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Lawsuit over Virginia Tech hazing suspension settled

ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — A lawsuit has been settled between Virginia Tech and a former student who was accused of overseeing a ceremony that violated the school’s hazing policy.

The federal lawsuit filed last month “has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of both parties,” Virginia Tech spokesman Mark Owczarski told The Roanoke Times on Wednesday.

Darrien Brown sued the university, alleging that it denied him due process when administrators suspended him for two semesters for allegedly overseeing a Corps of Cadets blood-pinning ceremony in October.

During the ceremony, the sharp ends of military pins are pushed into the chests of cadets. Brown’s lawsuit described the ceremony as “a Corps tradition.”

Rob Dean, an attorney for Brown, declined to comment on the lawsuit, the Times reported. Neither Dean nor Owzarski would confirm whether Brown was readmitted to the university.

School bus emergency? Fairfax County students have a plan to handle it

This story is part of WTOP’s 2026 Back to School coverage. The wheels on the bus will soon be going round and round again in Fairfax County, Virginia, and some of its young riders are learning what to do if there’s an emergency on the way to school. The annual Safety Patrol Training Camp, hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools' Office of Transportation Services, combined hands-on exercises with classroom lessons to teach students how to keep calm during emergencies on buses. The training can feel remarkably realistic, with overturned school buses on their side or completely upside down in the middle of the county bus depot. Other buses, right side up, fill with smoke that is water-based but mimics the intensity of a bus overheating.
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