Why Hazing Is Wrong

Individual Final Project: Hazing Hazing is simply defined as, “The imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation.” From that definition we see no correlation to success, brotherhood, sense of belonging, and many other positive connotations that come with rushing a fraternity. Someone from outside the “Greek world” would read that definition and immediately assume a negative connotation that it has with fraternities, and they are completely right. The list of reasons why hazing is not necessary in a fraternity clearly outranks those benefits that can possibly arise from it. Hazing can often lead to injuries and deaths, problems with the chapter and university, and weaken

These houses can cost upwards of millions of dollars and donors pay for the majority of it. When hazing scandals and alcohol related events come back and hurt the house, donors do not want to continue paying the rent and construction going on to the house. Our house, alone, this summer spent over 100,000 dollars on renovations. If the alumni were to be informed of an event involving hazing, they could discontinue their payments to the house. This is not just my house, but most chapter houses in the nation. When their hard earned money is being put to risk, they no longer feel the need to continue paying. Not only do alumni no longer want to continue paying, but huge fines can total up because of injuries and deaths caused by hazing. A clear example of this harm occurred at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at Linfield College. “According to the lawsuit, ‘as part of a required pledge party to initiate students into full fraternity membership, the defendant had to drink alcohol, forced to run through college’s campus naked, and retrieve illegal fireworks…The firework failed to go up and struck Mr. Johansen in the eye.”This incident ended up costing the chapter house and fraternity 8 million dollars in a lawsuit. The chapter had to shut down because it could no longer afford to pay for the house. If they had decided to go a different route instead of hazing, their chapter house

The first alternative is brotherhood events. These events do not include alcohol and gives everyone a chance to meet each other and bond. This can include flag football games as a chapter, or hiking a mountain together. This gives people time to integrate into the fraternity instead of being paddled with one another. These memories will last much longer than going through the rigorous process of hazing. The next alternative is mandatory study hours for pledges. At Phi Delta Theta we are required to go to 15 hours of study hours a week. This promotes academic success and is still mandatory. We see higher GPA’s when this is implemented and gives the active chapter a form of power. If they do not go and complete the requirements, then they will not initiate. This is a much better practice to hold pledges accountable. The final alternative is daily chores. These chores will help benefit the house and make it nicer in general, yet is not an extreme task for someone to do. You can set up schedules for pledges to clean, which promotes time management, as long as it is a safe environment and not being physically forced. Hazing does not have to come in the shape of physical and mental harm, but strengthening a pledge class through a structured process that is proven to be successful, is a stronger