The lead announcement for members only on the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity web page urges members to learn about a moratorium passed by the organization’s elders. According to a fraternity member who does not wish to be identified, the moratorium concerns pledging, also known as Membership Intake, “due to a proliferation of pending lawsuits (45+). The insider adds that the Fraternity has had its insurance carrier cancel. –Hank Nuwer
Author: 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.
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
Here is the link to the story.
Excerpt:
The I-Team discovered through emails, a parent described the incident as a football player allegedly showing his “private parts” to a younger player, and Fernandez confirmed this. Two players were disciplined, but after an investigation, the school decided it was not hazing.
The I-Team obtained dozens of emails between Fernandez, the high school principal and athletic director. The emails show that the victim’s mother originally called this hazing and brought it to the coach’s attention, which led to the school’s investigation.
Attorney Richard Klein criticized aggressive media coverage of the Sayreville case.
Excerpt:
“My client never was in custody,” Klein said. “People have misstated where the kids are. Not all the kids are being held in custody. There’s different levels of culpability involved in this case. Everyone wasn’t necessarily the alleged perpetrator of the act.”
Klein said the seven players charged, who range in age from 15 to 17, had their first family court appearance this week and that all have been given a next court date. From Mycentraljersey.com
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ESPN examines the Sayreville, NJ Case
The Florida parents of Harrison Kowiak, the young golfer killed during a violent fraternity physical hazing incident at Lenoir Rhyne University, received unwelcome news today from Ben & Jerry’s executives.
The Burlington, Vermont ice cream giant known previously for its professed concern in social matters has rejected a plea from Brian and Lianne Kowiak to change the name of its “Hazed and Confused” ice cream flavor.
“Very sadly, Ben & Jerry’s moral compass is pointing the wrong way,” said Brian Kowiak after receiving the corporate giant’s decision in a conference call. “It is obviously pointing towards the motivation for corporate profits and not morality. “
The bad news was delivered by Ben & Jerry’s company spokesperson Sean Greenwood, but Brian Kowiak was hardly surprised, although disappointed, to learn that the flavor would continue to be packaged and sold without a name change.
This afternoon, the Global Leadership team and B and J Board of Directors Jeff Furman, Pierre Ferrari, Jennifer Henderson, Jostein Solheim and Terry Mollner let the Kowiaks know that Hazed and Confused will remain on its list of available flavors.
Ironically, high school hazing has been prominently in the news of late.
–In Burlington, Vermont, home of Ben & Jerry’s, embarrassed Milton School District officials apologized after conceding they had inappropriately addressed a hazing incident. Most disturbing, the parents of Jordan Preavy, 17, said his suicide came on the heels of a sexual hazing at the Vermont institution.
–In New Jersey, the town of Sayreville was thrown into anguish this month as the news spread that freshman players allegedly had been digitally penetrated by up to seven seniors who now face serious charges in court following their arrests.
–Hazing deaths have now occurred on college campuses every year from 1970 to 2014, according to my research as Hanknuwer.com.
“Sean’s entire focus was that B&J did not have a purposeful intent to promote hazing, so they will not change the flavor name,” conceded Brian Kowiak today. “The point he avoided was the unintentional implications of the chosen name.”
Following the conference call, the Kowiaks have requested that the company submit its reasoning for refusing to change its brand’s name.
In the opinion of the Kowiaks, a nationally respected corporate giant had the opportunity to take the high road and send a national message that hazing is no lighthearted matter, particularly with Jordan Preavy’s suicide in its own back yard.
It will take more than a spoonful of sugar to make this decision understandable for families like the Kowiaks who had hoped for a name change.
At least one former Ben & Jerry’s customer has said he’ll find an alternative corporate choice following the refusal of the corporate giant to budge. “I saw this flavor in the Indianapolis Meijer store on Southport Road when looking for high-carb, high-fat escapism,” said Ray Begovich of Franklin, Indiana. “I escaped to a different, and cheaper brand. You may quote me.”