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.45 BAC at Fiji rush party uncovered by University of Virginia Cavailier

Here is the whole article based on a FOIA request.

Here is a snippet from the University of Virginia Cavalier:

In light of last week’s National Hazing Prevention Week, The Cavalier Daily returned to the email exchanges of relevant administrators during those months. The following information has been obtained from emails secured through the Freedom of Information Act.

In response to a specific rush incident at Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) that resulted in the hospitalization of a student with a .45 BAC, FIJI subsequently underwent an Inter-Fraternity Council Judicial Trial and was placed on social probation for five weeks. Three individual members involved in the incident received specific sanctions, including suspension and loss of leadership positions in the fraternity.

Then-IFC president Andy Colberg sent an email to members of the IFC community warning the fraternity community of a possible crack down by the University on fraternity activities due to rush-related hospitalizations.

“If we do not take responsibility and change our process, the University has made it abundantly clear that they will take over the rest of rush or cancel it, and they will reconsider the standing of the Inter-Fraternity system at U.Va.,” Colberg said in a Jan. 25 email. “Unfortunately, we are too big not to fail.”

 

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024 and April 2025 , the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com

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