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Tragedy in North Carolina; horrific accident on fraternity bus: Polly Rogers death

WFMY2 News bulletin

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A fraternity at UNC Charlotte has been suspended in relation to the death of a 20-year-old student earlier this week.

On Tuesday night, authorities said Polly Rogers fell out of an emergency window on a party bus in northeast Charlotte and was hit by two cars. Witnesses said Rogers may have been the one who accidentally pulled the handle while she dancing around.

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Fharlotte-Mecklenburg Police said alcohol was being consumed on the bus that was traveling from an off-campus house on Mallard Creek Church Road to uptown.

In a statement, Mitchell Wilson, executive director of Kappa Sigma, said the fraternity is in the process of investigating the incident.

The Brothers of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Polly Rogers. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Rogers family and to her loved ones. The Kappa Sigma Fraternity has suspended the operations of our Kappa-Omega Chapter at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, and we are in the process of conducting an investigation of the event on Tuesday evening. The Kappa Sigma Fraternity will fully comply with all investigations of the University and local authorities.

NBC Charlotte has learned the fraternity at UNC Charlotte hosted the end-of-year party on the bus.

Victor Rabb, owner of Charlotte Party Charters, said his buses has never had anyone open the emergency windows before. Rabb also said the bus Rogers was on did not have safety issues.

Rogers was a member of the university’s chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. Classmates said she was an emerging leader and one of the friendliest people they knew. A vigil will be held in her honor Sunday at 5 p.m. at the quad.

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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