On April 3, 2015, ABC News reported
a serious hazing incident on the girls’ softball team at Saint Joseph’s
University in Philadelphia. Students
were issued a note detailing that “This is Deliverance Week, the time has come
for them to show respect, they need to realize their place, and if they did not
there would be dire consequences.” Those students reported to an upperclassmen’s
house off campus. The girls were forced
to consume alcohol and perform lesbian sexual acts on their older
teammates. The sexual acts included lap
dances, inappropriate touching, imitation of sexual acts, and some activity
that was “too graphic to be outlined.” “Deliverance
Week” fell on Christianity’s holy week; the last supper, the crucifixion, and
the resurrection. Apparently the
softball seniors had separate definitions for the Jesuit college’s holy week,
respect, and knowing one’s place. They thought
showing “respect” was giving a lap dance, and their newer members’ place was
being subjected to sexual abuse and underage drinking. What kind of “deliverance” is this? What are they being delivered from?
As an alumna of Saint Joseph’s University, I can not ignore
this incident. Recent reports by ABC News
say the university is conducting an internal investigation. According to my fellow Alpha Phi Sigma
member, SJU will probably do nothing about it.
Alpha Phi Sigma, also known as the National Criminal Justice Honors
Society, is a professional student organization. We do not believe in hazing anyone; we
recognize it as a state crime. For this
to happen at my Alma Mater is bad enough, but what is truly disgraceful is if
the university does not sanction those responsible. That would teach them that crimes have few
consequences.
(4/17/2015) Update: The softball players conducting the hazing
were only suspended. One of the
suspended players claimed the activities were meant to be voluntary during
the "freshmen welcome week.” However, the lap dance was something they planned.
The “Deliverance Week” suddenly became “Freshmen Welcome Week.” Suspension for sexual abuse is tame, but the softball
seniors did not think so. The two
freshmen who reported the hazing left the team, and the university increased security
for those players, one of which had to relocate to a new dorm. The tension is apparent over leaking the
crime, and the apology “from the bottom of my heart,” is just damage control. (End of Update).
This is not an isolated case, nor is
it rare. Hazing has a historical reach
back to ancient civilizations. In this
entry, there are sections for hazing definitions, hazing facts, a timeline of
incidents, personal experiences, and my insight overall.
What
is Hazing?
Before going any further, it is
important to accurately define hazing.
On InsideHazing.com, Dr. Susan Lipkins states that, “Hazing is a
process, based on a tradition that is used by groups for discipline and to maintain
the hierarchy (i.e. a pecking order).”
Universities have their own
anti-hazing policies detailed on their college websites. There are slight variations, but the
principles are consistent. Even though
the policies exist does not guarantee they will be adhered to. The following are the hazing definitions from
the policies for Saint Joseph’s University, Cornell University, and Indiana
University of Pennsylvania.
Saint Joseph’s
University
“Hazing
is defined as ‘any action or situation created intentionally, whether on or off
campus premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment,
harassment, or ridicule.’ Saint Joseph’s University
prohibits all forms of hazing. The Anti-Hazing Law of Pennsylvania states that
any person who causes or participates in hazing commits a misdemeanor of the
third degree. It also includes the willful destruction or removal of public or
private property in its definition of hazing.”
Cornell University Campus Code of Conduct (Article II.A.1.f)
“To haze another person, regardless of the person's
consent to participate. Hazing means an act that, as an explicit or implicit
condition for initiation to, admission into, affiliation with, or continued
membership in a group or organization, (1) could be seen by a reasonable person
as endangering the physical health of an individual or as causing mental
distress to an individual through, for example, humiliating, intimidating, or
demeaning treatment, (2) destroys or removes public or private property, (3)
involves the consumption of alcohol or drugs, or the consumption of other
substances to excess, or (4) violates any University policy.”
Indiana University
of Pennsylvania
“IUP
defines hazing as ‘any action, situation, activity or complicity in activity,
or any mental or physical requirement or request placed upon any new member,
member affiliate, or alumnus which causes or has the potential to cause
endangerment of the physical, emotional, or mental health or safety of the
participant; physical or mental discomfort, pain, injury, fright, degradation,
moral compromise, coerced sexual activity, or servitude; and/or the violation
of any federal, state, or local law or rule or university policy, as directly
or indirectly related to the initiation or admission into or affiliation with or
continued membership in an IUP-recognized organization.”
