Harmless or Hazardous?

Sarah Kate Houston, News Editor|December 12, 2017

Hazing is the act of causing strenuous, often humiliating, tasks of straining physical strength for initiation. Many people protest the idea of hazing due to the recurring horror stories throughout the years. In universities across the country, there have been many incidents of hazing taken too far. A lot of people experience or have experienced hazing first hand, and there are also many cases where hazing in fraternities, sororities, or clubs has ultimately lead to the death of young adults.
Since 2000, there have been over forty hazing-related deaths of college students in the United States. In 2017 alone there have already been three, all of which were cases involving members of various fraternities, along with substance abuse. When hazing first became popular, there were many horrifically creative incidents recorded. In the early 1900s, Martin Loew was a victim of hazing when members of a fraternity laid him naked on a block of ice, then threw him over the balcony railing. He dropped two flights until he hit a sheet held by other students. Once he fell, he was tossed up and down several times until he was unconscious. After reviving, individuals beat him severely; later that evening, he was given a substantial amount of whiskey. Robert Perry died in 1945 after being critically injured in a fire. The fire occurred during the fraternity initiation ceremony when his brothers coated his nude body with an extremely flammable substance. After this, electrical shocks were administered to his skin, causing an induction coil to short-circuit and light him on fire. Many of these deaths are a direct result of the commanded tasks. However, some of the victims were harmed during their journey of completing the task. As time went on, these incidents began to revolve primarily around alcohol, although pledges perform many strange tasks.
While there is a lot of horrifying stories and tales of death among fraternities, there are just as many incidents of hazing within sororities as well. A pledge from Penn State spoke out in 2008 telling of her traumatic experience during which the pledges were lined up against a cement wall, and if they moved, the girls would slam their heads against the wall and make them clean the floor with their fingernails. A university in New York ended Greek life on campus when they received anonymous tips that members of a sorority were throwing pledges into a freezing shower and giving them pills which caused them to vomit on one another, followed by forcing the pledges to hold hot coals in their bare hands. At our local Young Harris College, girls were forced to crawl through mud and a cold creek while members spit on them, then had to stand in a pool of contaminated water of member’s feces. The girls would also force them to sit on washing machines so that they could point out which parts of their body would jiggle the most.
Hazing incidents vary from school to school. Many schools have strict policies or have correctly addressed the issue so that these situations do not occur on their campus. A sophomore at Florida Gulf Coast University, Joey Houston explains, “The hazing here really isn’t that bad. I have heard a lot of stories, and I have only heard a few that are kind of harmful. Lots of other schools have awful stories though.” Current student at Florida State University, AK Jones, shares, “I am not part of a sorority, but I visited my friend, who is part of a fraternity when he was pledging, and it broke my heart to see how beat down he was and he was not himself at all. He was exhausted and failing all of his classes. He often questioned why he was going through all of this just to be part of a fraternity.” Jones, along with many other college students, witness or experience hazing and see the effects it has on young people. Greer Kerns, a sophomore at Georgia Southern, says, “At Georgia Southern, there is a very strict no hazing policy that all of the sororities and fraternities follow very well. When we have issues with hazing, the school and the respective fraternity/sorority nationals have handled everything in a very peaceful and understandable manner.” Many colleges punish all Greek life for unacceptable behaviors of just one. Greer added, “I think that the issues with hazing are serious but also the whole Greek system at the school should not face punishment for only one organization’s actions. There is so much good that comes from Greek life that doesn’t get the spotlight and more people need to realize that before everyone gets in trouble for something they did not even participate in.”
Although it has a negative connotation, hazing can easily be harmless. Most college-age kids participate in innocent hazing. This includes tasks such as: cutting the grass with a spoon, having small competitions, or being an on-call designated driver. Once a prank goes beyond a practical joke into physical abuse, then it becomes a serious matter. Differentiating harmless hazing from hazardous hazing is very difficult for some universities. If schools do not keep a close enough regulation on clubs, teams, fraternities, or sororities, the humorous pranks can quickly turn into mistakes that are irreversible. Specific laws have been put in place to assist in safety precautions on campus. In California, as a result of hazing, Matt’s Law was created. This law allows for felony prosecutions when serious injuries or death comes as a result of hazing. Many colleges have rules regarding hazing within clubs and organizations, and with recent tragedies, many more universities have begun to reinforce strict policy to ensure the safety of students.