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West Virginia University and Phi Kappa Psi throw the book at local chapter after pledge is hurt

Moderator: Back in mid-November, a pledge was hospitalized for a concussion and lacerations needing stitching. Police charged Andrew Nemes with battery and hazing. That case has not yet come to trial.

Here is the link to the Huffington Post

In addition to police proceedings, Phi Kappa Psi will shut its doors on Jan. 1 to begin a five semester suspension. It will then be put on inactive status. It could be five years before the fraternity is allowed back on campus.

Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Gray said in a news release, “we need to make clear that hazing will not be tolerated and if the members can’t exhibit the kind of behavior expected, the chapter will be shut down entirely.”

“Phi Kappa Psi has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hazing and holds the safety and well-being of our members as our top priority,” Phi Kappa Psi national Executive Director Shawn Collingsworth. “West Virginia Alpha has jeopardized that by participating in activities that aim to humiliate or harm new members and it will not be tolerated.”

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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