Hazing
Facts
-Hazing
is illegal in 44 states.
-In
1657, Harvard University suspended and fined two students
for hazing. This was possibly the
earliest case in American history.
-In
1873 at Cornell University, Mortimer N. Leggett died
pledging for Kappa Alpha Sigma. He was
left in the woods at night and had to find his way home. He fell into a gorge. This was the third documented hazing death in American history.
According
to a 2003 study by anti-hazing author, Hank Nuwer,
-
There
have been 104 deaths since 1970
-
80%
of hazing deaths were alcohol related.
According
to Hank Nuwer’s website,
-
The
last documented death was last year.
-
To
this date, 183 people have died from hazing.
Insidehazing.com
did a study with >250,000 students
-
40%
said coach was unaware
-
22%
said the coach was involved. That’s
55,000+ students!
-In
2008, University
of Maine’s study showed
55% of student organizations involved hazing.
Cornell
University conducted a study on hazing within their campus in 2002-03.
-
Sample
size: 736 undergrads
-
37%
were hazed, by the Cornell’s definition.
-
12%
agreed they were hazed and identified themselves as victims.
Top
5 Hazing rituals at Cornell University
- Involve
alcohol
- Sleep
deprivation
- Carrying
unnecessary objects
- Required to
be silent
- Being
yelled, or cursed at
Other
methods involved but are not limited to:
kidnapping, various forms of binding, having food thrown at them, association
only with specific people, required to destroy or steal property; physical and
sexual abuse.
The
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) conducted a study at the
national level in the 1998-99 school year.
These were the results.
-
More
than 76.9% (250,000+ out of 325,000 athletes) were hazed.
-
20%
were subjected to physical abuse or forced to commit crimes such as property
damage or phone harassment.
-
Half
were subjected to alcohol related hazing.
-
66.66%
were humiliated by being forced to wear embarrassing garments, yelled at, or
forced into hygiene deprivation or other deprivations.
In
a timeline titled, “Chronology of Hazing Incidents: 1989-2002,” I calculated the following
proportions.
-
32.3%
of these incidents involved hospitalization.
-
Incidents
involving kidney damage was 16.92%.
Where
does hazing occur?
Hazing happens within various
organizations such as fraternities, sororities, sports teams at the high
school, college, and professional level, workplaces, clubs, churches, and the military
(Mandelaro, 2014). Hazing is not
exclusively an American tradition. There
were hazing cases as far as Sri Lanka.
Over there, they call it “ragging.”
In this entry, I am focusing on
hazing within the United States, specifically in fraternities, sororities, and
sports teams at the college and high school levels.
Recent
History of Hazing
Inclusive to this timeline are
select incidents from the articles by Martha Sorren and Preston Waters, as well
as the aforementioned “Chronology of Hazing Incidents: 1989-2002” (Heuristic, 2009).
1993
- University of Maryland, Omega Psi Phi
Six people were hospitalized, and a
“ruptured ear drum” was among the injuries.
That would have earned a soldier a purple heart!
1997
- Georgia State University, Phi Beta Sigma
A pledge’s body was pushed through a
wall.
1999
- Lincoln University, Alpha Phi Alpha
One pledge needed a colostomy. This person will have a colostomy bag for the
rest of his life!
1999
- Northern Illinois
University, Omega Psi Phi
The victims were forced to eat dog food,
run barefoot in the snow, and stand immobile for hours.
2000
- Norfolk State University,
Phi Beta Sigma
Pledges endured “thunderclaps” which are
chest punches. One victim suffered a punctured
lung.
2001
- Louisiana State University,
Kappa Alpha Psi,
One person had a paddling that induced
bleeding and required a skin graft.
(Credit
up to this point: Chronology of Hazing
Incidents: 1989-2002).
2002
- California State University, Alpha Kappa Alpha
Pledges were subjected to hours of
exercising, and then walking backwards into the ocean. One pledge couldn’t swim. Another tried to rescue her. Both women drowned. (Sorren, 2014).
2002
- Methodist College
in North Carolina,
Football team
Seven football players stripped a
freshman naked, wrote in permanent marker on him, spanked him, and one player
anally raped him with a sharpie marker.
(Waters, 2012).
2003
– State University
of New York,
Psi Epsilon Chi
In March, Psi Epsilon Chi demanded their
pledges consume abnormal amounts of water.
