Initiation or Incarceration: Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities
Initiation or Incarceration: Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities
Frat boys and sorority girls, what do they do for society? They party all weekend, every weekend. None of them care about academics. They are elitist and snobby. They violate noise ordinances. They do not serve the community. They couldn’t possibly hold any value as individuals in our society, right? Wrong. Many people think of those who belong to the Greek system as the rich, preppy Caucasian students who get drunk and party on a day-to-day basis; these among other stereotypes have, in essence, erased even the thought of belonging to a sorority or fraternity from the minds of countless students. While in actuality, Greeks are the students who do the best in classes, the people who are always seen doing charity work, they have strict rules to follow on and off campus, and while they might be slightly selective with the people the associate with it’s only because they wouldn’t want to be involved in something dangerous or looked down upon. Because, while people may only see the bad in Greeks, they want to be the best person they could possibly be, which is in essence why they joined a sorority or fraternity. But of course, as with every stereotype, there is some truth to the ones against Greek life. Like social events and of course, the taboo of any college campus’ Greek Row, hazing. But, what is hazing? What does it entail? Who does it? What are the consequences? Are there laws? Let’s find out.
Hazing, by definition, is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group. In fraternities and sororities, individuals go through a phase where they are only pledges for the organization and not fully fledged members. For fraternities, this is a time where the pledges must prove themselves to the brothers, and let them know why they would be a good addition to the brotherhood. It is during
Frat boys and sorority girls, what do they do for society? They party all weekend, every weekend. None of them care about academics. They are elitist and snobby. They violate noise ordinances. They do not serve the community. They couldn’t possibly hold any value as individuals in our society, right? Wrong. Many people think of those who belong to the Greek system as the rich, preppy Caucasian students who get drunk and party on a day-to-day basis; these among other stereotypes have, in essence, erased even the thought of belonging to a sorority or fraternity from the minds of countless students. While in actuality, Greeks are the students who do the best in classes, the people who are always seen doing charity work, they have strict rules to follow on and off campus, and while they might be slightly selective with the people the associate with it’s only because they wouldn’t want to be involved in something dangerous or looked down upon. Because, while people may only see the bad in Greeks, they want to be the best person they could possibly be, which is in essence why they joined a sorority or fraternity. But of course, as with every stereotype, there is some truth to the ones against Greek life. Like social events and of course, the taboo of any college campus’ Greek Row, hazing. But, what is hazing? What does it entail? Who does it? What are the consequences? Are there laws? Let’s find out.
Hazing, by definition, is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group. In fraternities and sororities, individuals go through a phase where they are only pledges for the organization and not fully fledged members. For fraternities, this is a time where the pledges must prove themselves to the brothers, and let them know why they would be a good addition to the brotherhood. It is during