UK university probes "Nazi" initiation video

[Marcus Marulus]

UK university probes "Nazi" initiation video



LONDON (Reuters) - A British university is investigating a video of binge-drinking undergraduates taking part in a bizarre initiation ceremony with a student dressed like a Nazi officer.

The University of Gloucestershire said on Thursday it would try to trace the students who were marched through the streets with plastic bags over their heads as part of a sports club ritual.

The footage, broadcast on the BBC, showed a group of students taking orders from a man dressed in a peaked cap, black leather boots and a Nazi-style jacket with a red armband bearing a swastika.

Some of the group are shown drinking and being sick while they are lined up against a wall. At one point, they are led in single file down the middle of a residential street.

A spokesman for the university, based in Cheltenham, said initiation ceremonies were banned and it would investigate the events shown in the video.

"The university takes the issue of intimidation and bullying extremely seriously," said spokesman Paul Drake. "Disciplinary action may be brought against those who are found to be leading initiation ceremonies and who continue to perpetuate unacceptable intimidatory and coercive practices."

While drink-fueled initiation ceremonies have been a fixture of university life for many years, the National Union of Students said it was time for a nationwide ban.

"They put students at serious risk and exclude students who don't want to take part in that binge-drinking culture," NUS President Wes Streeting told the BBC.

James Durant, president of the university's student union, said it took the incident seriously, but stressed that most rituals don't involve alcohol or extreme behavior.

"We go to great lengths to ensure our sports captains understand that initiation events that include intimidating or bullying behavior will not be tolerated," he said.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths; editing by Steve Addison)

[source]

[BeornWulfWer]

How long till a certain minority get involved and start calling for these children's blood?

"...and exclude students who don't want to take part in that binge-drinking culture," NUS President Wes Streeting told the BBC..."

Heaven forbid! You don't want to exclude people. We are all part of one big happy family and everyone should be involved.