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
The school is Heritage High in Clark County, Oregon
The Department issued a news release Saturday afternoon offering little details on the assault that reportedly occurred at about 9 p.m. on Friday at York Elementary School in Vancouver. Later in the evening, they responded to an Orchards-area home on a report of the assault.
Opinion by Nina Funnel: National Times
Excerpt:
Once again Sydney University’s colleges are in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Last week St John’s residential college suspended 30 male students after a drinking game left a young woman in hospital.
The teenager collapsed after older students allegedly accosted her in a hall and told her she could not leave until she consumed the initiation drink. She allegedly protested, citing an allergy to alcohol.
She eventually conceded and consumed the drink. Minutes later she was found convulsing on the floor and was rushed to hospital.
Last year, a separate college found itself in a similar position after a boy was allegedly forced to drink alcohol through a tube inserted into his mouth as he lay on his back. It ended in him vomiting blood.
Drinking games and drinking rituals have formed a part of initiation and bonding ceremonies within the college culture for decades.
Years ago, when I was a student at Sydney University, one of my college friends became violently ill after she was appointed “Fresher Sacrifice”. “Fresher” is the term given to first year students and during O-Week (Orientation Week) the older students would select a first year student to be “sacrificed”. This meant that the student would be plied with alcohol, often until they threw up or passed out.
BLOOMINGTON – A candlelight vigil is planned for 18-year-old Brandon Landau of Bronx, New York.
He was an Illinois Wesleyan University freshmen who died over the weekend after a fraternity party in northern Illinois.
University spokesman Matt Kurz told WMBD 31 Wednesday morning students are holding the vigil at 10 p.m. Wednesday on campus near Buck Memorial Library.
Meanwhile, Winnebago County Coroner Elizabeth “Sue” Fiduccia updated WMBD 31 Wednesday with new information about Landau’s death.
She said possible causes of death have been narrowed down to drowning, alcohol intoxication, hypothermia or an unknown underlying condition like a genetic heart problem.
Fiduccia said her office is not considering the possibility of a drug overdose. However, she said the toxicology results she’s waiting for will show if Landau had any prescription drugs or illegal drugs in his system.
Results will also show his blood alcohol level at the time of his death.
Landau was found Sunday in a creek at White Pines State Park in Ogle County. He was flown to a Rockford hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:40 p.m.
His body was found after a fraternity party thrown by the Illinois Wesleyan chapter of Sigma Pi.
Friends told authorities they last saw Landau around 2 a.m. Sunday.
His body was found in knee-deep water, Fiduccia said. She said he was face down, with his upper body on a log and his torso in water.
She said his body was not in two pieces and sustained no trauma. She said there were cuts and abrasions consistent with his head falling forward and hitting a log.
Fiduccia said based on information she’s received from detectives, the death is not being investigated as a hazing incident.
She said Landau had already been vetted and accepted into the fraternity. She said the group came to northern Illinois for a spring dance and had rented cabins at the state park.
Police arrested four underage drinkers, including the fraternity’s 20-year-old president Casey Wiersma, in connection to the fraternity party.
Here is the link to the breaking CNN story.