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UPDATE
I was happy to learn that the aggravated hazing charges have been dropped against the two student affairs professionals at Rider University. Read more here. Hank Nuwer also provided very good coverage of the situation at his blog.
Although I (and many others) predicted and hoped that these charges would be dropped, it has still been a significant incident for the student affairs field. The repercussions will take a while to fully reveal themselves. And sadly, both officials have probably not heard the end of this. The family of the young man who died were decrying the charges being dropped in media articles this week which probably indicates an intention to file a civil suit down the road.
For now though, best wishes go out to my friend, Ada Badgley, who was truly put through the ringer on this stuff. Having your picture appear repeatedly in USA Today and other papers in association with a crime is a truly terrible experience. Both officials return to work this week, according to reports, and I hope they can put this experience behind them and recover to a degree of normalcy. I also applaud the students of Rider who rallied behind their university officials in this situation.
