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October 31, 2018 at 1:49 am #449

Jacob Hakimi
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Should Fraternities Be Existent While Hazing Remains A Key Factor In The Process?
Since 2005, there have been more than 60 hazing related deaths and over 20,000 hazing related injuries (College). Hazing is a ritual in which harassment, abuse, forceful consumption of alcohol and drugs, and torture are used to initiate a person into a group (“Learners Dictionary”). Hazing is a standard expectation especially when joining a college fraternity or sorority. One’s initiation usually subjects him/her to physical abuse; even though, that physical abuse is a felony in most states. Although some blame the pledgees for voluntarily putting themselves at risk for detrimental harm, schools’ administrations need to issue stricter consequences such as suspension and potential expulsion for hazing in order to stop abuse and save lives. 
Research and empirical evidence indicates an influx of hazing on college campuses which is simply unacceptable. Research conducted by Cornell University in 2003 reported that only 17% of college students across the country experienced hazing (“Cornell Research”). The 17% who said to have been hazed also stated that it was not worth it and the abuse had everlasting mental effects; moreover, those same people said that hazing must come to an end and that it is a sad excuse to harm others. On a darker note, research conducted by University of Maine in 2008 recorded troubling statistics. Their research had shown 55% of students claiming to have been hazed (“Maine Research on Hazing”). Although there is the factor of chance, the Maine Research shows a drastic increase in the amount of students saying they have been hazed. There is more than a 300% increase in the number of students that have been hazed in just 5 years: overall averaging about a 60% increase per year. The drastic increase is saddening because numerous laws have been put into effect, yet there is still an upward spiral of the popularity of hazing. Hazing must begin heading in the opposite direction. Colleges do not take strong enough of stand against hazing – they literally allow it to take place on their front lawn. The increase in hazing is simply due to the fact that some colleges have given up on the war of hazing and believe that hazing will never end. Yet, the colleges that have given up had the slimmest hazing consequences. The recent reports of the treatment of pledgees is terrifying. Those initiating the pledgees have taken hazing to a whole new level; it has gone from silly playful pranks to daily life threatening abuse. Whether it is forcefully making a person consume alcohol until they are almost unconscious then throwing them onto the side of a road to stapling one’s earlobe, the amount of precarious abuse has skyrocketed in the past decade (“Nightmarish Hazing”). The level of abuse has gone from “take one shot” to “take shots until you drop.” Most colleges have banned hazing, but they need to support their ban with consequences. 
Colleges have taken a step in the right direction to stop hazing. Most colleges have banned hazing in the past few years; however, hazing is still a recurring problem and threats need to be issued by colleges to those who haze. Colleges began to take action and kick fraternities and sororities off campus for hazing. The Hazing Prevention Coalition, otherwise known as the HPC, has been hosting rallies on numerous college campuses to stop hazing (“Hazing Prevention Resources”). These rallies demand administration to further eliminate hazing by issuing stronger threats. More colleges need to follow in the footsteps of St. John’s 
College. At St. John’s College, 21 students were kicked out and 12 others were basically expelled in that they did not sign up for classes again because they knew they would be expelled as well (Kingkade). Those 33 students were expelled for putting one teenager in a hospital; however, students are put in hospitals on a daily basis because of hazing, yet very little action is taken. St. John’s College set a precedent for every college in America by showing them what to do if they discover hazing on campus. Nearly 34% of colleges cite expulsion/suspension the consequence for hazers. However, 100% of colleges need to deem hazing punishable by expulsion. 
United States courts began to punish acts of hazing much more heavily. 44 out of the 50 states have anti hazing laws set in place so that hazers can be prosecuted in court ( ”Anti-Hazing Laws.” ) . A Florida A&M University band member was sentenced to more than six years in prison for coordinating the hazing that killed Robert Champion Jr. Dante Martin was found guilty of manslaughter and felony hazing. He was sentenced to 77 months in jail ( ”Florida FAMU Hazing.”) . He was an example to show that courts will not tolerating hazing. This was the start to the new beginning of anti-hazing in courts. Sentencing that one student to over 6 years in prison instilled fear in millions of college students across America. An anonymous source on College Confidential said that his hazers began to ease off and were much less abusive after the sentencing appeared on the television in their fraternity house. The legal system is finally taking action. More could be done though. More must be done. Those committing acts of hazing that do not result in death but result in physical injury still need to be punished and police need to start enforcing it. The legal system is one of the most valuable assets to stop abuse. 
