Hazing in Greek Life

I can't imagine how much of a low self esteem having ***** I'd have to be to put up with any of that hazing bullshit they make frat bro's go through.

Originally Posted by Matt

Click to expand...

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?

im not sure im allowed to argue with you but,

dumb = dangerous?

and just as there is no set of rules ever written that will stop young guys doing dumb ****,
there is no set of rules that will stop older guys from trying to stop them. its a dichotomy that needs to exist.

I survived a hazing with no harm. It was indeed a rite of passage.

That said, although I endured it, I never felt some desire to inflict it upon others.

fraternity hazing is a way for repressed young males to let their **** out for a walk in a bro-sanctioned environment.

Common danger brings forth harmony.

The type of stuff done has and needed to change over the last decade in particular, but the idea of putting a group of guys in a situation and having them pull through really does work in my opinion. The alcohol stuff is crap, I always thought NOT letting pledges drink was more hazing than making them. I was among the last at my chapter to go through the real process, went through a chapter reorganization, and see what its like on the other end. With hazing being literally anything you can think of legally, it makes it hard to do much, and unfortunately you end up having to kick pledges out instead of fixing the problem.

During my freshman year of college, I became involved with the campus newspaper and also pledged a fraternity. I realized after about two weeks that pledging was not right for me, so I depledged. I continued working on the newspaper, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. It was the best decision I made in college.

Practically every benefit that has been mentioned about being in a fraternity, I achieved through working on the newspaper. I didn't need to be forced to drink or do ridiculous and humiliating things to bond me with other guys or to give me something in common with the people who were in the house before me. Instead, I stayed up until 4 a.m. bonding with the other staff as we put together a newspaper, just like people had done for the past 100 years the paper had been around. It was fun. I learned a **** load, and it gave me valuable experience.

It's always puzzled me that fraternities need to do humiliating and dangerous things to bond. Why not go volunteer together? Why not accomplish something difficult that's productive? You bond just as well without any of the booze and homoeroticism.

When I was an underclassmen, the juniors and seniors on the staff were mentors to me. They helped me with papers, recommended classes, gave me advice about chicks, and bought me booze. They threw parties on the weekends. There are former editors of the paper who have gone on to do big things in the world, not just in journalism, and they are great resources even years later. Staff members lived in houses together and went on spring break together. Sometimes some of us had sex with each other, because the staff had guys and girls. Many are still close friends of mine.

Okay, so we weren't the kings of the campus, but we also didn't have inferiority complexes that would lead us to needing to think we were kings of the campus. Join a club at school. They have everything that's good about a fraternity, but are a lot cheaper and way less gay. Plus, you are doing something productive with your time.

We were hazed, and hard. Old school stuff. Lots of pain. I know it is kind of cliche, but I remember the hazing fondly.

Originally Posted by zbromer

Click to expand...

Okay, so we weren't the kings of the campus, but we also didn't have inferiority complexes that would lead us to needing to think we were kings of the campus. Join a club at school. They have everything that's good about a fraternity, but are a lot cheaper and way less gay. Plus, you are doing something productive with your time.

Sports are good too. You don't even need hazing for bonding, the training and competition itself provides plenty of shared suffering.

I sure thought we were being hazed my freshman year. Later I realized that I was doing the same workouts that everyone did and all the freshman were just out of shape and suffered accordingly. Went through the same thing every year, never sucked as much as it did the first time.

Originally Posted by Gibonius

Click to expand...

Sports are good too. You don't even need hazing for bonding, the training and competition itself provides plenty of shared suffering.

I sure thought we were being hazed my freshman year. Later I realized that I was doing the same workouts that everyone did and all the freshman were just out of shape and suffered accordingly. Went through the same thing every year, never sucked as much as it did the first time.

Most Southern college varsity teams (and quite a lot of high school and non southern teams everywhere) make their new guys go through an incredibly unpleasant rite of passage.

zbromer--everyone has their thing and if being independent on the school paper was how you enjoyed college then power to you! For half the university meal plan rate though, our chef is getting us steak once a week and lobster once a month, so that's always a good deal.

NY - What even counts as hazing these days?

Originally Posted by Teger

Click to expand...

fwiw i am in a frat and it was an ok experience. haven't had time the last year to be active though.

the worst hazing stories ive heard are about sororities, but they're more damaging in a psychological, not psychical way

Enlighten us.

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Click to expand...

Enlighten us.
They, like, say mean things about each others cellulite.

Originally Posted by Matt

Click to expand...

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?

Thank you. I'm amazed by the piling on here. Granted OP isn't helping himself with trying to justify mostly stupid **** but damn. Anyway, I figure most guys that hazed and have been hazed can't say too much without putting their chapters/schools at risk

Originally Posted by iammatt

Click to expand...

ANY - What even counts as hazing these days?
Legally/by nationals? Or what fraternities in general actually do.

Originally Posted by iammatt

Click to expand...

They, like, say mean things about each others cellulite.
Actually true. I don't know much but our sororities don't really do much. One makes a powerpoint of all the girls and in front of the whole organization just highlights their physical flaws in the powerpoint... "flab here, too flat" etc. One funny story I've heard from an old alumnus of ours was that at the University of Arkansas, they told girls they had to reach into a jar of eyeballs. They blindfolded them and brought around jars of peeled grapes, and girls just started passing out. I don't know how believable that is.

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Click to expand...

Anyway, I figure most guys that hazed and have been hazed can't say too much without putting their chapters/schools at risk

I was hazed twenty years ago, and my chapter has been suspended and reinstated at least once since then. Ask your questions. I will answer.