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Fraternal Hazing
Written by: Kenneth-Michael
Jack Robinson*, 22, remembers a sheet being thrown over his head as a part of the pre-pledging stage of a fraternity. He was a sophomore at Towson University when he tried pledging. The act of pledging is illegal because it usually results in hazing practices. “My friends were interested in joining, so we were going to do it together,” Robinson said. This was one of the very few fraternities on the campus that gained his interest.
Robinson says that he sat blindfolded for about five minutes. When the cover was removed, Robinson was in a dark room with a half dozen flashlights shining in his face. There, he was interrogated for 15 minutes by the six figures behind the flashlights. “I don’t remember exactly the questions that they asked, but they were random,” Robinson said.
He says that while he was questioned, a large dog continuously circled him and sniffed at his body. “I was terrified because I don’t like dogs.” After the interrogation process, he was thrown into a bathroom with the dog.
Later, he was escorted out of that bathroom and told to entertain the crowd by singing and dancing to random songs. When his instructors couldn’t give a solid response as to why they were demeaning him and the purpose of these practices, he says that’s when he decided to leave. “So, I didn’t go any further with the pledging process,” Robinson said.
Robinson experienced what many people have when they attempted to pledge to a fraternity: fraternal hazing.
“At one point in time, hazing wasn’t illegal. The problem came when you have people who don’t know how to do things in accordance to rules or guidelines…”
The term “hazing” has been defined as an activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate. Hazing can be associated with athletic teams, academic organizations or clubs, cults, and the military, but is prevalent in fraternity/sorority settings.
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Hazing practices typically include consuming large amounts of alcohol, lack of sleep, being isolated and/or non-communicating with family and friends or receiving wood (being struck with a wooden paddle).
In recent years, several states have enforced anti-hazing laws because of the numerous deaths associated. These laws protect students and persons from the effects of hazing. If found guilty of hazing, a student or person can be jailed, fined, and/or lose scholarships or loans.
California was one of the first states to enforced anti-hazing laws after the death of student Matthew Carrington in 2005. Carrington suffered cardiac arrest after being put through rigorous hazing practices. California hazing fines stretch in a minimum of $50, but don’t exceed $5,000. Also, the law turns hazing charges from misdemeanor offenses to felonies.
In Maryland, a defendant isn’t allowed to use the implied consent of the victims as a defense. Hazing in Maryland can result in misdemeanor charges and/or fines not exceeding $500. Also, a guilty conviction can lead to a prison term not exceeding six months.
There are half a dozen states that don’t enforce anti-hazing laws: Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Wyoming.
Reynard Daniels* views that hazing process differently. Daniels pledged frat in 2003 during his junior year at Morgan State University. He says it was the overall meaning associated with fraternal organizations like brotherhood and the aspect of giving back to the community that attracted him.
The term “hazing” has been defined as an activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate. Hazing can be associated with athletic teams, academic organizations or clubs, cults, and the military, but is prevalent in fraternity/sorority settings.
For Daniels, the intake process (pledging) was different. “In the intake process, you learn about the history of the chapter and the organization, along with anything that was happening at that time,” Daniels said. Since most Greek-letter organizations are actual corporations, Daniels says he learned how to conduct business meetings, draft proposals, and manage finances.
He says that hazing goes beyond fraternities and, oftentimes, hazing gives fraternal organizations a bad rap. “At one point in time, hazing wasn’t illegal. The problem came when you have people who don’t know how to do things in accordance to rules or guidelines,” Daniels said.
He compares the practices associated with fraternities to the rigorous exercises a football coach might put a player through. “You have a football team coach that is yelling at the players, making them do pushups, weights to lift, water to drink, and putting them through a rigorous process to try to train them for something. But, yet that is not frowned upon,” Daniels said.
And the stories in the past dealing with fraternities and hazing, Daniels says are the same as the practices exercised in a traditional family. “You had to grow up and learn things and if you disrespected your mother or your aunt, then you got reprimanded,” Daniels said.
“If I understand the purpose of something, then I don’t see a problem with it regardless of what it is.”
*Note: To protect the identity of the personal sources and the fraternities, aliases were used.
