UT-Austin Spirit Group Suspended For 6 Years For Hazing

AUSTIN, TEXAS — University of Texas at Austin officials have issued a six-year suspension against the campus spirit group Texas Cowboys for hazing violations, according to reports on Wednesday.

The spirit group is known for its dramatic flourish of firing off "Smokey the Cannon" at home games. An investigation into the group's activities was sparked after a student was fatally injured in a traffic wreck following a night of hazing preceding the death, the Austin American-Statesman said.

The suspension was handed issued on Wednesday by the UT-Austin dean of students office, the newspaper reported.

During a retreat for pledges, students were forced to chug a gallon of milk and eat cat food,minced garlic, whole onions, Span and Tabasco sauce, according to the report. One pledge was forced to bite the head off a live hamster, the newspaper learned. The group also includes paddling, forced calisthenics and "Oklahoma drills" involving two people running directly at each other in a confined space, according to the report. Investigators also found underage drinking to have played a central role in the group's activities.

The group came under intense scrutiny after Nicholas Cumberland, a 20-year-old majoring in business, finance and radio-television-film, died four weeks after having traveled in a pickup truck with other Texas Cowboys members that overturned in Lampasas County. after a retreat last September.

UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves didn't mince words in condemning the group's activities: "Let me make clear: There is no place for hazing at the University of Texas,” he said, as quoted by the Statesman. “The mission of this university — to educate, learn, discover and serve — can only be accomplished in an environment where we respect each other. Where we look after our neighbors, peers and friends.”

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman