Hazing has grabbed national attention again. This time, it is an undergraduate chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. on the campus of the University of Florida that is the center of the controversy.
The national chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha has issued a cease and desist order - preventing the undergraduate chapter from conducting official fraternity business and UF has temporarily suspended the chapter.
This all comes three months after the hazing death of Florida A & M University band member, Robert Champion, who was severely beaten.
The latest waves of hazing incidents that are plaguing college campuses across the nation is nothing new. Recall the hazing incident during "Hell Week" at Chico State University in February 2005 that resulted in the death of 21-year old Matthew Carrington. Gabriel Maestretti, who was charged with a felony in Carrington's death, testified: I did what I did out of a misguided sense of building brotherhood, and
instead I lost a brother. I will live with the consequences of hazing
for the rest of my life. My actions killed a
good person, and I will be a felon for the rest of my life, and I'll
have to live with that disability, but I'm alive and Matt's not (Korry, 2005).
In Carrington's case, his fellow brothers left him dying as he had a seizure and collapsed. They further failed to notify emergency personnel within a timely manner, which resulted in his death.
Do brothers subject one to such inhumane treatment that they are literally left breathless? Is that true brotherhood?
Colleges face an uphill challenge of eradicating this potentially deadly mentally. Fraternity and sorority members are considered "paper" if they join the organization by forgoing the process of being hazed. In some chapters, "paper" members are often distanced and are perceived as "not being made," or having subjected themselves to the ridicule of being slapped, punched, beaten or humiliated by their prophyte, who is an older "made" member.
On the Omicron Xi chapter's website of Phi Beta Sigma, the writer gives pros and cons of a "paper" member versus a "real" or made member. The writer distinguishes the positives of being "made" as: establishes a brotherly/sisterly
bond amongst line pledges, initiates learn history of the
fraternity or sorority from a perspective other than books; a
written
test, and pledge lines work together as
one entity instead of on an individual basis. The writer continues by listing the negatives as: wood, the obvious destruction of your
cumulative grade point average, and being on call at all hours of
the night (24/7).
Hazing definitely has been on the forefront of college administrator's minds. The problem is that the culture of hazing is deeply engraved as the proper process of gaining entrance into a sorority, fraternity or band that the likelihood of eliminating this altogether is not possible. What administrators can do is levy stiff punishments against organizations that are found negligent with contributing to acts of hazings, completely ban fraternities and sororities at the undergraduate level or implementing campus-wide initiatives on recognizing, refraining from and reporting hazing incidents.
