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Hazing News

Eight Men Out

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 18) — The University of Santo Tomas (UST) has expelled eight students involved in the hazing death of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.

News of the expulsions was first reported on Sunday by The Varsitarian, UST’s official student publication.

“The UST confirmed that the Committee tasked to investigate the death of Mr. Horacio Castillo III has issued its first resolution finding eight law students guilty of violating the Code of Conduct and Discipline and imposing the supreme penalty of expulsion,” it reported.

In a statement sent to CNN Philippines, UST Law Dean Nilo Divina said: “The Committee has exercised the authority and carried out the mandate that the University has given. Its resolution will be faithfully implemented by the faculty of civil law.”

Atio, a 22-year-old freshman law student, died after the hazing rites of the Aegis Juris Fraternity on September 16.

Timeline: The case of Horacio Castillo III

On September 19, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri filed Senate Resolution No. 504, calling for an investigation into Castillo’s death.

The Manila police has filed charges for murder, perjury, robbery, and obstruction of justice, and violation of the anti-hazing law against 17 suspects.

This is a developing story.

By 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, the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

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 Warsaw, Poland and 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 and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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