Walter Jennings had to drink pitchers of water to the point of brain
swelling and he died of water intoxication.
(Waters, 2012)
2005
- California State University,
Chi Tau
Matthew Carrington was drenched in
gallons of icy water with large fans blowing coldly. Then Matthew was forced to do calisthenics
while standing on one foot and consuming gallons of water. He died of hypothermia and brain swelling.
(Waters,
2012)
2005
– College (Unknown), Sorority (Unknown).
In the book, Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities, one case
involved a sharpie marker, a knife, a hammer, and a dildo. If pledges answered a certain number of
questions wrong, they would be violated with one of those items. (Sorren, 2014).
2008
- Penn State
Altoona, Sorority
(Unknown).
Pledges had to stand with their noses
touching a concrete wall. If they moved,
the pledge would get her head slammed into the wall. They were ordered to clean floors with their
fingernails and forced to drink “pitch black water.” (Sorren, 2014).
2009
– Dartmouth College, Kappa Kappa Gamma
Three sorority pledges were blindfolded
and had to sit in the back of a car.
They had to drink large amounts of vodka for 15 minutes, then they were
dumped somewhere. They were all unconscious. Only one lived. Her BAC was 0.399. “I was literally one sip away from
dying.” No force was used in the
drinking, but the survivor admitted she was afraid to be ostracized if she
didn’t comply. (Sorren, 2014).
2009
- University of Chattanooga,
Tennessee; Delta Sigma Theta
A female victim was punched in the face
while vinegar was squirted into her eyes and ice water was dumped on her
head. At a separate point in time, she
was pelted with eggs while being punched in the face and stomach. She required hospitalization, but luckily the
criminal, Seirra Smith, was charged with assault. (Sorren, 2014).
2012
- University of California,
Berkeley; Zeta
Phi Beta
A student had to use her back to clean a
juice covered floor, and have her pockets used as mini-trashcans. The worst was being forced to stand for hours. When she collapsed, a hazer struck her ankle
with a book, causing a serious injury.
The chapter is no longer recognized at the school. (Sorren, 2014).
2012
- Binghamton University, Sorority (Unknown)
Female pledges were expected to recite
the Greek alphabet while in a freezing shower.
They also forced them to take pills and vomit on one another, and hold
hot hookah coals in their hands.
(Sorren, 2014).
2013
- Young Harris
College, Georgia; Gamma Psi
Sorority pledges were forced to crawl
through mud leading to a frigid creek while being yelled at and spit on. They also were to stand in a pool of water
that the members defecated in. Then
pledges were subjected to sitting naked on a washing machine; the torturer
would circle areas that jiggled with a sharpie.
(Sorren, 2014).
2013
- Union College, New York; Sigma Delta Tau
42 women were locked in a basement with
only one toilet. They were sometimes
lined up, asked questions, and scolded for wrong answers; called “Stupid!” (Sorren, 2014).
This
last case happened first chronologically, but because of its severity, it
deserves to be last.
1959
– University of Southern California, Kappa Sigma
Fraternity pledges were expected to
swallow hoagie-sized raw livers drenched in oil without chewing. Richard Swanson choked for 2 hours and died
in the hospital.
(Waters,
2012)
Undated
Incidents and Cruel but Common Methods
Rutgers University, Sigma Gamma Rho
The victim was paddled for seven
nights, with a total of 201 beatings.
The blood clots and welts on her butt made sitting unbearable, and she
required hospitalization.
Paddling is iconic in the Greek system,
but if done brutally it can result in severe injuries that require medical
attention. The spankings are supposed to
humble the pledge, but seriously, what kind of friend spanks you 201 times to
“build love and trust?” Here’s a reality
check: You are getting spanked by
someone two or three years older than you.
This is not even your parent.
California Polytechnic State
University, Sigma Alpha
Epsilon
A freshman died after being forced into
a 90 minute binge of alcohol consumption.
His blood alcohol content was 0.44.
Two hazers, Adam Marszal and Russell Taylor went to jail for this.
College
(Unknown), Sorority (Unknown)
Breast ranking is a common hazing ritual
in sororities. The older sisters make
the pledges strip top-naked, have them stand in a line, and then order them by
breast size - from smallest to largest.
