In addition to University investigation into allegations of hazing in Parsons Mounted Cavalry, three yell leader candidates who are members of the Corps of Cadets unit are staying tight-lipped on whether they could face disciplinary sanctions.
About half of the cavalry unit, some 30 cadets, will be brought individually before a Student Life disciplinary panel and could receive penalties ranging from a warning to expulsion from the University. Junior yell leader Jonathan Lusk and Corps yell nominees John Magruder and Paul Terrell are members of the unit.
The cavalry investigation is separate from a hazing investigation involving the yell leaders, said Dr. Dave Parrott, dean of Student Life. Parrott declined to discuss the specifics of the allegations and whether they implicated all five yell leaders, but said his department began an investigation the week before spring break after yell leader adviser Rusty Thompson forwarded hazing allegations to Student Life.
The fact-finding phase of the investigation is complete, Parrott said, and a Student Life disciplinary panel will conduct a hearing for each of the yell leaders involved and decide whether to hand down sanctions.
An inquiry into the Parsons Cavalry case concluded that juniors had been hazing sophomores by hitting them with axe handles and forcing them to perform exercises in a pit of urine and horse manure, said Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. John Van Alstyne.
Magruder declined to comment on the investigation, but said he hoped that suspicions of wrongdoing would not erode students’ trust in him.
“The Corps put me in this position because they think I’m a good leader,” said Magruder, a junior English major.
Lusk and Terrell could not be reached for comment.
The operations of the cavalry unit have been suspended since October. Van Alstyne said he would personally interview every member of the unit to decide whether they would remain in the cavalry, and would then determine whether the organization would be allowed to continue.
The student body elections are March 26-27.