Hank Nuwer, Author; Hazing Deaths Database 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.
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
Excerpt: 18-year-old University of South Carolina freshman and Pi Kappa Alpha pledge Charlie Terreni Jr. was found dead at an off-campus house Wednesday morning.
The Columbia Police have since told the student newspaper that Terreni’s death is now considered “suspicious” after no foul play was found at the scene.
Here is the link and brief except
“The district took this very seriously. It may have been a joke for the teenagers, but we expect our students to make better decisions. The hope is that the students learn from the situation and make better decisions in the future.”
The school district suspended the team for four games and said all the students involved were disciplined in some way since the district said it has policies on bullying and hazing in its code of conduct. The district would not comment on what specific discipline was taken because of student privacy.
“That’s abuse, that’s assault, that’s that boys body,” said parent Carol Ryczek, “No way should we tolerate that as a school, a neighborhood, a culture, a state, a nation.”
StopHazing, a group dedicated to preventing hazing, reports nearly half of students have experienced hazing before they reach college.
Here is the except and link:
East Tennessee State University has officially suspended one of its fraternities for five years for hazing and disorderly conduct after a lengthy investigation. The university made the announcement today, which impacts Lambda Chi Alpha.
The university confirms its University Judicial Board voted to suspend the chapter effective immediately.
“The board found the fraternity responsible for violating sections of ETSU’s Institutional Disciplinary Policies,” the university said. “These violations included hazing and disorderly conduct. As a result of the suspension, the fraternity cannot engage in or sponsor any activity nor recruit new members or hold any meetings for the next five years. Any organization that has been suspended is prohibited from using university resources, equipment, facilities, services or funds, as well as participating as an organization at a campus event.”
ETSU charged Lambda Chi Alpha with disorderly conduct, hazing, providing false information, violation of general rules and regulations, as well as failure to cooperate with institutional officers.
Here is the link to Richmond Times Dispatch and a brief excerpt:
The families of two Virginia State University students who drowned during their initiation into a fraternal group two years ago have filed twin $25 million wrongful death suits against the state of Virginia and the four men recently convicted in their deaths.
The mothers of Jauwan Holmes and Marvell Edmondson, who were swept away on April 20, 2013, while trying to cross the Appomattox River, are each seeking $25 million in compensatory damages against the state, claiming VSU was grossly negligent in its duty to protect the students from harm.
Also named as defendants are James A. Mackey Sr., 37; Charles E. Zollicoffer II, 30; Eriq K. Benson, 20; and Cory D. Baytop, 27, all of whom pleaded guilty or no contest Feb. 12 to hazing and involuntary manslaughter charges. The four were sentenced to varying jail terms, ranging from five to 14 months.
Today, the former band member called the ring leader in the hazing death of Robert Champion was sentenced to 6+ years in prison–longest ever in a collegiate hazing death. http://tinyurl.com/mds5bvo