Hazing in Greek Life

[ShoesYouCanUse]

Greetings - I went through the process almost 30 years ago. I was hazed and got my ribs broken. Did I tell anyone so that I can get the chapter in trouble and become a member of the frat? - NO. Did I agree with it back then - YES. Do I agree with it today - getting my ribs broken to join an organization - NOT NECESSARY. Although, I understand the reason for hazing a pledgee as long as no one gets hurt I'm all for it.

Best regards,

 

[Deluks917]

I don't see the problem with hazing. Nobody is getting hurt who didn't sign up for it.

 

[BubblyMasquerade]

Originally Posted by Another New Yorker

I'm sorry if I was unclear. I was referring to a literal night. Like from dusk till dawn. It's still a difficult task. The puking is just to make it easier to consume, not for health reasons. I imagine doing it without puking is still significantly worse though. But given +/- 12 hours, that's less than 3 natty light's an hour. With one drink to be fully processed in an hour, that doesn't seem too unbearable. And I'm sure there was spillage--kegs are messy like that. I originally calculated a keg to be 50 and that's far worse. But honestly, my own experience was much more tilted towards humiliating than alcohol.

The alcohol get's a lot of media attention because that's where the most (and only) visibly dangerous case of hazing resides. In reality, such high consumption rates is a rarity during pledgeship, and although there is a lot of alcohol, it is much more within the realm of just getting the kid drunk nightly or every few nights. 10-15, depending on how many it takes.

Anyhow, I'm much more curious about what y'all think about the rest of the experience though. I'm referring to the legalities of the voluntary humiliation we, those before us, and those after us choose to undergo. Can the government tell us that we cannot strip on private property, carry an umbrella over another person for a day, serve brothers lunch, or even eat dog food? Keep in mind the only coercion there is peer pressure. One is free to drop out at any time.

OMG SO ******* DUMB.

 

[acidboy]

Originally Posted by Deluks917

I don't see the problem with hazing. Nobody is getting hurt who didn't sign up for it.

problem is there's no way of controlling how much hurt these plebes are gonna get. too much beer and cheap booze, a sophomore venting on his past experience, a freshman who wants in no matter what and a frat guy who wants him out no matter what....

 

[Naf Nasitra]

I support hazing with live ammunition.

 

[scientific]

i always found the homoerotic nature of frat hazing disturbing

 

[nootje]

couples of rules that I enacted when I was president of my fraternity. Mind you, this was in europe, no connection with the greeks.

- Pledges arent allowed to drink alcohol during hazing.
- No physical contact between pledges and members, this means that there is to be action with the intention to do harm. i.e. you can drag someone to another room, but you cant kick him etc.
- At any time when hazing a pledge there are at least two members in the room, given that everybody is drinking during hazing I wouldnt trust a single soul, so Ill make sure that there are two present at any given time.
- besides the two days of the week in which there is hazing and the final week, nobody is allowed to force the thierarchy upon pledges, and pledges are to know this. This makes sure that there are no incidents outside of the controlled enviroment that is the frat house.
- the first 3 years of members do most of the hazing, and older members stand by to direct or correct them. Imho there's something seriously wrong with you when you still want to haze after six years of studying..

Any rule that is broken would result in harsh punishment by either the president or some of the older members.

There are more but those are more specific to my own fraternity, hazing for us was entwined with the history and mores of the club. Also, we try to stress that the best "hazers?" dont need to be physical as they can just wear a pledge down by talking.

 

[bosatlbwi]

Originally Posted by ShoesYouCanUse

Greetings - I went through the process almost 30 years ago. I was hazed and got my ribs broken. Did I tell anyone so that I can get the chapter in trouble and become a member of the frat? - NO. Did I agree with it back then - YES. Do I agree with it today - getting my ribs broken to join an organization - NOT NECESSARY. Although, I understand the reason for hazing a pledgee as long as no one gets hurt I'm all for it.

Best regards,

lulz this guy is funny.

 

[Steve Smith]

One of the problems with hazing it that it brings out the worst in some people, usually the weaker types. I never saw an intelligent physically strong person in my fraternity who enjoyed hazing someone. It's always the dipshits.

Having had a small amount of military experience (boot camp and a year of technical schooling) before my encounter with the Greek system, I had a little different perspective than most. And yes, hazing in the US Greek system has its roots in US military training.

The hazing which is saw was a laughable perversion of military type hazing. Fraternity hazing should be an embarrassment to anyone involved. There is no place for harassment and humiliation in these social organizations who profess brotherhood as being their goal. Even the military has greatly throttled this stuff back. Why? Because it is not particularly effective.

