WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2019 STUDENT MEDIA
CORPS VALUES Part III: Hazing, discipline and cadet conduct
Members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets salute during the National Anthem before the Aggies’ 2018 football game against LSU at Kyle Field. Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
As series ends, Battalion staff looks toward future reporting Dear readers,
T
his final edition in the Corps Values series marks a major milestone in The Battalion’s coverage of the Corps of Cadets, as we delve into hazing and other disciplinary issues. While we initially thought this might mark the end of our investigations, our experience throughout the semester and especially within the past few weeks has made it clear that this is only the beginning. Last semester, The Battalion was one of nine universities selected to participate in the Poynter College Media Project, which equipped us with resources to pursue a longterm project throughout this school year. We got started with our research over winter break and have been writing stories throughout this semester. Our first edition covered the history and influence of the Corps at A&M and the second focused on cadet experience as well as perceptions of students inside and outside the organization. Finally, the staff turned its focus toward some of the elements that are less frequently discussed, with a particular emphasis on hazing. While we have done our best to tell the story of the Corps in full throughout this semester, we were understandably met with some opposition and criticism as we began to venture into this subject matter.
It is hard for us to look at something that is well loved throughout the Aggie community and address the fact that some of it might be unsavory. We were accused of creating this series as a way to undermine the Corps. Cadets either wouldn’t go on the record to talk about their experiences or told us we would never get anyone to speak with us because nobody would want to hurt the Corps’ reputation. We were constantly asked what our “real” motivation behind the series really is. In fact, we had a long conversation about this question because most staff members were being asked the same questions in their personal lives and with sources for stories completely unrelated to the series. I understand it may be hard for some to believe that we are being as genuine and transparent as possible about our mission, but I would like to reassure readers that what I said in my first letter is true: we are not interested in creating controversy for controversy’s sake. We want to tell the whole story, and part of the story involves looking into the rumors of hazing that every cadet and non-reg has surely heard during their time at A&M. I believe that we have exhibited that throughout this entire series. We have made every effort to include various angles in each story we wrote and created two large editions teaching readers about the Corps before
delving into more conduct-specific content. Throughout these last few weeks, our reporting has revealed a significant reduction in the number of Corps hazing cases in recent years. Even so, when we heard back about the public records request we made, we learned that from 2010 to the present, there have been 207 cadets found responsible for some degree of hazing. This number was much higher than we were expecting. Originally, we had requested complete records of each case, but with such a large number of incidents, it would cost us thousands of dollars to obtain the redacted versions of the 44,000 pages. Since these records were not something we would be able to pay for and receive any time soon, we were able to get some more basic figures from the Offices of the Dean of Student Life to contextualize some of what we were learning. So like I said before — this is only the beginning. While much of our staff is graduating this semester, returning editors will be working on more research and plans throughout the summer to prepare the fall staff for follow-up stories. The staff will be narrowing our public records request to gather information on a few select years and diving deeper into specific instances in those reports. Additionally, they will be pursuing sources who we identified this semester but were unable to
interview for various reasons. While we did spend this semester looking specifically at the Corps — and that will remain a major part of the focus next year — the staff will also be looking into where other hazing cases across the university come from. I believe that we have built a firm foundation for these future investigative pieces. I continue to invite anyone with comments on this edition, suggestions for future stories or a desire to be interviewed to reach out to The Battalion by emailing editor@thebatt. com or visiting the newsroom in Memorial Student Center room L400. Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has helped us throughout this process. While gaining some information has been a challenge, the experience has been valuable, and it is thanks to the help of sources who understand the importance of what The Battalion is doing. I hope that this can lead to a continued conversation as The Battalion staff continues to research what we have learned so far. Respectfully, Megan Rodriguez Editor-in-chief
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Graphic by Nic Tan — THE BATTALION
Cases where there was no finding of responsibility for any kind of charge are not included in the statistics because, as per student rules, the records are destroyed. Total numbers of students found responsible for hazing are not included in this data. Total Texas A&M enrollment is currently close to 65,000 while Corps of Cadets enrollment is roughly 2,500.