Tulane University, Pi Alpha Kappa
Fraternity members poured boiling water
mixed with pepper spray and cayenne pepper onto the victims’ backs. The ones who did not scream suffered the
worst burns. One victim incurred second
and third degree burns on his back, butt, and genitals. Ten fraternity members who committed the
hazing were charged with second degree aggravated battery.
College
(Unknown), Sorority (Unknown)
The Hazing Prevention Center received an
email from girl whose sorority gave pledges the choice of self-penetration with
a dildo in front of her sisters or taking a hit of cocaine.
University of Vermont, Hockey team.
Older players subjected the freshmen
members to an Elephant Walk. This led to
Vermont
passing an Anti-Hazing law in 1999.
There are a few variations of Elephant Walks, and University of Vermont
is definitely not the only college guilty of this common cruelty. A quick definition of Elephant Walk would be:
a male homoerotic walk, involving men walking naked single file while holding
the penis of the man behind him, and possibly inserting his thumb into the anus
of the man in front of him.
According to Cornell’s website, one
possible motive for Elephant Walking is to increase emotional and physical
intimacy among the members. Men tend to
feel awkward in hugging other men or expressing emotion or verbal affection
toward other males. The extreme contact
makes the simpler affections seem mild.
Still, using common sense, Elephant Walks are more likely to induce
sexual trauma. It’s too bad the
perpetrators don’t notice the obvious.
Hartwick
College, New York, Alpha Chi Rho (Alleged incident, unconfirmed).
Fraternity pledges were forced to carry
feces covered rocks through a forest and then do push-ups in urine soaked
garbage that was littered with glass and dirty diapers. Feces and urine seem to be thematic in
hazing. Forcing pledges to drink urine
is especially common in fraternities.
Section
cited to: (Waters, 2012)
Other
Incidents Worth Mentioning
2014
- Penn State
Altoona, Phi
Sigma Kappa
Marquise Braham committed suicide
due to the trauma he felt from hazing.
There were three hazing rituals the fraternity forced him to
undergo. The first one required him to
choose between using a sex toy in front of the other men, or doing
cocaine. The second hazing was having
him drink alcohol to the point of vomiting.
The third hazing left Braham terrified.
They made him wear a ski mask and steal a bag of chips from a
store. After communicating his suicidal
feelings to three people, the 18-year-old freshman jumped from a Marriott
rooftop to his death. (DeKok, 2014).
Director of University Relations, Shari
Rotch, said, “They’re one of our better fraternities.” (DeKok, 2014). Favoritism is no excuse to let people abuse
someone to the point of suicide!
2012-
State University of New York Geneseo, Women’s volleyball team
Eight freshmen women received a text
message to attend a party off campus hosted by older members on their
volleyball team. An upperclassman’s
boyfriend led them to an apartment. They
had a party last week with their team, so nothing seemed amiss.
The upperclassmen told the younger
members to paint each other’s faces, and the party soon took a scarier
turn. The freshmen teammates were
blindfolded, handcuffed, and the military-like yelling started. The victims’ cellphones and wallets were
taken from them. They were then forced
to drink copious amounts of vodka.
Victims had to write poems about
their tormentors, and also to answer trick questions. Every wrong answer incurred a penalty shot of
vodka. The senior volleyball members
then made them have a drinking contest.
They wanted to see who could finish a pitcher of vodka-punch. At one point, a senior pushed the shot glass
hard against one girl’s mouth. She then
fell forward, chipping her tooth on the table.
Upperclassmen disregarded her pain and kept pouring vodka down her
throat.
Instead of competing on who drank the
most, the victims were drinking to spare the other group. One victim with the chipped tooth later told
the police that she drank more so the other freshmen would not have to drink as
much. Despite the blindfold, she could
hear them crying. After the ordeal, this
same victim vomited and collapsed outside.
Students passing by took notice and helped her. She required hospitalization, and her BAC was
0.2666. (Mandelaro, 2014).
2012
- Lafayette College, Pennsylvania; Outlawed Fraternity
Everett Glenn died of acute alcohol
poisoning in May 2012. His BAC was 0.34. The school took no action, and the president
of the college, Daniel Weiss, refused to answer any questions. According to their policy, there is only
expulsion for hazing if the organization is affiliated with Lafayette College. (Deegan, 2013).
Why did Lafayette College allow an
outlawed fraternity to recruit an unsuspecting freshman? Is the fraternity really outlawed if they are
still allowed to operate at any level?
