The University of Texas has suspended the Texas Cowboys — a spirit group best known for firing "Smokey the Cannon" at home football games — for six years after an investigation into hazing at a retreat the night before a new member was fatally injured in a wreck on the way back to Austin.

The suspension, along with a two-year probationary period after reinstatement, was handed down Wednesday by UT's dean of students office. The Cowboys have the option of accepting the sanction, appealing or requesting a formal hearing, according to a partially redacted copy of UT's discipline report obtained by the American-Statesman under the Texas Public Information Act.

The university said the group violated rules that prohibit hazing, alcohol misconduct and behavior threatening health or safety.

"New members of the Cowboys were subjected to multiple forms of hazing, including physical brutality, physical activity, forced ingestion of unwanted substances, coerced consumption of alcohol and degradation," the report said.

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During the retreat, the members were coerced to chug a gallon of milk and eat cat food, Spam, Tabasco sauce, minced garlic and whole onions, the document said. One member was coerced into biting the head off of a live hamster. Other hazing included paddling with sticks, forced calisthenics and so-called Oklahoma drills, in which two people run directly at each other in a confined space. Underage drinking has been part of the culture, the report said.

Nicholas Cumberland, a 20-year-old majoring in business, finance and radio-television-film, was traveling in a pickup with other members of the Cowboys on Sept. 30 when it rolled over in Lampasas County after the retreat on a private ranch in Brown County. He was ejected from the vehicle and died four weeks later.

UT President Gregory L. Fenves said the school lost a cherished student and mourns alongside his family.

"Let me make clear — there is no place for hazing at the University of Texas," he said. "The mission of this university — to educate, learn, discover and serve — can only be accomplished in an environment where we respect each other. Where we look after our neighbors, peers and friends."

This is the second time a harsh penalty has been handed down to the Cowboys, whose members since its inception in 1922 have gone on to prominent positions in government, business and civic life. UT disbanded the group for five years after Gabe Higgins, 19, drowned in the Colorado River in 1995 following what school officials said were hours of alcohol-fueled hazing.

"The facts of the 1995 case and current case are so similar it is clear that the Texas Cowboys are adept at passing on traditions, but not lessons," the report said. "Two families have lost their sons and the University of Texas at Austin has lost two of its students because the Texas Cowboys continue to perpetuate unlawful and irresponsible behavior time and time again."

The accident leading to Cumberland's death "could have been avoided had there been adequate risk management practices in place, such as providing transportation to all members and choosing a safer location, closer to campus," the report said. UT officials did not find evidence of sleep deprivation, and multiple people said the driver of the pickup was sober.

Leaders of the Cowboys and the Cowboys Alumni Association did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

"Overall, we're pretty satisfied with the outcome and with what the university recommends," Cumberland's sister, Alexandra, who graduated from UT in 2018, told the Statesman. She said she's pleased that the university will require all future incoming Cowboys classes to read, "The Cowboy's Secret," a book about Higgins written by his mother, Ruth Harten.

Harten said she is "very pleased" with UT's sanctions.

"They may sound harsh right now, but if the Cowboys had gotten it right after Gabe's death and done away with the hazing, maybe Nicky would not have died. It needs to stop. The deaths need to stop," she said.

Shawn Cumberland, Nicholas' father, had called on UT officials to suspend the group temporarily, open its membership to women, raise its academic standards and make opposition to hazing part of its motto and core functions.

"What I learned is that at that off-site event Nicky's pants were dropped down and he was paddled so hard that my wife and I in the hospital four weeks later still saw the marks from his back side from this," Cumberland told state lawmakers considering stiffer anti-hazing legislation this month.

Hazing is illegal under state law, and it violates UT policies that can draw a range of sanctions, including the permanent shutdown of a student group and the expulsion of students involved in the activity. Asked whether any disciplinary action is being taken against the group's members, UT officials said the university does not comment on student discipline.

William Furst, a UT senior and foreman — in effect, president — of the Cowboys, told the Statesman in January that three members of the organization were suspended and four were expelled after a unanimous vote by the group’s judiciary board, composed of students and alumni. He said the Cowboys were committed to becoming a campus leader in striving to abolish hazing and in emphasizing the importance of wearing seat belts. Cumberland and three others in the back seat of the pickup were not wearing seat belts.

It was not immediately clear whether the firing of Smokey after Longhorn scores at home football games would continue. The cannon is owned by the UT athletics department. During their suspension, the Cowboys are barred from participating in Game Day operations or representing UT as official ambassadors.

To be reinstated after six years, the Cowboys must have an adviser present at all future retreats or off-campus events. The adviser cannot be a student and must be a UT employee.

The report came a day after two state legislative committees voted to approve stricter anti-hazing measures. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee voted 5-1 Tuesday to approve a measure that would expand the definition of hazing to include coercion of a student to consume an alcoholic beverage or a drug. The bill also would make it illegal to take someone's phone or other device to keep the person from documenting hazing. In addition, it would require schools to post reports on hazing incidents and discipline meted out to the organizations involved.

Senate Bill 38, authored by Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, now goes to the full upper chamber. A similar proposal, House Bill 1482, was approved 10-1 by the House Higher Education Committee.