CORPS CONFRONTS HAZING ISSUES
Administration continues efforts to reduce unsafe conduct among cadets By Kathryn Whitlock @ KathrynWhitloc8
In recent years, Texas A&M Administrators and staff overseeing the Corps of Cadets have made efforts to reduce hazing among cadets. According to conduct data from the Offices of the Dean of Student Life, 207 cadets have been found responsible for some degree of hazing since 2010. Though cadets make up roughly four percent of the student population, over 45 percent of hazing investigations on record since the 2012-2013 school year have involved the Corps. However, there was a large drop in Corps hazing charges from then to the 2013-2014 school year, and the number has remained relatively low. The fewest cadets found responsible for hazing since 2012 was during the 2014-2015 school year with just six. According to Dean of Student Life Anne Reber, these falling numbers are due to diligent work by the university and Corps that aims to put an end to hazing. “Corps hazing numbers have dropped incrementally over the years since I started in my position,” Reber said. “We — Student Life and the Corps staff — have worked hard to educate and address issues of hazing, and the
numbers reflect that.” Agricultural systems management senior and cadet in outfit E-2 Robert Crum said he agrees that the amount of hazing has decreased and changes are being made for the better. “Hazing has gone down so much in the Corps,” Crum said. “There are a lot of positive changes that have happened because of that. Kids aren’t getting hurt, and they are, in general, being better cadets. But talking about stuff they did back in old army, there were terrible things done to cadets.” However, Crum said that with hazing incidents decreasing, the difficult and unyielding reputation of the Corps has changed. “The Corps, to me, has just gotten so much easier that I don’t know who they are anymore,” Crum said. From freshman year to senior year, cadets are required to attend briefings to discuss behavior, said assistant commandant for discipline Col. Gary Beaty. The briefings are held at the beginning of each semester and are about three hours long. “So you’re talking six to seven hours roughly each year is the overall training,” Beaty said. “Then you get into all your weekly stuff. All your training goes on to a training schedule that gets approved. There’s a military member that’s an advisor if you will. They live in the buildings. They’re there at the formations. They see the training. They are checking on everything. They go through and review all those training pieces. There’s a series of checks
and balances.” Assistant commandant for operations and training Col. Glenn Starnes said cadets are constantly reminded of the gravity of their position and role in the Corps. “We also require our cadet leadership to hold their cadets to a higher standard,” Starnes said. “Before we have a long weekend, before Thanksgiving, before spring break, we require our leadership to do safety briefs with their cadets, reminding them ‘don’t be stupid’ and to know that they’re going to be held at a higher standard.” To avoid becoming a stagnant organization, Starnes said the Corps continually remains upto-date on current events and changes. “We constantly review each semester and take a look to see if there’s an event or something that occurs and see what changes do we need to instill and do we need to update our rules because a university rule changes,” Starnes said. “It’s an evolution.” Beaty said the system seeks to create a pyramiding effect that also motivates cadets to be aware of their responsibility to report incidents and be explicit in their accounts. “Each individual cadet is a platform, so they are able to come back and say ‘I saw or heard something that I don’t think is quite right,’” Beaty said. “They have the ability to pass those questions to the cadet side or report that through the chain of command to the Office of the Commandant, or they can go directly to the university. You’ve got to be transparent
about it. There’s nothing that requires a cadet to come see Col. Beaty before he goes and talks to the university.” Beaty said the Corps’ goal is to shape cadets into various kinds of leaders without distracting, unnecessary behavior. As an example, Beaty mentioned the recently-ended practice of square meals, in which freshmen cadets were required to pick up and eat each bite of food by making a square motion with their hands. “The purpose of the Corps is to produce officers,” Beaty said. “Twenty-six years in the army, I never had to eat a square meal. I never once had to yell at a soldier to get something done. I never had to put my hands on someone and harm them in any way physically. So the question becomes, ‘If we’re training people to become military leaders or captains of industry and they’re not doing that in any of those two capacities, then what are they doing here?’” Starnes said the immense size of an organization can hinder its ability to function properly. Starnes said he ultimately prioritizes proper training and discipline above increasing the Corps’ size. “We’ve had a lot of people saying the Corps is getting soft; well, you’re wanting quantity over quality,” Starnes said. “So the Corps is not getting soft; we’re making it more professional.”
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Behind
the arches
For some cadets, the line between hazing and normal Corps activities is difficult to draw By Hannah Falcon @hannahfalcon_ The activities that take place beyond the Quad’s arches can sometimes seem like a mystery to non-reg students at A&M, who often hear rumors of hazing. Former and current cadets have shared some of their personal experiences with activities and traditions that are not widely discussed. While these students don’t necessarily consider what happened to them hazing — and there is some disagreement among cadets about what falls into the definition of that term — their experiences are certainly different from an average college student. According to them, a normal day for a cadet includes yelling, physical training and creative problem-solving. Salvador Garcia, performance studies master’s student, played the alto sax in the Aggie Band and was part of A-Battery in the fall of 2007. He dropped the Corps after a few months because he was not enjoying his experience. According to Garcia, A-Battery had several “pass-downs,” which are roles given to freshmen by upperclassmen that provide them certain privileges if they comply with the role. Garcia was assigned the role of “racists fish,” which means he had to tell the upperclassmen racist jokes on command. “My assumption is that they chose me because I’m Mexican, and it’s easier to hear racist jokes coming from a minority,” Garcia said. “They always asked me for different and better jokes, so here I am, as a minority, always looking for jokes about my own people and reciting them back on command.” Garcia said the upperclassmen would assign them menial tasks for their own amusement, such as brushing their roommate’s teeth in the hallway or separating cookies so every piece had an even number of chocolate chips. To get away from everyone and have some privacy, Garcia would retreat to his room. “The problem came at night, because I drink a lot of water, but you have to ask permission to get out of your room at night,” Garcia said. “So, what do you do? Just pee in your sink, and they would encourage it.
