<p>"Nine men have been indicted in a fraternity hazing case on charges that they beat two Youngstown State University pledges to the point that they wound up hospitalized.</p>
<p>A Youngstown State sophomore, Breylon Stubbs, 22, told a judge last month that he and a friend, Resean Yancey, 20, were beaten during off-campus rituals for the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in January and February. Pledges were beaten with fists, a paddle and a wire clothes hanger, Stubbs said." ...</p>
<p>Parents, have you heard any reports of excessive frat or sorority hazing from your children or friends?</p>
<p>*The nine men, **most of them former students, **were indicted Thursday by a Mahoning County grand jury on two counts each of felonious assault. The defendants were released on bond, The Vindicator newspaper of Youngstown reported.</p>
<p>No attorneys were listed Friday for the defendants: Michael Charles, 28, Jason Anderson, 27, Jairus Ford, 32, Jerome Justice, 28, Lavell Sharp, 25, Trey McCune, 21, Wade Hampton, 24, Edward Robertson, 28, and Raheem Satterthwaite, 22.</p>
<p>The university suspended the fraternity for 15 years for the hazing. The school’s Student Judicial Board, which includes professors, administrators and students, also imposed a 10-year probation period after the suspension.*</p>
<p>What the heck? Most were former students? Alums are supposed to make sure that things don’t go “too far”. They aren’t supposed to be the ringleaders!</p>
<p>The fact that most of the suspects are well into adulthood is just appalling. Why would these grown men think that an initiation gives them a “hall pass” for assault?</p>
<p>Considering the school’s response, I wonder if this frat had had previous issues.</p>
<p>Kappa Alpha Psi is a leading black fraternity, and the organization has taken great steps to eliminate hazing, including making major changes to the intake process. I hate to see this violence, particularly since it mirrors the repeated acts of violence found in historically black college bands, etc. but not all KA Psi chapters pull this kind of hazing, nor do the majority of the GLOs</p>
<p>I will still argue that GLOs offer much more to the world than the stupid things some of the members do, but I don’t believe in outright banning. Groups that suspend the organziations are not immediately invited back to campus after 4-5 years at the majority of the schools. It takes a strong commitment from the alumni and the will of the national organization. The reason that they stay off campus fo 4 years is to get the people involved off campus and to be able to start fresh with young people who are willing to try to uphold the values of the organization. </p>
<p>Xiggi, you talk about zero tolerance, but GLOs consider scavenger hunts as hazing, as well as pledges beign sober brothers/sisters, etc. Should everyone be kicked off campus if one id is caught with a joint in his room? If there is underage drinking at a party, should the entire organization be kicked off campus? Would you want the same treatment to apply to coops, learning/living facilities, eating clubs? I thought we all agreed on another threead that zero tolerance policies of any kind take away administrators responsibilities and reason. Would you kick a basketball team or a band off campus forever if they were caught hazing?</p>
<p>Here is a gret study about hazing that shows that it is not just a social fraternity issue. We need to help change campus culture. It can’t be fixed overnight, just like underage drinking or cheating.</p>
<p>Mizzbee, whatever schools have done is not working. Permanent bans might finally get the attention of the morons who are permitted to masquerade as leaders. If it takes the death of half the fraternities in the country to stop the criminal activities by those organizations, so be it. </p>
<p>I agree that GLO’s are more than you hear about in the media, but right now I hope my kids will wait to go with a grad chapter. I’ve done both ( AND a marching band at an HBCU), and grad chapter is a much different, and extremely rewarding experience. </p>
<p>OTOH, at the grad level, you can be harshly penalized if you let an interested person wash a dish.</p>
<p>Then kick off varsity athletics and bands, Xiggi. We just had 4 deaths at FAMU, and that school has had repeated acts of violence. Most varsity athletic teams have had hazing incidents as well. </p>
<p>I don’t condone hazing, I work actively as an alumna to prevent it in my GLO and have raised my kid to draw the line when he goes to school next year. The stuff that happens on a daily basis now is nothing like it was 20 years ago on most of the campuses. Greek enrollment is rising again, and this generation doesn’t seem to take the childish acts of hazing as normal behavior anymore. You don’t realize that things are actually getting better with strict national involvement especially because the hazing from the past wasn’t reported. Groups that have put in strict anti-drinking policies have also experience fewer reports of hazing. It won’t happen overnight. Yes, there needs to be pressure put on the national organizations and the individual schools need to stop turning a blind eye to incidents. I just hate when people paint a brush on the entire Greek community, or picture all hazing as the same. If the consequence for a minor infraction is permanent removal from campus, the hazing will just go deeper underground. As it is, more GLO members feel comfortable bringing lapse behavior to the attention of advisors, and more groups feel comfrtable seeking help to break the cycle of hazing.</p>
<p>It’s all nonsense and it should be dealt with swiftly. As Xiggi said, apparently some fraternity/sorority supporters still muddy the waters by pointing to bad behavior elsewhere. No more excuses when limbs and minds are being broken.</p>
<p>The “study” is of four post-secondary institutions in the northeast, hardly the world center of fraternity hazing. </p>
<p>The alcohol, drug, and sexual assault data at fraternities and sororities I have seen in the past five years suggest that things are actually worse than 20-30 years ago. (But I don;t know about hazing.)</p>
<p>(Drinking is so much lower among African-American students at colleges and universities that it wouldn’t at all surprise me if AA fraternites and sororities are unrepresentative.)</p>
<p>Mizzbee, read my post 5 again to see I did not singled out specific groups. Diffusing the issue by pointing the finger at different groups is not helpful. It really makes no difference as EVERY organization should be dealt with in the same manner. However, you cannot rewrite history, and as much as you might dislike it the raison d’</p>
<p>A 22 year old sophomore? Alumni hazing? This all sounds a little ripped from the script of Old School, with Will Ferrell. While I might agree that there are certain rights of passage in life, hazing isn’t one of them. Not all initiations should be painful, dangerous and certainly never even come close to landing you in a hospital. But if you are going to have a zero tolerance policy, you had better be very very clear about what constitutes hazing. At some schools simply having conversations about subjects that leave a pledge feeling uncomfortable is considered hazing.</p>
<p>I agree with Xiggi, but I don’t think anyone in college administrations is going to grow a spine anytime soon. They don’t want to anger alumni and potentially jeopardize alumni donations.</p>
<p>At the VERY least, offending fraternities should lose the right to have a pledging system permanently. What I am proposing is that frats should have to give new members full membership immediately after a bid is accepted. MIT has one fraternity like that, and I don’t see any drawbacks. </p>
<p>Part of the problem is that people do not understand that a key component of hazing is a relationship of a subordinate with a superior.</p>
<p>“We believe in justice for all and equality.” I think that attempting to ban an entire organization for the action of one would be an injustice to the millions of people that are part of these organizations. I think that zero tolerance policies do not all administrators or national orgs the chance for redemption. </p>
<p>This week I was talking to a group of alumni from a campus that experienced an alcohol- related death on campus 4 years earlier. This group is willing to do whatever it takes for their organization to get a second chance. They are pledging close to $1 million in upfront money and willing to spend countless hours working with propective members to recolonize. They want to be willing to have another chance. I can’t condemn anyone to a life with no possibility, whether it would be the death penalty, permanent deprtation or an organization’s existence.</p>
<p>Mizzbee, they had plenty of second chances. Dozens of them. </p>
<p>All that is asked of the organization is to clean house and stop acting like degenerates. After the fact promises and contrition are hollow. The reality is that a number of organization simply cannot control their members.</p>