Hazing Death Punishment Reinstated

A University of Texas-Austin official has reinstated a penalty against the Texas Cowboys spirit group for the hazing death of a student from Idaho, a newspaper reported.

The Idaho State Journal said in Friday’s edition that university officials admitted the April 29 drowning of sophomore Gabriel Benjamin Higgins, 19, in the Colorado River was due to hazing. Higgins’ mother is Ruth Harten Muffett of Pocatello.

James Vick, vice president for student affairs at Texas-Austin, on Wednesday canceled the Texas Cowboys’ registration as a student organization until May 31, 2000, for hazing at the group’s spring initiation picnic.

Sharon Justice, dean of students and assistant vice president for student affairs at the university, originally announced that penalty on June 12.

But a hearing officer decided on July 25 to reduce the penalty to three years, followed by one year of probation. Vick ruled on Justice’s appeal of that decision.

The cancellation of a group’s registration is the most severe penalty the university can levy against an organization.

The penalty is the third imposed on the Texas Cowboys in as many years.