers who were there the night he died. These scenes are utterly heartbreaking as you hear Eric struggle to even sit next to the fraternity brothers. The presentation also includes a film that director Daniel Catullo III did with the family called “Death of a Pledge.” The students and parents in tears after sitting though the presentation is absolutely shattering and really drives home the pain of the loss and the fear any parent or student would have.
The practice of hazing has been a part of fraternity life for as long as it’s been around. The more upsetting part is how colleges and administrators were aware of the dangers that these fraternities were causing but used them for recruiting purposes and allowed them to operate with impunity. In other words, fraternities were big money makers, and shipping off the insurance cost to a third party meant they would see profit and face next to nothing on the loss. In the one place a parent sends their child to be protected and safe, these schools were allowing and profiting off of the most unsafe environments possible.
Getting the bill passed is its own nightmare. It needs 100 signatures to get it on the house floor, and then to confuse matters, an attorney group representing the fraternities, introduced their own bill to muddy the waters and split the votes. It took over a decade, three different congressional terms, a change of the name of the bill, and including elements of the second bill, years of pain, setbacks, and not being heard. After even more parents have joined the cause after losing their kids in the same manner. It takes 4000 days until the Stop Campus Hazing Act officially becomes federal law.
But even in victory, you’ll still hear a tearful Linda exclaim, “I just want him back,” and it reminds you that there’s no pain in the world like losing a child, especially in this way. Their victory is a victory for the future, and it’s shown in the film’s final montage of all the schools that immediately faced charges after the law had passed. It is the hope, not just to get transparency and accountability, but to ensure the practice of hazing is eradicated for good in the future.
4000 Days isn’t just the story of an intense political challenge; it is the emotional journey of a parent dealing with loss and grief that may never go away. Watching this, whether you have children of your own or not, will fill you with a tremendous, righteous rage for the injustices done, and a deep empathy and gratefulness for those who were brave enough to endure this nightmare and still have the strength to win the fight.
4000 Days held its World Premiere as a part of the Spotlight Documentary section of the 2026 Tribeca Festival.
Director: Daniel E Catullo III
Rated: NR
Runtime: 111m
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4000 Days isn’t just the story of an intense political challenge; it is the emotional journey of a parent dealing with loss and grief that may never go away.
Phoenix is a father of two, the co-host and editor of the Curtain to Curtain Podcast, co-founder of the International Film Society Critics Association. He’s also a member of the Pandora International Critics, Independent Critics of America, Online Film and Television Association, and Film Independent. With the goal of eventually becoming a filmmaker himself. He’s also obsessed with musical theater.
