CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A group of Johnson C. Smith University students is facing punishment for an alleged hazing incident the students say they never took part in.
Wednesday, University President Dr. Ronald Carter confirmed a large number of students had either been suspended or sanctioned by the school for taking part in hazing.
Anthony Cureton is a junior at JCSU who told wbtv.com he lost his scholarships and most of his campus privileges because a judicial board found him guilty after reviewing very little evidence.
"For an incident to completely ruin someone's life...it needs to be stopped," said Cureton. "There's no excuse for what happened to us."
Cureton is at the top of his class at Johnson C. Smith, but his life as a college student just hit rock bottom. His scholarships are gone. His track and field career just ended abruptly. He says it's all because of an alleged incident he had nothing to do with.
According to Cureton, he and 15 other students got in trouble for taking part in beatings related to a hazing ritual with Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Cureton said he had been thinking about joining the fraternity but had not yet begun the pledge process when the university sent him a letter saying there was a problem.
"We received letters that we were in trouble by the university, and it was dealing with an issue of hazing," said Cureton.
Cureton says he wasn't accused of doing any hazing himself...but of being hazed and witnessing hazing without reporting it. But he said he never saw any hazing during the time he spent with the fraternity brothers.
A judicial board made up of faculty, staff, and students found Cureton and the others guilty. Two students accused of committing hazing were suspended. The other 14, including Cureton, lost their scholarships, campus housing, and their ability to participate in any campus activity other than class. They were also fined. All of the punishments were in accordance with the university's code of conduct.
Cureton said the burden was on him to prove his innocence, rather than being innocent until proven guilty. According to Cureton, the evidence against him was flimsy, mainly based around two anonymous emails and a photo of a bruise that did not show any faces.
The university is standing behind its decision to punish all 16 students.
"We see hazing contradicting everything we stand for in the pursuit of truth, and so we make it very clear we will not tolerate hazing," said university president Dr. Ronald Carter. "We have zero tolerance for hazing."
The university really cracked down on hazing after a Florida A&M drum major died in November because of what police called a hazing ritual.
Carter said he doesn't ever want to have to tell a parent their student has been killed or badly hurt because of hazing. As for the evidence against the students, Carter said he trusted the judicial board to make the right decision.
Some of the students who got in trouble tried to appeal the decision and lost.
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