How was Glenn supposed to know whether or not the fraternity was
legitimate?
2011
- Cornell University, Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Reverse Hazing – a new twist on a
twisted tradition. The freshmen hazed
the sophomores who were already frat brothers.
By 3AM, freshmen had kidnapped sophomores and bound their wrists and
ankles with duct tape and zip-ties. They
asked them questions, and a shot of vodka was the penalty for each wrong
answer. They also made the victims eat a
bizarre concoction of food including pixie stix and hot sauce in the mix. After sadistically inducing their brothers’
vomiting, the freshmen perpetrators left the place in a state of disarray. The cleaning people found one of the
sophomore victims unconscious and called 911.
(Winerip, 2012).
Were they seeking an early vengeance
for their hazing experiences? If that
were true, the seniors would have been targeted. Did the seniors order the freshmen to do
it? Probably not, or it would have been
mentioned somewhere. One freshmen tormentor,
Edward Williams, told the police that, “It was meant to be fun” (Winerip,
2012). They could not wait until senior
year to be sadists like the others.
In contrast to the grimness, the
following incident involves consenting victims who were mostly happy. However, the ethics question remains. Is it still right or legal?
2012
- Pennsbury High School, Field hockey team
An article written by Joanna Spiel described
her initiation as a positive experience.
A picture in the corner shows four smiling girls dressed garishly.
The seniors kidnapped the junior
teammates. They came into Spiel's home, and
woke her at 3:26AM. Her favorite senior
loudly sang a happy song, waking her.
The seniors let Spiel brush her teeth and comb her hair.
The seniors and Spiel drove to get
the other juniors. They finally went to
a senior’s house at 4AM, where they dressed the juniors in weird costumes that
they had to wear the whole school day.
Spiel had to wear a yellow leotard-tutu trimmed with bows on the bodice
and red velvety leggings under it. She
wore a pink, sequined neck ruff that smelled icky. She wore a “blonde mullet wig,” and a
“sparkly money top hat.” The seniors
applied a brown uni-brow, mustache, and a small beard to her face, in addition
to makeup.
The seniors bought everyone
breakfast and then drove the oddly clad juniors to school. In the parking lot, the juniors had to bow
down to their favorite senior. They also
were told to chase cars, dance to the Psy song, “Gangnam Style,” and sing
various songs – all in the high school parking lot.
During the school day, Spiel
received many looks. Some were
sympathetic and others looked confused; and “some were just freaked out.” At one point, she received a backhanded
compliment that her costume was the best, spoken with sarcasm. She felt embarrassed because she valued her
fashion sense. Though, she felt at the
day’s end that her team “was actually brought closer.” (Spiel, 2012).
Spiel said because the seniors asked her parents’
permission meant it wasn’t hazing. That
is not true on a legal level. Her own
decision and free will play a significant role. She was consenting along with her group,
however consent pressures unwilling teammates to conform to the initiation.
Not everyone at Pennsbury High School felt
hazing was a positive “bonding” experience.
I know this because I went to Pennsbury.
I graduated in 2001. Hazing
occurred during my years at Pennsbury High School and Medill Bair (now PHS
West), and I think these incidents need to be documented, not forgotten.
Hazing
in Pennsbury High School
In 1999, a classmate confided in me that
she was being hazed on the girls’ soccer team.
I’m not going to use her real name.
Let’s call her Mary. The seniors
called Mary’s parents in advance, and her mother approved, probably thinking it
was going to be a fun tradition. The
seniors woke Mary an hour before her alarm clock was set. They would not let her shower. They would not let her eat right away. Then they made her wear absurd clothes and
wrote “Freshman” in lipstick on her forehead.
They drove Mary to school. She
immediately went to the bathroom and wiped off the lipstick writing and took
off the excess clothing and hat. When
the seniors found out, they scolded her and threatened to “get her back.” They were very livid with Mary for removing
the lipstick and garments. Mary’s friend
was also kidnapped and she did not enjoy the experience either.
There were multiple initiations on the
girls’ soccer team in 1999. The coach
was aware but did not intervene. At one
party, there was a slip-n-slide covered in chocolate syrup. The rookies had to slide down it. One girl was very obliging, but Mary and
others thought this was strange. One junior
teammate “went crazy with the jelly,” which probably meant she was throwing it
at people. One senior took a naked photo
of another senior. The age of the naked
teen was unknown, but there were underage girls present.
