The Quad: Hazing Hazards

Hazing Hazards

Here are just a few of the fraternity hazing incidents Emily Vespa uncovered while reviewing more than 1,500 pages of public records from Appalachian State, East Carolina University, N.C. State, UNC Charlotte, and UNC Wilmington: pledges being forced to hold a plank position on bottle caps; drink a mix of “hot sauce, milk, chewing tobacco, cigarette butts, and, at times, bodily fluids like urine;” solicit nude photos from women; and sort a carton of sprinkles by color with only matches for light.

Vespa found that such initiation rites continued despite repeat punishments for the fraternities that adopted them and that some fraternity brothers attempted to deceive university administrators investigating hazing claims.

While a new law named after Harrison Kowiak, who died after a hazing incident at Lenoir-Rhyne University in 2008, attempts to beef up punishments for hazing, advocates say it may not go far enough to hold students accountable for wrongdoing. Kowiak’s mother, Lianne Kowiak, told Vespa she was frustrated by changes from the initial proposal, but she said its passing is “a monumental hurdle that we’ve crossed.”

“​​I can’t bring my beautiful son back, but I can do what I can to hopefully prevent this from happening to other students,” Lianne told Vepsa. 

— Matt Hartman

Thanks for reading The Quad, a higher education newsletter written by Matt Hartman and Korie Dean and edited by Emily Stephenson. Reach us with tips or ideas at highered@theassemblync.com.

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New Year, Newish Questions

It’s a new year, so we thought it’s the perfect time to look ahead to the big questions we’re tracking in 2026. We waited until we had a full team to bring you our new Quad resolutions.

Korie: It seems like 2026 might be the year that we finally see things get off the ground at Carolina North, the mixed-use extension of UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus that leaders first proposed developing two decades ago. There’s been a lot of discussion about the property since Chancellor Lee Roberts arrived at the university in 2024; he’s identified the space off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as a key asset for a handful of his strategic priorities, like boosting UNC-CH’s engineering offerings and growing enrollment. There’s even more intrigue now, as the university is weighing whether to move its basketball arena to the site. I’ll be watching to see what actually happens with Carolina North—and what those plans say about UNC-CH’s future.

And it’s not just UNC-CH. UNC Asheville is also confronting what to do with its millennial campus property, an issue that’s generated lots of debate and pushback from many on campus and the surrounding community. I’ll have more on this story in the coming weeks.

Matt: Can Republicans agree on a vision for higher education? That is the question I think has the most direct impact on how policy winds will shift heading into midterms. 

Broadly speaking, there’s a faction of the Republican Party that wants to push higher ed into the Hillsdale College mold, emphasizing a classical, if not outright conservative, approach centered on the traditional Western canon. But that’s still a liberal arts education that doesn’t necessarily fit easily with the emphasis other factions place on return on investment and job training. (Philosophy and religion degrees have a lifetime ROI that’s less than half that of area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies degrees, according to the UNC System’s ROI study.)

In addition, Congressional Republicans have begun pushing back on some of the cuts hitting higher ed. With the state budget impasse unlikely to end anytime soon, I’m interested in what rural Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly will do, especially those representing community colleges whose major funding changes are on hold until lawmakers act. 

Emily S: A driving storyline of last year was the financial turmoil facing small, private universities in the state. We brought you fantastic coverage of the closure of St. Andrews University, the merger of Queens University and Elon University, the near-miss at Guilford College, and everything going on at St. Augustine’s University. This year, I want the team to continue carving out that niche of explaining university finances, digging into their plans to make cuts or find new revenue sources, and giving Quad readers a clearer window into the business side of higher ed.

Survey Snippets

Thanks to everyone who responded to our Quad reader survey! We received some very kind comments—I especially liked the person who appreciates our “cheeky headers,” though Emily may not appreciate having to continue editing out my puns that are too bad to go public.

The real takeaway, though, is that Quad readers seem to like the detailed reporting packaged in a (hopefully!) readable format. “This is my favorite section of The Assembly — it’s so thorough and somehow able to get through so many institutional guardrails to really report things out,” one person wrote.

Content wise, policy changes and university governance were the most in-demand topics, so we’ll keep trying to focus on those as well.

If you didn’t get to fill out the survey, don’t fret: You can email us your thoughts and questions as often as you like at highered@theassemblync.com. We read every last one.

— Matt Hartman

Assigned Reading

It’s Either You or Me: Raleigh’s troubled Saint Augustine’s University received millions of dollars in debt relief from Self-Help Venture Fund, according to WRAL. The nonprofit lender provided SAU with at least $7 million already and could provide up to $30 million—but only on the condition that SAU part ways with two former board chairs still serving as trustees. That deal was first offered a year ago, as Quad alum Erin Gretzinger and INDY reporter Chloe Courtney Bohl reported at the time.

Children of Disabled Veterans Scholarship Disabled: About 100 students at UNC-CH learned that their full scholarships have been reduced by 25 percent thanks to the state budget stalemate. Recipients of the North Carolina Scholarship for Children of Wartime Veterans, which supports students whose parents are deceased or disabled veterans, received the notice in November, The Daily Tar Heel reports.

But His Emails! UNC-CH coronavirus researcher Ralph Baric scored a win in court last week when the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that he does not have to turn over additional documents relating to his work with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The public health outlet U.S. Right to Know sued UNC-CH for the files after part of their public records request was denied. However, UNC-CH turned those withheld files over to the General Assembly after a request from Speaker of the House Destin Hall. It’s not clear what action, if any, legislators will take with the files. The News & Observer has the full story. We also wrote about Baric in March.

Let us know what’s on your radar at highered@theassemblync.com.