 

[Matt]

You guys are pussies.

Young guys will do dumb ****.
I did dumb ****.
There is no set of rules ever written that will stop young guys doing dumb ****.
Hell, I am no longer young.
I still sometimes succumb to the lure of dumb ****.

Hazing is basically just ritualised dumb ****. So it goes wrong one time out of like 20,000...what doesn't?

 

[WhateverYouLike]

Originally Posted by Matt

You guys are pussies.

Young guys will do dumb ****.
I did dumb ****.
There is no set of rules ever written that will stop young guys doing dumb ****.
Hell, I am no longer young.
I still sometimes succumb to the lure of dumb ****.

Hazing is basically just ritualised dumb ****. So it goes wrong one time out of like 20,000...what doesn't?

This is basically true for all humans...why have laws and regulations then.

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by Another New Yorker

Hahahha they wish. It's a good school academically, but for liability reasons, I won't publicly state wear. Once you know the fraternity and school it's far too easy to easy to get in trouble.

Lol...you are convinced what you are doing is fine, but not confidant in it to the point where you will say where it is happening.

FWIW, I went to a school with a pretty different greek system than most places. frat parties were for the most part open to anybody with a student ID and a $5 bill. I had some good times at them my first and (less so) second years...they were still parties full of douches and morons but since they were basically open, they were little different than large open apartment parties.
For the most part, any hazing I heard about tended to be more on the stupid and/or homoerotic side of things than the dangerous side.

There were still some bad things going on...I know one guy who ended up with a broken limb and was under duress not to reveal how it happened (gotta love that there are any insurance providers willing to cut a lower rate to frats who are "dry")

 

[OldGeezer]

I was in a fraternity in a southern school. Hazing was based on embarrassment, not violence. We did a lot of drinking, but it was optional, not forced. Same with drugs. The worse act I saw was when Crazy Eddie peed on an electric fence.

 

[LawrenceMD]

just be glad you're not black. predominately black fraternities have epically notorious hazing rituals that involve physical torture.

this is true of asian fraternities in colleges in Asia as well. even worse after surviving hazing there are still numerous deaths because these fraternities turn into semi-gangs that will end up having massive turf wars and rival frat guys killing each other every year.

that said there are some very good reasons to join. especially if you're going into graduate school frats that have tons of advantages. for instance law and medical school fraternities have their own test question databases for exams as well as the "old boy" frat networks that can result in real world hiring. this is truer with the Grad School fraternities mind you. I've seen some disappointed Medical Residency directors that had to accept first year residents because they are progeny/fellow grad school frat of the medical director. They were just as qualified to be there mind you, but were given preference due to that connection. You still need to pull your weight and be qualified, and perform when you're hired.

also in my outside rotations in University hospitals the medical frat guys sometimes get preferential treatment when it comes to assigned surgeries ect. This it true if the chief resident is a member of the frat.

 

[Another New Yorker]

Originally Posted by LawrenceMD

just be glad you're not black. predominately black fraternities have epically notorious hazing rituals that involve physical torture.

this is true of asian fraternities in colleges in Asia as well. even worse after surviving hazing there are still numerous deaths because these fraternities turn into semi-gangs that will end up having massive turf wars and rival frat guys killing each other every year.

that said there are some very good reasons to join. especially if you're going into graduate school frats that have tons of advantages. for instance law and medical school fraternities have their own test question databases for exams as well as the "old boy" frat networks that can result in real world hiring. this is truer with the Grad School fraternities mind you. I've seen some disappointed Medical Residency directors that had to accept first year residents because they are progeny/fellow grad school frat of the medical director. They were just as qualified to be there mind you, but were given preference due to that connection. You still need to pull your weight and be qualified, and perform when you're hired.
The old boys network of a large national social fraternity seems to be the most respected though, especially in the South. I know quite a few alums who landed sweet law firm positions through the fraternity straight out of law school because another member of the fraternity was partner. A few in particular are strong on Wall St., but if you like making money off oil, the Southern social fraternities (the most fundamental I think), are the most prestigious.

I also like to differentiate Southern and a few select schools' fraternities from the masses. It seems these days nationally we're known for black shirts with bright ties and cargo shorts? In the South, we like to think there's a little more class (though it could just be pretension), and the button ups are usually BB or polo, and low inseam khaki short and chinos replace all alternatives. Not sure if it's SF approved--the more basic elements I imagine are a variant of casual MC, although I can't speak for motiffed seersucker shorts.