Imagine playing a question and answer game, and each time you got an answer wrong, you had to gulp some alcohol straight from the bottle.
On top of getting drunk, there are strobe lights flashing around you and loud music blaring from speakers, making it even harder to be able to concentrate on answering the question correctly. This scenario is what led to the death of a Phi Delta Theta fraternity pledge at Louisiana State University a couple months ago, who had six times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
With all the hazing that happens on college campuses, colleges have started to take action in the hopes of preventing physical harm or death to their students. Ohio State University suspended all of their fraternities, which are under investigation for hazing and alcohol violations. Matthew McKinley Ellis, a pledge of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Texas State University, was found dead after attending an off-campus party. His death led to the suspension of all fraternities and sororities at TSU, while the investigation of his death continues.
“Hazing is any act that causes mental distress, physical distress or harm, and acts of buffoonery,” said Michael Davis, the assistant director for leadership development at SHU, who also works with the Greek Life community. “Things that are not a normal regimen of somebody’s schedule, and being forced to participate in an activity can all be categorized as hazing.”
This definition is a compilation of various definitions from national and international organizations, as well as the state of New Jersey, and Seton Hall University.
Hazing starts with power dynamics, and people who accept that there are others on a higher level than they are. They believe that to join a particular organization, they must follow through on every demand given to them or they will not be accepted.
There are various ways to be hazed whether it be subtle, harassment, or violent. Subtle hazing is considered to be harmless or meaningless by those who commit it, which can include activities such as: sleep deprivation, physical exercise, greeting members in a certain way, or restricting who they can communicate with. Harassment hazing can cause confusion, frustration, and stress to new members, as well as emotional anguish or physical discomfort. This form of hazing can include: yelling at the new member, assigning chores, forcing them to wear embarrassing clothing, being assigned pranks like stealing, or being forced into confinement. Violent hazing can cause physical, emotional or psychological harm, which can include activities like: being kidnaped, forced nudity or sexual activity, paddling, or being forced to consume food.
When potential new members start to consider joining Greek Life, they think through everything that can entail, including hazing.
“In the past, hazing built character and a stronger bond with your respective pledge class,” said Billy Toney, a founding father of the recently added Phi Delta Theta fraternity at SHU. “It wasn’t until people started to abuse this system, which resulted in sexual, physical, and verbal harm with lifelong effects to many victims, that hazing became a problem. No one wants to be treated that way, which results in many turning away from Greek Life.”
Seton Hall approaches hazing in a different way than many other college campuses by being proactive in their efforts to prevent hazing, instead of reacting only after hazing has been reported and is already happening.
“The worst thing you can do is be reactionary when dealing with hazing because at that point it has already happened,” said Davis. “So we are trying to be as proactive as possible and build not only this culture that students are able to recognize what hazing is, but also making sure that it just doesn’t even happen.”
The reactionary way of dealing with hazing can be seen in the LSU case, as well as in the Beta Theta Pi case at Pennsylvania State University, where Timothy Piazza was given 18 drinks in 82 minutes by brothers of the fraternity. As a result, he fell down the stairs and became injured, which eventually led to his death two days later. At Florida State University, Andrew Coffey, a 20-year-old brother of Pi Kappa Phi was found dead at a chapter party, which led to the suspension of the chapter at FSU by its national organization. All of these universities, and many others like them, react after the fact, shutting down chapters after the damage has already been done.
According to Davis, Seton Hall does a great job of nipping it in the bud, and shutting down the few chapters who even think about hazing before anything drastic can happen. Before the Piazza case at PSU, Seton Hall was considering adding Beta Theta Pi to their campus, but in light of what happened so close to their campus, they decided to put the expansion on hold. This is part of how SHU tries to be proactive to avoid hazing on their campus. Another proactive approach is teaching students about what hazing is and who to talk to if they ever feel uncomfortable completing certain actions.
“I love and appreciate that SHU has a zero tolerance policy for hazing,” said Kathrine Dwyer, a SHU student who has thought about joining a sorority. “It makes me feel comfortable that if I ever did join a sorority and something happened to me, I could talk to someone about it.”
As time goes on maybe colleges will adopt Seton Hall’s outlook on the way to deal with hazing in a proactive stance then always being reactionary. With hazing having a huge impact on those considering joining an organization, and potentially affecting those who do join, it is important to look to see the best way in dealing with these situations and implementing a system that works for all, if not the majority.