Spring Break
Student involved in hazing may be expelled
By: AP
Issue date: 4/28/03 Section: Front Page
COLLEGE STATION (AP) -- Texas A&M officials have recommended the expulsion of a Corps of Cadets student and the suspension of several others in a continuing investigation into alleged hazing within the 60-member cavalry.
The investigation opened in October after A&M senior Ty Keeling, commander of the Corps' Parsons Mounted Cavalry, reported the alleged hazing to Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne.
Juniors in the 60-member cavalry were accused of forcing sophomores to do push-ups and sit-ups, beating them and even dousing them with urine and horse feces, the Houston Chronicle reported in its Saturday editions. The alleged incidents took place over a number of years, according to a student who was recommended for a one-year suspension and didn't want to be identified.
Brazos County District Attorney Jim Kuboviak conducted a five-month criminal investigation of the alleged hazing, which is a Class A misdemeanor. A grand jury declined to issue indictments in March, but Kuboviak said at the time that he believed hazing had occurred.
The Parsons Mounted Cavalry fires the cannon at A&M football games and Midnight Yell Practices.
Since October, A&M officials have banned about half of the cavalry members from participating in its activities. The others take care of 40 horses and participate in other events.
Recommended punishments for some students were first announced this week, said the student who didn't want to be identified.
Dave Parrott, A&M's dean of student life, said it's unclear how many students will be sanctioned in the investigation because the matter is "evolving." Parrott said he did not know how many suspensions have been recommended; the students will have the right to appeal their recommended punishments.
"No sanctions are complete until you've exhausted your appeals," Parrot said Sunday night. "We have a large batch of cases that will be handled by the end of the semester, a few this summer and some even in the fall."
Parrott said staff members from A&M and the Commandant's office are hearing six to eight cases a day.
Parrott and other A&M officials said they could not discuss the details of the investigation because of privacy laws. But the University takes hazing charges seriously, Parrott said.
A&M's Corps' Fish Drill Team was suspended from 1997 to 2002 because of hazing within that unit.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com