Those same seniors were also on the
field hockey team. I have no doubt there
was hazing despite not hearing about it.
Though, even after the season was over, the seniors still subjected the
underclassmen. It was on the last day of
field hockey camp (1999), a summer program for the players and aspiring athletes–
which we had at Saint Joseph’s University, coincidentally. Our shuttle bus returned to the parking lot
where the girls’ cars stayed all day. We
returned to find the cars covered in ketchup, mustard, flour, chocolate syrup,
banana slices, and mini-marshmallows.
There were paper signs on the windshields, reading, “Do not wash these
cars.” We were shocked at first, while
others shrugged it off, saying that they just needed to wash their cars. I pointed out that the vandals should have to
pay for the car washes. If their cars
were untouched, they would not have to pay to get their cars washed. They would have saved time and money if the
criminal mischief hadn’t occurred. The
athletic director came out and talked to us.
He told us that, “I think I know who did it. These are nice girls and we like them, so I
don’t think we need to take any further action.” His words were an admission of favoritism. If he did not like the students, he would
have done something.
My mom came to pick me up in her car,
and my brother was present too in witnessing it. We were astounded that people would vandalize
their own teammates’ cars. If it were a rival team, my mom could
understand, but their own teammates?
Even though my family’s car was not defaced, I felt horrible for the
other people.
The soccer/field hockey seniors of
the 1998-99 school year were not the only ones committing crimes. In 2001, the girls’ volleyball team conducted
junior kidnappings, since they were the younger grade in the upper school. The captains even asked the administrative
employees working in the principal’s office if their practices complied with
the dress code. The faculty was fully
aware and supporting the crime. I came
to school, and there was a girl wearing a diaper over black leggings. I remembered she was grinning like an
idiot. She was obviously
consenting. That was the part that the
seniors were consulting the faculty over, and this is what the faculty approved
of. I went into German class and told
the teacher, who responded with, “Well she is just showing her school
spirit.” I said, “No, she is showing their school spirit,” meaning the
sadistic spirit belonging to the volleyball seniors. Right next to me, another consenting victim
was talking to my German teacher. Cat
whiskers were drawn on her face and she had pigtails. On the back of her white T-shirt were sharpie
scrawled words, “Ew, what is that smell?
I think it is a freshly made fart!” Sharpie squiggles mimicked fumes at the
bottom. Pennsbury, is this what you want
your school spirit to be? The fact that
they were consenting to this, I viewed them as weak people. Pennsbury tends to view indiscriminate
toleration as a strength. I do not. Doormats are not as strong as door locks.
Those were hazing situations I
observed second hand. I had tried out
for soccer and field hockey, and in retrospect I’m glad I did not make those
teams. I did not have to worry about
being violated. However, I did face a
hazing situation when I was on the cross country team in the Fall of 1998.
The Pennsbury
Girls’ Cross Country Team
During practice, while we were
running, my teammates yelled, “Dead Bug!” and rookies were expected to stop
running and immediately drop to the ground with their limbs flailing to imitate
a dead bug. They told me to do the
same. I said no, and that I thought it
was stupid. Then they brought to my
attention that rookies have to go through an “initiation,” and that “You HAVE
to do it!” I said I don’t have to do
anything I don’t want to do. They
reinforced with the idea that “yes, you have to – to be on the team!” I argued with, “But I already made the
team.” My teammates went on to argue on
behalf of the virtues of initiation, saying, “It brings us closer together,”
“It shows our team spirit,” “It’s a tradition,” and my favorite, “We all went
through something together. Now we have
something in common.”
I negated all these statements, saying that
this ritual is unrelated to running three miles per race, it’s unnecessary, and
most importantly, “This is not how people make friends” and “This is not how
friendship works.”
Days went by and they would still be
trying to convince me that the initiation was a good thing. I remember hearing, “When I got initiated, I
was scared at first, but then it was over.
I was so happy to have it done and over with. Once it’s done, you’ll feel better.” I argued that she did not have to go through
it, and that it was unnecessary. I
wasn’t scared. Why should I be afraid of
something I don’t have to do? Looking
back, I wasn’t very timid. At one of our
pasta parties, I was telling and retelling some jokes I had made up. Soon I did standup comedy in front of my
whole team, and everyone was having a good time. Everyone wanted to hear my jokes, and I
willingly gave them my showmanship. I
did not have to be forced. I can be a
fun person on my own.