Even though the courts and colleges have taken a step in the right direction, often college administrators’ actions result in setbacks because they do not attend to the seriousness of certain hazing incidents. Major controversy took place at Dartmouth College. The administration was well aware of the torturous hazing that was taking place at Dartmouth but did not thoroughly investigate it (Trotter). Nevertheless, a hazed student approached administrators at Dartmouth and had numerous conversations with them That student even wrote an article for the school paper telling his terrifying stories, but the article was not published simply because it would have wreaked havoc upon the school’s reputation. The student then handed the vice president of the school, Dr. Kim, physical evidence of the detrimental hazing. The administration did not have the courage to do anything about it. This story was publicized all across newspapers in America and was as an outrage to anti hazing activists. 
The reality of the matter is that the courts and college administration can help slow down hazing, but it is up to the students to truly stop it. “If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.” This adage is in direct alignment with hazing. If you see something, say something ( ”Making a Change”) . People need to talk to friends to help stop hazing. People need to talk to teachers to stop hazing. People need to talk to anybody who will listen because everyday too many suffer. 
Students are the root problem of hazing because they are the ones doing it. The real problem is trying to understand why hazing takes places and what could possibly make one believe they have the right to physically and mentally abuse another human. Many claim the reason one hazes is to carry on tradition and bring about unity; however, that is just a bogus excuse to make oneself feel superior to others. Hazing is similar to how an elementary school playground works: the older kids all sit on the swing sets and mark that as their territory. When a younger kid tries to come and play on the swings, he gets beat up; that younger kid gets beat up until the older kids learn to love him. After they realize they like him, they let him play on the swings. 
Hazing is an immature act by insecure people with a dire need to feel superior. It is disgraceful that hazing takes place everyday all across the country. Some like to refer to America a the “The greatest country in the world,” but is America that great if it lets its citizens who are just teenagers get deleteriously hazed every single day? Americans need to prove true to the virtuous American standards and declare hazing a thing of the past. 
Even though the pledgees are putting themselves in harm’s way, all college administrations must declare stern anti hazing policies and state that any sort of hazing is immediately punished by suspension. The solution to stopping hazing is simple. It is a 3 step process. Step 1: The federal government must issue a law which proclaims any student in the country found hazing must be suspended by their college/institution. Step 2: A hazing prevention course must be taken by all members of fraternities/sororities and any group that 
could potentially haze. Step 3: Each semester every college must have a hazing assembly which will explain how hazing is illegal, why it should not be done, and that the college will have no relent when issuing suspensions for hazing. Nobody in their right mind would jeopardize their education and freedom for some immature games. Colleges need to “put their foot down” and put an end to hazing once and for all. 
 Works Cited
”Anti-Hazing Laws.” StopHazing . N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2018. < http://www.stophazing.org/ university-college-policies/states-with-anti-hazing-laws/ >. “Bills and Laws.” General Laws . N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2018. 
https://malegislature.gov/laws/generallaws/partiv/titlei/chapter269/section17>. College, Melanie Dostis. “Hazing Embedded in College Culture?” USA Today . Gannett, 21 
 Nov.2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2018.
“Florida FAMU Hazing.” CNN . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2018. < http://www.cnn.com/ 2018/01/12/us/florida-famu-hazing/>.
“Hazing Prevention Resources.” Arizona.edu . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2018. http:// greek.arizona.edu/current/hazing-prevention-resources>.
Kingkade, Tyler. “Sydney St. John’s Students Kicked Out For Hazing.” The Huffington Post . 
”Making a Change.” Stop Hazing . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2018. <http://www.stophazing.org/ making-a-change. 
Trotter, J.K. “The Fraternity Hazing Shitstorm Brewing at Dartmouth Is Going to
Be Epic.” Ivy Gate Blog . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2018.


November 4, 2018 at 5:57 pm #462

Jesse Rice-Evans (she/they)
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Hey Jacob!

It’s super hard to read this piece because of all the markup that got smashed into it. Can you send me a .docx file instead? jessericeevans@gmail.com please!
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