That’s messed up, because your sink is where you brush your teeth, wash your face, wash your hands. And it’s right there; it’s right next to your bed. Every now and then you wake up to your roommate peeing in the sink, and that was normal.” Upperclassmen often enforce certain additional rules for freshmen. Garcia said during his time in the band, they couldn’t say words like “tuba” or “bass.” One of these rules included not being allowed to walk on the grass, but when they see an upperclassman, they have to go introduce themselves and walk with them. The upperclassman would walk the freshman onto the grass while they were shaking hands, and the freshman had to follow them. “They leave you on a tree stump, let go of your hand and just walk away, and then everybody stares to see how you make it out of the situation,” Garcia said. “For me, I had a backpack full of books, I’ll just put down one book, jump on it. Take out the other one, jump on that one. Grab the other, put it back. So I’m just jumping on books, and everybody around me is laughing.” At the time, A-Battery was under investigation for hazing, according to Garcia. He said that he always wondered if his outfit would have been worse had there not been a watchful eye looking over them. Robert Crum, agricultural systems management senior and E-2 inspector general, has seen changes in what is allowed in the Corps. Things he considered normal his freshman year are no longer permitted because of hazing complaints. This includes square meals, in which cadets must eat looking straight ahead while moving their fork in a square motion from plate to mouth. Since they could not look down at their food, some cadets found eating to be a challenge. However, others would have competitions to see who could eat the most as quickly as possible. “[Square meals are] something I did all freshman year, and it was never that bad,” Crum said. “I’m a slow eater and only ate three plates of chow, but I have buddies who would eat five to eight plates of food in a sitting. After you work out and eat that fast in a sitting, you throw up. You would run outside Duncan and throw up and it was funny, but
now if a freshman throws up because they’ve eaten too fast it’s ‘Oh my gosh, we’re in trouble.’” According to Crum, some people come into the Corps expecting to experience certain things their grandfathers and fathers experienced, only to find that those practices were discontinued due to hazing claims. Crum said he was never hazed or accused of hazing throughout his four years in the Corps. He said some things people consider hazing, such as yelling at freshmen, are simply a part of the military regimen.
“I was told I was a piece of shit, but oh well. They were right.” Robert Crum, senior in E-2
“I never faced discipline in the Corps; no one hazed me,” Crum said. “Maybe small things like I wrote note cards or I was told I was a piece of shit, but oh well. They were right.” International studies senior Zach Russell also said yelling is a regular part of a military program and should be expected. Russell said things like yelling and name-calling are not meant to be harmful but are used as a way of motivating people who are falling behind. “I think the definition [of hazing] is too broad,” Russell said. “I think there’s a lot of things that people are like ‘oh, this is hazing,’ when it isn’t. Like getting yelled at. You’re a part of an ROTC program — a military organization — that’s kind of expected, in my opinion. I know some people kind of look down upon that, because they think us yelling at somebody isn’t going to improve them. I feel like it did though.” Russell was moved from E-2 to Squadron
4 because of hazing allegations against him his freshman year. He was only found guilty of complicity and conduct unbecoming of a cadet, although he was accused of much more. According to Russell, a lot of the accusations made against him and his peers were untrue. The trial changed his view on the Corps and eventually led to him dropping and becoming a regular student. “They found [the accuser] in his car one night, and he had been drinking in his car,” Russell said. “He had a problem with alcohol, and he blamed his problem on the things that we said to him.” Four other freshmen and two sophomores were accused and tried along with Russell. The seven of them were harder on the then-freshman cadet who wasn’t keeping up with the rest of the outfit. Russell said the cadet refused help when they offered it. Included in the evidence against Russell were screenshots of GroupMe messages where they would call the cadet names. Not long after Russell’s case and several other incidents within E-2, the historically all-male outfit was integrated. “There have been problems in the past with all-male outfits, and the commandant’s office saw that as a problem,” Russell said. “E-2 being the mascot company, there was a lot of feeling like they’re going after us so hard so that they have an excuse to integrate the outfit and instill the first female handler, which is eventually what did happen. We saw a lot of cases like ours as just excuses to integrate.” Russell said he felt terrified and frustrated during his hearings, which lasted a couple months. The Assistant Commandant for Discipline and the Offices of the Dean of Student Life conducted the hearings, according to Russell. He said he felt that the university was against him and they thought he was guilty before he had a chance to defend himself. Additionally, he said it seemed as if the Corps had a desire to be more lenient while the university was pushing for stricter consequences. Editor’s Note: Several current cadets declined interviews for this story or canceled interviews with no explanation. Additionally, Salvador Garcia was a Life & Arts reporter for The Battalion in Fall 2018.
