Was it criminal hazing? That’s what investigators want to know about the death of Robert Champion.
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
So called power grabbing may have risen to level of crime–hazing on trial.
More evidence that alums are involved in fraternity hazing that battered a pledge’s kidneys. When will the law add “corrupting a minor” to the battery charges? 34 years old? 27? Grow up, alums
Christopher McKagen, Staff Writer
November 12, 2011
Filed under Breaking News
Three Francis Marion University students and six former students were arrested Thursday by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office in connection with an off-campus hazing incident on Oct. 23 which resulted in the hospitalization of one student. A sheriff’s office press release stated the suspects allegedly beat the victim with a paddle “to such an extent as to have resulted in serious bodily injury requiring an extended stay at an area hospital.â€
Media General’s SC Now news site reported the victim “was paddled so severely, his buttocks bled and he suffered kidney damage that required hospitalization two days later.â€
All of the suspects are current or alumni-status members of FMU’s chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
According to the sheriff’s office, the following suspects were charged with one count of hazing each: Maurice Robinson, 34; Nicholas Washington, 27; Miles Norton, 24; Chappelle Smith, 23; Kevin Cooper, 23; Uribe Norton, 22; Marcus Raven, 22; Henry Watson, 22; and Jatravian Brown, 21. The release lists Robinson as living at the address where the alleged incident took place.
Hazing is a misdemeanor crime punishable by a fine of up to $500 or imprisonment of up to one year, or both. The suspects appeared before a Florence County Magistrate and were released on $5,000 personal recognizance bonds.
The identity of the victim has not been released by the sheriff’s office.