So what was their initiation that
was so scary? The coaches were aware but
they did not intervene because they did not see it as extreme. The head coach said that in the previous year
the initiation was lining up the rookies and squirting whip cream in their
faces. I expressed that it was lame and
still not necessary.
On another occasion, it was during
practice, a senior pulled me aside. Jen
(not her real name) told me that in her initiation, she had food thrown all
over her. Her skin was caked in pasta
and her hair was a mess. Jen said that
even though it was so horrible, it was important because her predecessors
endured it. She said that it would not
be fair for her to go through with her initiation and for the next generation
to not go through anything. I argued,
saying, once again, that she did not have to go through with it in the first
place, and no one on the team now should either.
At some point, I promised myself if
they ever “initiated” me that I would leave the team. They never did haze me, and I am grateful for
my self-advocacy and my integrity to my morals.
I’m grateful it did not happen, period.
I attended all the pasta parties, except for the last one. I had a gut feeling that was when the
initiation was going to transpire. As
backwards as that may seem, the significance was that it was the day before the
last race. On the day of the race, one
of my teammates repeatedly told me, “I think you really should have gone to
that party.” I said I was glad I
didn’t. That teammate was also a
photographer for the yearbook committee.
In June, I received my yearbook, and I was not in the cross country team
picture. I knew it was because I refused
to be initiated. On the day our team
picture was taken, I was coming back from the bathroom, and the first picture
was taken without me. I was in the
second photo. That one was in the upper
school’s year book. (We had two schools,
one for upper and lowerclassmen). I later
bought a copy of it from a teacher who archived yearbooks. I defeated my ex-teammates’ retaliation,
because I then had the team picture with me in it. After that season, I did not participate in
track or cross country even though I received a varsity letter. That teammate who was yearbook photographer
wondered why I wouldn’t talk to her ever again.
Offense and
Defense Positions for Pennsbury
For the most part, Pennsbury School
District supported and even endorsed hazing.
At Pennwood Middle School, in eighth grade (1996-97), we were doing
reading comprehension exercises in the computer lab. One of the passages was about a boy being
initiated into a club called, “The Falcons.”
Pennsbury’s mascot is a falcon.
The fictionalized boys brainstormed ideas for the nervous new member to
undergo, since he did not like the club’s traditional rite, which was to drink
a milkshake with a raw egg in it. One
idea was that he would have to kiss the club member’s basset hound. The boy came up with dumber, tamer ideas like
putting chalk on everyone’s chair in class.
In the end, the new boy wanted something to drink. He drank a milkshake and grimaced. The others told him that it had a raw egg in
it. They said, “Welcome to the
Falcons!” Then I answered questions
relating to this passage, like you would on a test.
In defense of Pennsbury, there was
one class discussion where hazing was recognized in a negative light. It was in seventh grade (1995-96), in reading
class. We read through a passage with shocking
incidents. Unfortunately, I could not
find the source online. I only have my
memory of what I read. Among the
incidents, a high school football player was stripped naked and duct taped to a
wall for everyone to see. After the
hazing, he tried to approach the girl he asked to the prom, but she would only
acknowledge him with laughter. She
wanted nothing to do with him and did not go with him to the prom
afterall. Another scenario was in an
inner-city public school where a new member had to be “punched, kicked, and
bushed” to join a friendship circle. I
believe I remember the girl approved of her hazing because she endured what the
others had endured before. The article
went on to describe hazing in some African villages where a person is not
regarded as an adult if he or she does not go through the rite of passage. Rites of passage dated back to ancient Egypt
and it was circumcision. The teacher
spoke negatively of hazing and encouraged us to discuss the matter.
All of this happened half my life ago
and farther back, but my opinions remain unchanged.
My
Insight
Normally, when people meet and form
bonds of friendship, there is no test or need to prove one’s worth prior to
becoming friends. All that is needed is
kindness, listening, empathy, honesty, shared common interests, and time spent
together. Only a sick, pathetic human
being would demand that you let them punch you in the face in order to earn
their respect. There is no hazing for
true friendship or true love.