Definitions guiding discipline Combination of state laws, university and Corps rules govern lives of cadets By Henry Mureithi @HenryMureithi5 In the almost 150 years since Texas A&M was established, public attitudes about hazing and sexual harassment have evolved. By extension, this has changed the regulations that govern such conduct at A&M and within the Corps of Cadets. While the history of the Corps is associated with service and its commitment to molding leaders, that history is also one of trying to keep the conduct of its cadets within the bounds of acceptable behavior. In 1913, 22 cadets were expelled from A&M — then still the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas — because of hazing offenses. Reflective of the culture at the
time, 466 cadets went on strike to protest what they perceived as an unjust decision by the school administration. The concern about the conduct of cadets didn’t stop there and, in part, motivated some State legislators to submit an amendment to the public that would shut down the A&M College in College Station and merge it with the University of Texas in Austin. The amendment was ultimately defeated at the polls after extensive campaigning that A&M supported. As recently as 1992, Texas Monthly reported about rampant harassment of female cadets — about 20 years after they first gained admission into the Corps. The federal law that governs hazing only pertains to the federal service academies. In terms of state laws, the Texas anti-hazing law was passed as a result of fraternity-related activity at the UT-Austin. The Texas State Legislature passed the law — sections § 37.152 to 37.157 of the Texas Education Code — as
part of a larger package of criminal justice bills in 1987. The law defines hazing as “any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, occurring on or off the campus of an educational institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed against a student, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of pledging, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in an organization.” This definition includes all forms of physical brutality, physical activity, consumption of any substance, intimidation or threats and inducement that “subjects a student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student.” Student Rule 24.4.5 — the A&M rule that implements the statutes — replicates this law. However, one noticeable addition is that the A&M student rules make a distinction be-
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tween the necessary military physical activities of the Corps as compared to those of other organizations. “The roots of the Corps are in a military culture,” international studies senior and Corps Adjutant and Discipline Officer Thomas Su said. “Because of that, part of the Corps mission is to work alongside the [Reserve Officer Training Corps programs] to make sure that they are developing military officers.” Contrastingly, A&M’s policy on sexual harassment as defined by Student Rule 24.4.2.1, is based on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 — the federal education civil rights law. As per that law, sexual harassment is defined as any “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment when this conduct is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it explicitly or implicitly affects an
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Luke Henkhaus, Managing Editor Jordan Burnham, News Editor Sanna Bhai, Asst. News Editor Henry Mureithi, Asst. News Editor Kathryn Whitlock, Life & Arts Editor Hannah Falcon, Life & Arts Editor Samantha Mahler, Life & Arts Editor Jane Turchi, Special Sections Editor
Angel Franco, Sports Editor Abigail Ochoa, Sports Editor Cassie Stricker, Photo Chief Meredith Seaver, Asst. Photo Chief Daoud Qamar, Video Editor Kevin Christman, Video Editor Brady Stone, Page Designer Sydney Clark, Page Designer
THE BATTALION is published Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays during the 2019 spring semester (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Offices are in Suite L400 of the Memorial Student Center. News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3315; E-mail: editor@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com. Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion. For campus, local, and national display advertising call 979-845-2687. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Email: battads@thebatt.com. Subscriptions: A part of the University Advancement Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1.
