By
Cory Spiller
Last week a state Senate committee voted down a bill that would have made hazing at an educational institution a class six felony.
And they should have. The students at this university are already punished for alcohol and marijuana offenses. We do not need to put kids in jail for paddling each other or forcing freshman to eat cat food and run down the mall in their skivvies.
That does not mean that hazing should not be controlled. Our university has a policy against hazing and a system to deal with offenses.
Hazing has been defined in many ways by many people. Some simply state that it refers to any activity that fraternity pledges are asked exclusively to do. Now that's a tad broad. During the two weeks that I pledged the pre-law fraternity, before they kicked me out, I had to take a test that the actives didn't. Should that have counted as hazing? No, it shouldn't.
The Greeks have their own definition of hazing, and it's a good one. Too bad they don't seem to use it. The Interfraternity Council "refuses to tolerate hazing in any form." That includes requiring members to consume alcohol, forcing any type of physical activity or any form of morally degrading or humiliating games upon its members. The IFC's judicial board, a group of elected Greek affiliates, is supposed to deal with hazing problems on campus. They haven't dealt with a single one.
Ken Tierney, IFC vice president of public relations said the judicial board will take action only if the problem becomes public knowledge. Otherwise, the problem is addressed within the fraternity. He considers this satisfactory. To reiterate, individuals are being hazed by their fraternity, and the fraternity is expected to deal with the problem internally.
That makes no sense. You're expected to tell the guy flogging you that you feel that this activity might be considered hazing, and the fraternity should form a committee to discuss this topic.
Our student code of conduct also has a definition of hazing, defined as "potentially dangerous or hazardous circumstances or activities which have a foreseeable potential for resulting in personal injury, or any activity which by its nature may have a potential to cause mental distress, panic, human degradation or embarrassment." That's a good one too.
So, if hazing is mentioned in the student code of conduct, along with underage drinking, then we should assume that it is a problem, and that it's being handled. The dean hits students hard on drinking. It seems that every other student on campus has been to a diversion program.
I went, it sucked.
I was told not to yawn. I yawned.
But hazing is not being dealt with by the dean of students. The only hazing case the office has received this year was the Kappa Sigma case last semester where pledges went on a scavenger hunt. That is it. When an official within the dean's office admitted to me that they've only handled one case this year, I yawned.
So if the dean of students and IFC's judicial board doesn't receive any cases, are we to assume that hazing doesn't happen? No, it happens. We know because we hear about it around campus, we have seen our roommates stumble in after nights of heavy drinking and occasionally we hear of extreme cases that have involved serious harm or death.
The dean's office doesn't receive the cases, not because they don't want them, but because they don't get them. The judicial board doesn't get the cases because the entire premise of a peer enforced Greek system is absurd.
Why would a victim of Greek hazing want to go to other Greeks to confide? They would be labeled as rats.
The Arizona Senate did the right thing when they voted down Senate bill 1096. Hazing should be controlled by the university, not the state government.
But the university is not dealing with it. The Greek judicial board should be disbanded. Even if a student had the guts to go to them, the case would be given to the dean's office if it was at all significant.
There is an institution of intimidation that pervades the Greek system. It keeps those that would otherwise speak up quiet and submissive.
For an organization that is known for their machismo and aggressiveness, it's interesting that many of its members are unable to find the courage to step forward.
