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That paddling incident at Kansas: Jake Droge, Jay Trump, and John Pecis

This Kansas paddling issue is an example of how a hazing story goes viral in the media.

Excerpt from former President Trump in Kansas.com:

Interfraternity Council President Jay Trump resigned Tuesday, two weeks after the IFC was placed on probation.

IFC, the governing body for fraternities, was placed on a two-year probation Feb. 15, following a hazing incident that occurred after a leadership turnover ceremony in November. Some members of the council engaged in paddling after the ceremony, according to a report released by the Office of Student Success.

The report completed by Lori Reesor, associate vice provost for student success, was distributed to students at a Feb. 3 forum for the greek community to dicuss the IFC hazing issue. The report said Trump, John Pecis and Jake Droge had engaged in paddling along with other members of the council.

“Three former exec members (Jake Droge, Jay Trump, and John Pecis) also have new positions with IFC. John was re-elected to his same position; Jay was elected president; Jake was elected to IFC J-Board. They are the only three former members who participated in the ‘paddling event’ and currenlty serve as leaders within IFC” the report said.

Pecis and Droge have also resigned from the council.

Trump said in a statement that he does not believe in hazing and that he has never paddled or hazed anyone.

“A campaign has been waged against me in the media and in emails and I have been labeled as a hazer, even though I am not,” Trump said.

Moderator: Who to believe? Reesor or Trump?  All we know is that a couple of someones had a bad idea.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank 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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