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LAWS CONTINUED
Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Keeping cadets on the straight and narrow Internal process addresses Corps-specific violations, major issues handled by ODSL By Samantha Mahler @mahlersamantha While the behavior of all students is bound by laws and university rules, Aggies in the Corps of Cadets are expected to abide by an additional set of rules that govern their day-to-day life and interactions. While some infractions are dealt with inside the Corps, more serious issues are handled at the university level. According to the Corps of Cadets’ Standard Order 5, which outlines procedures for discipline, the Corps’ prohibited actions include violation of state or federal law, University Student Rules and the Student Conduct Code, in addition to Corps-specific violations like failure to follow orders, abuse of class relationships and disrespect. Standard Order 5 lists two categories of offenses. A Category I Offense is the more serious of the two, and only the Commandant and the Assistant Commandant for Discipline have the authority to determine Corps sanctions for those found responsible. A Category II Offense violates policies, standards, University or Corps traditions or class privileges. The Corps typically handles Category II offenses through the use of restricted weekends, marching tours and demerits. The Corps’ discipline process begins with the initial action of reporting a violation. The cadet in violation will then be read their rights, and a charge letter will begin the hearing process, requiring the cadet to schedule a hearing. As outlined in a memorandum of understanding between the Offices of the Dean of Student Life and the Office of the Commandant, there are certain cases that must be referred to Texas A&M’s Student Conduct Office for adjudication. These include cases involving high risk behavior like hazing, sexual misconduct, illegal drugs and physical abuse. Other cases referred to the Student Conduct Office include those
that could result in expulsion or suspension from the university and those involving cadets and non-cadets. However, according to the memo, the Office of the Commandant still shares in the adjudication of these cases. Dean of Student Life Anne Reber said students who are found responsible by the Student Conduct Office can face sanctions at the university level as well as Corps-specific sanctions from the Office of the Commandant. Internally, the Corps uses a write-up system that starts over every semester. For example, if paperwork is turned in late, a cadet might get three demerits. After 15 demerits, cadets serve a restricted weekend in which they are not allowed to leave the Quad for an extended period of time. After receiving 45 demerits, a cadet’s membership in the Corps will come up for review. While serious infractions are taken further up the chain of command, corrective physical training may be used by upperclassmen in a unit to correct minor discipline infractions in underclassmen. These exercises include lower body, upper body, abdominal and aerobic movements, and the use of CPT is bound by specific rules. Excessive CPT is considered hazing, so restrictions must be put in place. According to Reber, each unit within the Corps has its own personality that may play a role in certain disciplinary issues. Both the Office of the Commandant and the Offices of the Dean of Student Life play a role in enforcing rules concerning hazing violations. “When we investigate, we’re looking at individual behavior,” Reber said. “Then, if they find there’s a culture of behavior in one of these outfits, then the commandant steps in. We don’t sanction an outfit, not through the Student Conduct Office.” Col. Gary Beaty, assistant commandant for discipline, said what is unique about the Corps is its high percentage of self-reported conduct cases in which cadets document their own actions that violate laws or A&M rules. “I think that speaks a lot about the internal character of the individual cadets,” Beaty said.
individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work or educational performance, or creates an intimidating or hostile work or educational environment.” A&M rules on sexual misconduct move beyond state laws on the subject. Current criminal state laws on sexual assault — Texas Penal Code § 22.011 — state that excluding cases of impairment, the government has to prove that either party said “no” to prove criminal liability: the “no means no” model. Comparatively, A&M is one of nine universities outside of New York and California that have adopted the affirmative consent or “yes means yes” standard. Unlike “no means no,” affirmative consent requires both parties to agree to the relevant sexual activity. The dispositive rule — Student Rule 24.1.6 — states that consent for purposes of student conduct must be “clear, voluntary, and positive verbal or non-verbal communication that all participants have agreed to the sexual activity.” As a student organization, the Corps is bound to all the aforementioned regulations in addition to its own rules. “Since our cadets are students, they abide by the student conduct rules,” Assistant Commandant for Operations and Training Glenn Starnes, Class of 1981, said. “Now, the Corps will have additional rules because we hold them to a higher standard than a regular student. And if they violate one of them, they are still within the Corps discipline process.” As discipline officer, Su oversees the Cadet Performance Review Board as its president. The CFRB investigates and hears the majority of the violations of The Standard — the official rule book of the Corps. “The most common problem I run into as the discipline officer is people not understanding what codes we follow because the Corps has changed vastly in the last four years about how discipline is issued,” Su said. Beaty said the Corps regularly reviews its own policies after each semester in response to university changes or to ensure that they adequately address the discipline issues
that had been encountered in that duration. “All those processes, it’s an evolution,” Beaty said. “It’s not a static organization, it’s an evolving organization.” Su said that although the Corps has an internal process to deal with a myriad of cadet offenses, more serious offenses such as alcohol possession, sexual misconduct and hazing are handled by the Student Conduct Office of the university. According to Assistant Director of Student Activities Ann Goodman, for the purposes of the university, each Corps unit is recognized as a distinct student organization, including in matters of student conduct. However, the university handles Corps misconduct cases on an individual basis — not the unit level. Su said his role, and that of the Corps leadership in this regard, is to supervise the accused cadet for the duration of the university proceedings. These cadets conduct all Corps-related activities with the Corps Staff during this process. “They get removed from their outfit,” Su said. “They are completely blocked off from any single communication that they can have with their outfit. They can’t attend any outfit events. They can’t [conduct physical training] with their outfit. They are basically put on what’s called detachment. So the discipline officer — so my realm — runs that.” Su said the biggest misconception that regular A&M students typically have about how the Corps deals with discipline issues is that they overestimate the role that physical activity plays. “[Regular students] believe that you’ll basically be doing [physical training] as a form of punishment,” Su said. “But no. While that is a form of punishment — there is Corrective Physical Training that’s an integral part of what the Corps of Cadets is — it isn’t the only form of discipline that cadets receive.” Beaty said the discipline brief that all cadets receive at the beginning of each semester helps reacquaint cadets with importation information about university rules and Corps regulations. “We’re proactive,” Starnes said. “We try and identify the land mines out there so that they don’t mess up and know what to expect.”