When students try out for sports teams,
they put effort into proving their abilities to the coach who decides they are
skilled enough. Making the team should
be enough. The point of being on the
team is to play the sport. Physical and
mental abuse is not part of the activity, so why should it be?
Fraternities and sororities are supposed
to be social organizations – not anti-social organizations. People tend to call them a second
family. The consenting victims are
probably homesick and feel vulnerable to ostracism, and the senior members take
advantage of that. People are supposed
to make friends and forge life long bonds, but those ties are based on
co-victimization that didn’t have to happen.
Hazing has nothing to do with the
purpose of the organization. I recently
read Michael Sandel’s Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do? My attitudes correspond to Aristotle’s
paradigm that fairness is determined by the purpose of an institution. In application of Aristotle’s view to the
topic of hazing, it is unfair to people who want to play the sport or other
endeavor, since the hazing ritual is completely unrelated to the activity that
is core to the team or organization. A
volleyball team is for playing volleyball.
Softball teams are created for playing softball. Fraternities are created literally for
brotherhood, and sororities for sisterhood, as the Greek derivation
conveys. Familial bonds are not supposed
to be hurtful. In further application of
Aristotle’s perspective, it would be fair for the next generation not to be
hazed, because hazing was never the purpose of joining the group. It was not fair that the previous generations
were hazed either because that was not the initial reason they joined the
group.
Since cruelty has nothing to do with
sports or healthy socializing, I believe hazing is unnecessary. They say it shows “team spirit” or “school
spirit.” Then that is an admission that
their “spirit” is defined by torture, humiliation, and verbal attacks. It makes the school look bad. It projects a negative image of how people
treat one another at the school.
How does devaluing human dignity lead to
team unity? In order to earn the respect
for the hazer, new members have to forfeit respect that they have for
themselves. In order to brainwash
yourself into consenting to hazing, you have to devalue yourself starting with
the idea not to take yourself so seriously.
You become less of an individual and more of a fraction of the
group. A team that attacks itself is
counterproductive to teamwork.
Furthermore, the individual has to compromise his/her sense of moral
integrity, given if the ritual requires the subject to commit a crime such as
theft, vandalism, etc.
Shared coping is a ludicrous
excuse. There have been survivors or
hurricanes, and little girls rescued from sexual slavery. They have shared coping based on genuine
tragedy. Real hardship is not
scheduled. Bad things happen to people,
but since the individuals have the option not to harm people, the subjection
does not have to happen.
Tradition is also a stupid excuse. Just because something is a tradition does
not automatically make it a virtue. Gang
initiations are a tradition to some people.
Ex. Killing a police officer is a
tradition in the Kings gang. Hazing is
also a crime. Why should crime be a
tradition? Committing a crime in the
name of tradition is still a crime.
That excuse allows a socially accepted
outlet for criminal and anti-social behavior.
Older members can experiment with sadism and a darker side of themselves
that they wouldn’t otherwise indulge.
The difference between a group of preppy, conservatively dressed
students tormenting and humiliating newbies and a BDSM club full of PVC clad
people who are considered “weird” by society – is that the latter group
practices consent. There is no safe word
in hazing rituals. Behind the
straight-laced visage, hazing agents have all the bindings, verbal attacks,
humiliation techniques, and psychological manipulation commonly found in a
dominatrix’s dungeon – complete with spankings and paddles, except a dominatrix
only takes consenting adults under a monetary transaction. The masochist buys pain with money. Hazing victims buy social acceptance with
pain. Pledges pay that plus money in the
Greek system. Social acceptance should
not come with a price. You should not
have to buy your friends.
It is debatable that the worst part of
hazing is mis-channeled vengeance.
Instead of getting revenge on the abusers, the previously hazed group
displaces their repressed anger on the next generation. They had been waiting four years to be in the
same position to take back the respect that was taken from them – by taking it
away from someone innocent. Those
pledges or rookies will then demand the same mental compensation for the
past. They will take it out on someone
new, while the past tormentors don’t fear any retribution. Instead of paying them back, the subjected
pay it forward – continuing the cycle of abuse.
©2015
Caroline Friehs
Originally
Posted: April 13, 2015
Last updated upon blog renovation completion.
References
Sandel, M. J (2009). Justice: What’s the
Right Thing to Do? Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. 18 West 18th
Street, New York, 10011. (Chapter 8).
(This
page has been removed. The following
resources support the incidents from this article.)
