Everyone who has been in college knows that fraternities haze. They force boys to kneel on glass, do the elephant walk (don’t google it… trust me), and drink until they puke. We hear about the worst results on the news all the time. Freshman year my psychology teacher told us that the only excuse she has accepted for a student not being able to take his exam on time is that he was in the hospital being treated for third degree burns he got from a fraternity. We all know this is happening. Some people try to stop it, but most just don’t care. My question is; why is this happening in the first place? Why are they still hazing boys when it would be so much easier (and safer) to stop?
My first answer to these questions was that it’s tradition. If a pledge class is getting hazed, the one doing the hazing was probably in their position just last year. They want these boys to have to go through the same stuff they did, otherwise it would not be fair. Maybe they think these boys need to prove their worth. Show that they have the mental and physical constitution to make it through these challenges.
I have been confused about this for a while now but I think I found the key to this puzzle during recruitment. Putting groups of people through hell together turns them into best friends by the end. I know, recruitment is not hazing (it is hell though) but it is still a stressful ordeal you are forced to go through with a large group of people you don’t know all that well. You have to practice talking to potential new members and there is no choice but to practice these conversations with the other people in your sorority. You end up meeting so many people and realizing you actually like being around these girls. Or at least, I did. My emotions about my sorority have gone from slightly above ambivalent to being kind of proud. I have a friend who was too embarrassed to wear our sorority’s shirts around campus because she thought she would be judged. She told me she might start wearing some now (it’s a step in the right direction). I lost my voice during recruitment, almost threw up twice, survived off three hours of sleep a night, stood on heels all day, but I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Is that why boys still join fraternities even though they know there are going to be trying times? I still think hazing is stupid and dangerous but I think I understand the mentality behind it. My sorority does not haze so this is all an outsider’s opinion. Plus there are way more harmless ways to befriend people in your organization. Like maybe try talking to them. That’s what I did and it actually worked.