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The Battalion | 5.01.19
HAZING’S IMPACT IN AGGIELAND
Courtesy of the 2002 Aggieland Yearbook, Pg. 462-463
The Fish Drill Team was suspended during the 1997-1998 school year. In 2001, upperclassmen advisors were selected by the commandant’s office and practices were once again allowed.
Major incidents ushered in lasting consequences for A&M students By Meagan Sheffield & Jane Turchi @ mshef350 & @ JaneTurchi Since Texas A&M transitioned from a military college to a university where participation in the Corps of Cadets is no longer mandatory, the definition and consequences for hazing have evolved. Reports of hazing have come from both the Corps and other student organizations at A&M. Historian and author John A. Adams, Class of 1973, participated in the Corps throughout his undergraduate career in Squadron 1. Adams returned to A&M twice more to receive a master’s and a doctorate degree in history. Adams is the author of “Keepers of the Spirit,” “Softly Call the Muster” and also co-wrote “Aggies Go to War: In Service of their Country.” There is an important distinction between hazing, which is dangerous for students, and the rigorous routines that are expected of cadets, Adams said. “Safety and the respect of people is extremely important, and so you want that protected,” Adams said. “But that doesn’t mean I might not yell at you or make you get up early and do extra push-ups to get your attention, because I want you tough. I want you to go through this, but I want to be fair, and I want you to have a good experience.” Born into a military family, Adams said his time in the Corps consisted of many early mornings and challenging workouts. Concerned that some may consider strenuous routines in the Corps to be hazing, Adams said the issue is not cut and dry. “The Corps provides a regimented environment, and this unarms a lot of people,” Adams said. “You get up early, you learn how to be on time, show up ready to play, dress ready to play. Then you’re going to probably be pressed physically — push-ups, running,
mentally you have to learn things.” But even in an intense physical environment like the Corps, there is a line between legitimate military training and hazing. At different points throughout the organization’s history, there have been students who chose to cross that line. Post-World War II During World War I and II, A&M transformed into a military training base and cadets graduated in about two and a half years instead of four to meet the increasing demand for military officers. According to Sanders Corps of Cadets Center museum curator Lisa Kalmus, when freshmen entered in the fall of 1946 after World War II ended, they encountered a Corps that was “more crass and unrefined” because of the returning veterans. The freshmen were relocated to the Riverside Annex, where the RELLIS campus is located today, to minimize hazing. “After WWII when veterans came back, [they] called the Corps ‘the kiddy Corps’ because they were never in the military,” Adams said. Cadet death in 1984 Four cadets were indicted after sophomore cadet Bruce Goodrich died of a cardiac arrhythmia caused by forced strenuous exercise. Twenty-year-old Goodrich was a new transfer into the Corps of Cadets, according to The New York Times. Goodrich was roused from sleep at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 30, 1984, then forced to perform “motivational exercises,” which included running, doing push-ups and sit-ups for roughly an hour. After collapsing in the humid weather, Goodrich was motivated to keep running by upperclassmen cadets in Company F-1 — Jason Miles, Louis Fancher and Anthony D’Allesandro. Goodrich died at a Bryan hospital later that day. The cadets pleaded guilty to hazing charges and served probation, according to The Eagle. A fourth cadet, former Corps personnel
officer Gabriel Cuadra, was charged with tampering with evidence after destroying an exercise schedule while police were investigating Goodrich’s death. The incident led the Corps to re-examine training techniques, according to The Eagle. Today, the Bruce Goodrich Sophomore Leadership Award is given to outstanding sophomore cadets in Goodrich’s honor. Fish Drill Team disbanded in 1997 After nine upperclassmen student advisors within the Fish Drill Team were arrested and charged with at least 54 cases of assault and hazing, the team was disbanded in 1997. “You know it’s serious when you stop it immediately,” Adams said. “I mean that is one of the real icons of the Corps of Cadets, the Fish Drill Team, the fact [was] that there was a problem, they addressed the people who were causing it… and they ended it.” Kalmus said the FDT was reinstated in 2001 after the cadets involved in the hazing had graduated. “They reformed and they have maintained and attained a high level of performance like they always have,” Kalmus said. “They win the national title almost every year.” Parsons Mounted Cavalry investigation In 2002, the Parsons Mounted Cavalry was suspended for accusations of hazing where students were beating others with ax handles and throwing horse manure. They were reported by a student commander at the time. A&M held disciplinary hearings beginning in spring 2003, but District Judge Rick Davis ultimately ruled that A&M violated PMC members’ right to due process because they were punished before the hearings were over. In the summer of 2003, there were 23 PMC members who filed lawsuits against the university. In Feb. 2004, A&M was ordered to redo the disciplinary hearings. According to an August 2004 article from The Eagle, the 23 cadets received around $350,000 to make up for legal fees. While many students were found guilty, an appeals
