ROSWELL, N.M.—The New Mexico Military Institute has suspended two cadets for hazing first-year students in a ritual dubbed “blood bars.”NMMI public information officer Carl Hansen said that because of privacy laws, the school will not reveal the identities of the cadets suspended last Friday and Wednesday.
Last week’s hazing centers around metal pins signifying a student’s status as a yearling, Hansen said.
The Roswell Daily Record reported that the bar-shaped pins, about an inch long with two sharp metal prongs, are pushed into the skin of a cadet’s chest. The pins are then slapped and twisted.
Hansen said it’s not uncommon for as many as five older cadets to take turns striking the pin.
The investigation is continuing and any other cadets found to have participated in hazing will face similar disciplinary action, he said.
The suspended cadets have the option of reapplying to the school, Hansen said.
NMMI won’t tolerate hazing, said the commandant of cadets, Brig. Gen. Richard Geraci.
“Physical hazing is much too serious and dangerous, both for the cadet doing the hazing and the person being hazed, for me and NMMI to turn a blind eye,” he said.
Hansen said
the victims of hazing are being counseled by school staff, and are being told “that this was wrong and should never have happened.”———
Information from: Roswell Daily Record,
