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Letter to the moderator: re Rider editorial at http://hazing.hanknuwer.com

From HN:: This came today, August 10 at 12 p.m. Name and school withheld. It is a very thoughtful letter, and says some things I had not addressed: _____________________________________
Hank,

Thanks for your regular posts and comments on your blog over the past week. It has become a primary source for information, and about the only place I can find with any commentary or opinion.

I really appreciate your challenge to the Rider administration to make a statement regarding their support (or lack of support) for Dean Campbell and Ada Badgley. I would also challenge that there are a number of other folks who need to be involved in this discussion, and are notable by their silence. Why haven’t we heard from the North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), ACPA, NASPA or Phi Kappa Tau? The Association of Fraternity Advisors finally posted a statement, but all it said is that it is their policy not to comment. As a member of AFA, I really expected the association to take the lead in sharing the positive work that has been done to change the hazing culture. As long as those voices are not being heard other (less knowledgeable) voices will fill the gap.

One addition to your list of questions that need to be answered: Why did the indictments of the chapter members stop at the President and Pledge Educator? Why wasn’t the chapter advisor, who has a formal relationship by appointment of the national office, included? The chapter advisor is usually much more intimately aware of the activities of the chapter than the campus advisor. Also, why wasn’t the big brother who actually handed the bottle to Gary indicted?

Again, thanks for your work,
Name and school withheld by moderator

___________________________________________________

Disclaimer from Hank Nuwer: my policy is not to print names unless the writer enrolls at this site, and I can verify by email or phone that the letter is authentic. Otherwise, if a letter is pertinent, I include the text without attribution for the sake of sharing ideas and opinions. HN

Previous editorials at http://hazing.hanknuwer.com

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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