1993 Volume 116 No 1–4 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

knew was wrong. He remains my
close friend to this day.
I remember my experiences in my
chapter when I was an undergraduate.
I was hazed. Almost nightly at
dinner at the fraternity house, my
feUow Phikeias and I were forced to
pour iced tea down the front of our
pants. We were forced to perform the
fraditional oUve races. And we were
paddled.
Later, after I was initiated, I
hazed. I made my friends do calisthenics
with wads of tobacco in their
mouths. I fought with a good friend
one night, because I had made him
eat off the floor.
My attitudes toward hazing
changed when I saw my best friend
being hazed by the worst active in
the chapter. After that night, we
stopped having a "hell night."
My negative feelings about hazing
were reinforced when I began work
in student affairs. Since working in
this job, I have visited pledges in the
hospital who have been hazed to the
point that they suffered from "post
fraumatic stress syndrome," commonly
seen in rape victims. A good
friend of mine buried her son after he
drank himself to death during a
hazing activity. It amazes me how
many lives are affected by this
useless and harmful tradition.
Despite the fact that every
fraternity and sorority has
passed policies forbidding
hazing, the practice continues. Greek
regulation against hazing started in
the early 1900s, and most states now
have laws prohibiting hazing. Some
speculate that a majority of our
chapters hold some sort of hazing
activity despite the rules and
continued education against it.
In the past two months alone,
there have been several disciplinary
incidents involving hazing in
chapters of Phi Delta Theta. These
incidents range from harmless but
idiotic to cruel and inhumane. In one
recent incident, Phikeias were forced
to drink alcohol, eat chili, mayonnaise,
and dog biscuits, do pushups,
line up and receive verbal and
physical abuse from the actives, and
subjected to sleep deprivation during
a traditional "hell week."
"I have seen some pretty ridiculous
things since I've worked for
General Headquarters," said Abe
Cross, the Fraternity's director of
chapter services. "1 think hazing
continues despite our best efforts to
curb it, because there is a lack of
understanding of what hazing is."
Many young coUege men beUeve
that hazing is a tradition. When they
pledge they expect the stereotypes
they have of fraternities to be true.
Many active members are not
creative or compassionate enough to
prove this new generation of fraternity
men wrong. Since they themselves
were hazed, the actives feel
that the new pledges deserve the
same punishment. Many psychologists
have told me that this cycle of
hazing is similar to domestic abuse
where the abused eventually become
the abusers.
Amazingly, some chapters that
haze really believe that their activities
do not qualify as hazing. Some anger
and accusations have been directed at
General Headquarters from chapters
that believe that the definition of
hazing is too ambiguous.
"As a practical matter it is
virtually impossible to Ust every
activity that qualifies as hazing," says
Cross. "You need to take a very
phUosophical approach and ask
'What is the purpose of this activity
How does it make a Phikeia a better
brother'"
Many chapters justify hazing by
saying that there must be some
hurtle, some chaUenge, some obstacle
that pledges n\ust overcome to
"earn" initiation. Instead of creating
educational obstacles that support
and encourage the Phikeias, hazing
chapters create barriers, confusing
demands, and mental games that are
designed to discourage Phikeias from
succeeding.
"In their view it is a rite of
passage," says Cross. "We need to
get face to face with our members
and talk about it. We need dialogue
to come to any understanding of the
problem and its solution."
To eUminate hazing a chapter
must first come to a phUosophical
agreement regarding the purpose of
the pledge program. Is the purpose to
subjugate the pledges and make them
servants to clean the house, run
errands, and fear the actives Or is
the purpose to create an environment
where the Phikeias learn about the
Fratemity so that they become the
next generation of chapter and
campus leaders
"Chapters have to realize that they
are in the business of creating men
who wUl later be the leaders of the
chapter," says Cross. "You don't
want an angry, humiUated member
rurming your chapter. You should
want someone who's capable, loyal,
and confident."
Perhaps this is the most compelling
argument against hazing in all its
forms. Hazing doesn't make good
pledges, it makes terrible members.
Rick and his family came to visit
me not long ago. He is doing
very well in his consulting
company. Since the hazing incident.
Rick and I have rarely spoken about
his fraternity. The investigating team
guaranteed Rick's anonymity, and he
and I agreed not to discuss the
incident after the investigation.
During his visit, we talked about
his job and his two young sons. He
told me that he had taken them by
the chapter house.
"We visited the house, and I
showed them my room," he said. "1
told them how tough it was being
president of the chapter. I can't wait
for them to get to college and pledge.
The chapter is so much better since
my day."
I knew he felt proud that he had
played a big part in making a
positive change in the chapter. Seeing
him reinforced my belief that we had
done the right thing, and it made me
feel better knowing he still believed
in the value of the Greek system.
1 wondered about Lee, though.
Did he have children Did he want
them to join a fratemity when they
went to college Did he stiU have
faith in the Greek system I wondered
if he retained any sense of
loyalty to his fraternity or to the
University after what had been done
to him. Hazing can make terrible
alumni too. g
The Author: Thomas "Sparky" Reardon,
Mississippi '72, is the assistant dean of
students at the University of IVlississippi.
He has been a faculty member at five
Leadership Colleges. He recently won
Kappa Alpha National Fraternity's
Interfraternal Accolade, as well as
"Adviser of the Year" from the Southeastern
Interfratemity Conference.
Spring 1993 * TheScroU 55