The nature of pledging has never been particularly immune to liability — in fact, fraternities have been well-known to incur insurance premiums higher than toxic waste management companies — but with the recent whistle-blowing scandal from Dartmouth College’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter, and other nation-wide controversies, including right here in Binghamton, it is hard to imagine how Greek Life will recover.
It seems fitting that the center of this debate would take place at a college where women were refused admission until 1972. Dartmouth is infamous for its sense of entitlement and resistance toward movements for social progress, both of which bode poorly for its immediate reputation and prospective incoming classes.
Andrew Lohse was a true bro on campus before breaking the time-honored code of silence. His opinion column for “The Dartmouth” recounted personal experiences of “pervasive hazing, substance abuse and sexual assault culture that dominate campus,” which seem both outrageous and strangely familiar to those up-to-date with college social life.
In order to become a brother, pledges were asked to “swim in a kiddie pool full of vomit, urine, fecal matter, semen and rotten food products; eat omelets made of vomit … and vomit on other pledges, among other abuses.” In Lohse’s ensuing Rolling Stone feature, a scene was described of pledges crawling into a dog crate before being vomited on.
By the end of pledging, Lohse claimed he had vomited so much that most of the enamel on his teeth burned away. And these are just the vomit stories.
Toxic drinking and lethal alcohol poisoning have been on the rise for decades, but only in the past few years have reactions from administrators, politicians and parents become so urgent. While various prevention and medical amnesty programs have shown empirically positive results, many in the anti-hazing campaign have demanded pledging to be permanently shut down.
One notable example comes from the SAE chapter at Cornell University, where a sophomore died last year in a mock kidnapping. The resulting $25 million lawsuit led Cornell President David J. Skorton to publicly denounce pledging and the fraternity system as an embarrassment to academic integrity.
He conceded that fraternities and sororities serve a purpose and should not be banned outright, but has also severely cracked down on much of the campus’ nightlife. He continues to propose pledging alternatives which include “socially productive, enjoyable and memorable” experiences. Yet it seems highly unreasonable and far less entertaining to suggest these “positive solutions” should replace, rather than reform, the current Greek system.
It’s not a question if hazing will go out of style, it’s a matter of how long it will take the current laws to be enforced. Hazing is a punishable crime in 44 states, and legislation such as The National Hazing Prevention Act has already been introduced on the federal level.
Each fraternity has its separate mission and initiation program, but what does it matter if the end result isn’t brotherhood? Do friends give other friends concussions? Do bonds last because you’ve been vomited on or vomited on someone else or bathed in someone else’s filth?
As exclaimed by one of Lohse’s former brothers, “I ate the vomlet! [omelet made from vomit] I made other pledges eat it! That’s brotherhood!” No it’s not, that’s just a rationalization from confusion.
As Lohse’s opinion supports, “One of the things I’ve learned at Dartmouth is that good people can do awful things to one another for absolutely no reason.” He understands the vicious cycle of malicious intent — and let’s not forget the stories at Binghamton University are far from vindicated. It seems like the genuinely fun-loving, but harmless fraternities are slowly dying out with an absence of basic human decency, respect or charm.
May I suggest mutually beneficial experiences that aren’t designed with the sole purpose of turning binge drinking into a weapon? To be fair, this is much easier said than done. But how much common sense does it take to second-guess the value of fostering drug dependence, eating cum cookies or throwing kids down stairs and out of moving cars? Does that prove loyalty or stupidity?
Despite the massive overhaul that waits, I think an open dialogue with students would really be the best course of action. No amount of legal action or bad publicity can eliminate recklessness, and people with closed minds simply won’t change.
The answer isn’t to shut down fraternity life or to let it continue without restraint. Brothers just need to realize that pledging isn’t an excuse to treat others with total disregard.