Welcome to the unofficial hazing deaths clearinghouse of Hank Nuwer. The Alaska Press Club Contest in 2024 and 2025 has named him the state’s Best Columnist this year and last year. Nuwer’s books in print are Hazing: Destroying Young Lives, The Hazing Reader, and Wrongs of Passage (Indiana University Press). Out-of-print books on hazing are High School Hazing (Scholastic) and Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing (Longstreet). Recent articles here.
See Hank Nuwer’s biography, Alaska Children’s Trust (Fairbanks, Alaska), or 2025 University of Alaska profile/bio: “The Weight of Power”
Recent hazing publications include Hank Nuwer’s forward to Cultures of Sport Hazing and Ant-Hazing Initiatives for the 21st Century by editors Jay Johnson and Jessica W. Chin, plus “Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities” by Elizabeth Allan and Hank Nuwer in Gender-Based Crime edited by Kathleen A. Bogle.
In addition to hazing, Nuwer also is or was a longtime contributor to such magazines as Phi Kappa Phi Forum, Inside Sports, Sport, Saturday Evening Post, Outside, GQ, Boston Magazine, Indianapolis Monthly, The Nation and a short piece on hazing for the New York Times Sunday Magazine. He has written op-ed commentaries for the Orlando Sentinel, Cordova Times, Indianapolis Star, and the Times of India. He is currently writing a scholarly essay about his battle with Sportcut.com over policies, ethics and the line between marketing and editorial content — an issue covered by other media 1999-2000.
Contact: Hank Nuwer at Hjnuwer@alaska.edu
What happens to the hazing deaths page after moderator Hank Nuwer retires or dies? The data now will be preserved by hazinginfo.com: at Link
Recent non-hazing stories are archived at Hank Nuwer’s author website: Real Alaska Daily.
Twitter (X): @Hazing
The Hazing Deaths Unofficial Clearinghouse page tracks all hazing deaths and investigates suspected deaths to work toward solutions-based answers to eradicate behaviors associated with tragedies. This site tracks ongoing legislation and scholarly insights into hazing prevention that is intended to have a positive impact on a longstanding social problem in education.
My research has found one or more deaths a year occurred in U.S. each year from 1959 to 2025–with the exception of 2022. However, an occupational hazing death occurred in 2022. Thus, a hazing death, school- or other-related, has occurred in some group from 1959-2025. HN
Video: Congresswoman Lucy McBath of Georgia reads names of hazing victims into Congressional Record
Note, Hank Nuwer will continue to write some about hazing effective August 19, 2025, but at the same time he will pursue an MFA degree in nonfiction from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Creative Writing Program. In addition, he will be away from email July 16 to August 18, 2025, while working on another book.
The State University of New York awarded Hank Nuwer an honorary Doctor of Human Letters. Nuwer is a longtime member of IRE (Investigative Reporters & Editors), SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists), and Phi Kappa Phi & Alpha Lambda Delta National Academic Honor Societies. His master’s degree is from New Mexico Highlands University. He is currently a graduate student at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and pursuing an MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing.
Current Titles: Prof. emeritus, Franklin College; adjunct professor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Other involvements: Ball State University Journalism Hall of Fame, Buffalo State University Athletic Hall of Fame; Alaska Children’s Trust 2024 Champion. 2023 and 2024 Alaska Press Club Columnist of Year and second place (2023), best Humor; 2022 Ohio SPJ First Place small market Columnist of the year and 3rd place, 2022 SPJ Indiana columnist of the year. He has also received NEA, Nevada Humanities, Idaho Humanities and Franklin College Scholar grants. He twice was named Scholar of the year at Franklin College.
Hank Nuwer Papers: Hank Nuwer hazing archives page at Buffalo State University (SUNY Hank Nuwer Hazing Research Collection): at https://library.buffalostate.edu/archives/nuwer