court threw out the case in 2006, and no criminal charges were filed. F-2 and duct tape incident Junior Brad Barrick was bound with duct tape by seven seniors in his outfit, F-2, on Nov. 22, 2004, as part of Thanksgiving “antics” that had been occurring for the previous decade, according to a Dec. 2004 article from The Eagle. Former Corps Commander John Huffman witnessed the incident. Kalmus said duct tape was not allowed in the dorms for a period of time due to the hazing case. “F-2 was not disbanded,” Kalmus said. “However, the Corps Commander, who was from F-2, was removed. Because the incident did involve duct tape, it involved them cutting off duct tape and somebody becoming injured in the process, duct tape was decreed ‘an instrument of hazing.’” Hazing outside of the Corps The Corps is not the only organization that has a record of hazing. Since fall 2014, at least 10 student organizations have been punished for hazing. Recently, the A&M chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity was found responsible for breaking the university’s hazing rules. This came shortly after the death of Joseph Little, a new member. Phi Gamma Delta, or FIJI, has their organization recognition suspended until January 2022. Other organizations that are either suspended or have restrictions on their group due to hazing activities include Sigma Phi Epsilon, Kappa Delta Chi, Delta Kappa Epsilon and the Aggie Wranglers. The Corps of Cadets has enacted stricter rules against hazing in the last 20 years, Adams said. “The Corps is under a little bit more of a microscope and well, you know what, that’s good,” Adams said. “You ought to be under a microscope, because we hold ourselves to a little bit higher standard — keepers of the spirit. Remember that.”
An academic perspective on hazing A&M professors discuss research, theories on the practice’s prevalence By Sanna Bhai @ BhaiSanna As hazing continues to make headlines across the country each year, ongoing research looks to explain why individuals and groups take part in these activities. According to stophazing.org, hazing is “any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate.” More than half of college students, nationally, who are involved in any kind of club or team, experience hazing, the site reports. In 25 percent of all hazing incidents, students claim that advisors or adults in charge, were aware of the happenings. The most frequently reported hazing be-
haviors include: drinking, singing or chanting in public situations, associating with specific people but not others, drinking large amounts of alcohol to a point of harming oneself, being deprived of sleep and being screamed, yelled or cursed at, according to stophazing.org Heili Pals, assistant professor of sociology, said to summarize reasons for the persistence of hazing, scholars can look to macro theories, which are large-scale theories that can be used to explain or interpret a subject. Pals said the prevailing theories on hazing generally encompass three main reasons for the practice: hazing generates group solidarity, it is an expression of dominance and it allows for the selection of committed group members. “One set of macro theories talks about how hazing generates group solidarity; we do it so that we feel that it is a group,” Pals said. “Another one may be that hazing is an expression of dominance because the members may already be part of a group, but you are not really
equal to us yet. Also, selecting out who all is committed to this group.” Some researchers continue to debate whether these actions are best studied in the realm of sociology or psychology. Both have a presence, but according to Pals, sociology has the most research and relevance to this topic. Although psychologists make the case that the personality of the hazer is also significant, Pals said hazing is rarely done alone. Pals said hazers in a group assume those around them agree with the hazing, as no one speaks up. “You do find psychological articles talking about hazing,” Pals said. “They would be talking about the personalities of those who are hazing and maybe that they are different,” Pals said. “It is not much evidence for that because it is a group activity.” Summarizing the 2011 paper “Hazing as a Manifestation of Evolved Psychology,” Pals said one of the main goals of these rituals is to reduce the problem of free riders — those
who get benefits without completing the work required to produce those benefits. “The groups usually have a common good that they receive once they are part of the group, but you shouldn’t be receiving them unless you are a contributing member,” Pals said. “What this article was trying to show is that hazing ensures that you are not going to be a free rider and be a contributing member of the group.” Jeffrey Winking, associate director of graduate studies and associate professor of cultural anthropology, said along with finding those “worthy” of a group, cohorts hope to create bonds through adversity, and the absurd nature of the ritual gives it an important significance as people are entering into a higher status. “Naturally, as these become increasingly frowned upon or even criminalized, the costliness might become symbolic in nature or softened to a mere nuisance,” Winking said.
