Hazing is anathema to all the values and tenets of Greek-Letter Organizations. Yet, hazing is the stigma of GLOs. Would outlawing these organizations end hazing? I believe the answer is NO.
Are GLOs the only organizations in which hazing occurs? Hardly likely. Sports teams, bands, and the military have their share, as do other organizations. And it’s my opinion that Ph.D. committees and advisers have sent many a candidate chasing the elusive one more reference, fifty more pages, another revision, ad nauseam.
Waking at three last night, I did some light reading and stumbled across an article about America’s dominance in paper towel usage. This quote immediately attached itself to recent thoughts I had about hazing, “Perhaps the paper towel satisfies some deeper, uniquely American desire to be immediately rid of a problem, whatever the cost.” I’d been reading an argument that banning fraternities and sororities would end hazing once and for all.
Do I believe that? Not for a second. Currently, there are hundreds of inter/national GLOs whose existence depends on the behavior of their undergraduate members. These GLOs have prohibitions against hazing. Each time hazing occurs, the organization is tarnished and all the good done by its members is suddenly diminished. It hurts all of us who are members. So why is hazing still going on when there are laws and rules against it?
Group dynamics in these undergraduate organizations change as members come into and go out of membership. New members are initiated, older members graduate or leave. It’s a revolving door and the dynamics change at least once or twice a semester and maybe more often than that. And then there are all the variables of advisers, oversight by the international/organization, education about hazing, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera, not to mention the issue of alcohol and drug use among all college students, not just the ones belonging to GLOs.
Outlawing these organizations will merely drive the behavior underground. Local organizations will likely replace inter/national ones. An incident occurring in the rental house at the corner of Main and Green is likely to get less press coverage than one taking place in a large house bearing Greek letters, so maybe an incident wouldn’t get traction in the press. Closing every inter/national chapter and chapter house in North America is not going to make any problem disappear. Prohibition did not make alcohol use go away.
When done correctly, the experience of being a member of a Greek-Letter Organization can be a positive and productive one. I believe that wholeheartedly. But I also believe in “done correctly.” Chapters that have no clue about the GLO experience need to be educated or closed. Our future depends on it.