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The Battalion | 5.01.19
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Clips taken from The Battalion’s 1981 microfilm collection
In fall of 1981, editor-in-chief of The Battalion Angelique Gammon printed an editorial (top) voicing her opinion on the Corps’ Flight of the Great Pumpkin. After her editorial was published, Gammon received a letter to the editor (bottom) from the Company C-2 which The Battalion would later print.
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Former Batt editor, commandant’s staff discuss evolution of practices By Abigail Ochoa & Angel Franco @AbigailOchoa88 & @angelmadison_ As times change and evolve, so do many traditions. Some of what was once acceptable and popular is no longer. The Corps of Cadets is no exception and has seen some of its traditions change, evolve or be completely removed. While some changes were due to generational shifts, some posed a threat to cadets’ safety. One of these traditions is the Flight of the Great Pumpkin. This tradition takes place in October around the time of Halloween. Today, cadets carry a giant pumpkin and take turns smashing the pumpkin on the ground. However, this wasn’t always the case said Angelique Gammon, instructional assistant professor of communication and Class of 1981. “[The Corps] would put pumpkins over the heads of freshmen and seniors with ax handles would try to bash them off,” Gammon said. Gammon wrote an editorial about the Flight of the Great Pumpkin while she was the editor-in-chief of The Battalion in the fall of 1981. In the editorial, she described the Flight of the Great Pumpkin as something straight out of a Hollywood film set. “At best, this sounds like the plot to a B-grade horror flick; at worst it sounds like a pseudo-sadistic fraternity stunt,” Gammon wrote in the editorial. Gammon’s strong opinion on the Flight of the Great Pumpkin didn’t go unnoticed. In fact, members of Company C-2 responded to Gammon’s editorial. Gerald Smith, Class of 1982 and the commanding officer of Company C-2 at the time, wrote a letter directed to her. “I believe that you wrote an editorial about a subject on which you have very little knowledge and a great deal of misinformation,” the letter says. “If you did in fact investigate our Halloween ritual at all, you either choose to ignore the facts or you did not care to publish the whole story. “In either case, it appears that you used our Halloween activity as a basis for taking a cheap shot at the Corps of Cadets.” While she found it to be a form of hazing, her father, T.R. Copeland, who was in the Corps before enlisting to the Marines, laughed after reading her editorial because he didn’t see it that way. “You have a whole history here, depending on the generation,” Gammon said. “But I also think it’s relevant that in 1982, at a time when institutions were starting to recognize things like hazing, harassment, etcetera, we had an event on campus that we
as a news organization would go cover and it clearly constituted — if not hazing — a really stupid idea.” While she received much backlash for the editorial — most notably from the Aggie Band — and was called “anti-Corps” and a “2%er,” Gammon said it has more to do with her views on consent than her views on the organization. “Part of hazing is the consent to go through the right of passage,” Gammon said. “When you join the Corps, you know as a freshman your hair is going to be millimeters shorter than the seniors, you know that you wear ugly shoes instead of cool boots — you have fully consented to go through that part of the right of passage to enter the Corps as a freshman. Things that are outside of your control, endanger you or demean you constitute hazing.” One tradition that is a common right of passage for freshmen is square meals. This practice was recently removed from the Corps, but it used to be known as the specific way freshman cadets ate their meals. Cadets would first ask the highest ranking Corps member at the table for permission to sit down, then the cadets would sit at the edge of their seats at attention. Once the cadet started eating, they would have to use their right hand and eat in a square motion while looking forward and not at their plate. Assistant Commandant for Discipline Col. Gary Beaty, and assistant Commandant for Operations and Training Col. Glenn Starnes said neither of them had experienced square meals during their time in the Corps and questioned its usefulness when they returned to Texas A&M. “In 26 years of the Army, I never once had to eat a square meal,” Beaty said. Starnes said many of what people think are Corps traditions are not necessarily worthy of that label. “Traditions of this school are Silver Taps, Muster, the 12th Man, Midnight Yell,” Starnes said. “Traditions that some people think [are traditions], are not traditions. They are Aggie lore — ‘The things that we did when we were here, why don’t you get to do those things?’” Beaty said that while stories that are passed down from generations are a big part of people’s perceptions of the Corps, societal changes are just as important to keep in mind. “Sometimes it’s like fishing stories,” Beaty said. “When it’s told over time, you get further away from the actual event. ... The fish grows a little bit bigger every time you tell it. Next thing you know, my fish is big when it was a little bait-size fish. There’s some of that that’s living in the glory days. There are just things that you can’t do now that you could do 50 years ago or 60 years ago.”