Hazing: more than just alcohol

Societies and not other groups often times get the beef in JanTerm with pledging

By: Jade Hernandez

Posted: 1/21/10

Let's face it; we have all been hazed sometime in our life. Maybe not the insane, scary, forced drinking up in a forest to get into a fraternity or even anything that was remotely dangerous in the first place - but we have all done things that have made us feel uncomfortable or that have taken us out of our security zone and humiliated us, both in and out of school.

Societies get all the beef for pledging when it comes to January, and with good reason - young women and men running around in matching dress and (sadly) sometimes questionable academic performances might bring questions from a lot of people who do not care for societies and those who simply do not understand them.

Upon hearing the words 'pledging' many people might ask if these individuals are being hazed. But when it comes to societies and JanTerm, hazing has always been a huge issue of moral and ethical problems with the state and especially here at Whittier. It is no wonder that the school has such strict policies for societies when it comes to potential hazing activities - someone could get hurt, killed and numerous other things could happen, seen or unforeseen. In 2005, Matthew Carrington was killed at Chico State University after he was hazed in a basement of a frat house. He was forced to drink water and do exercises while fans blew on him. Carrington died from water intoxication. Because of Carrington, Matt's Law was created in the state of California. This law allows felony charges to be placed against individuals who are found guilty of hazing rituals that cause injuries or death.

Many people place the origin of hazing from organizations like the military from when young men had to go to boot camps and were often punished for incorrectly performing or having the men complete a task that was hazardous to their well being. Hazing is often currently associated with Greek life and initiation, and thus in extension, an abnormal worry about the societies at Whittier College. But the reality of the matter is that we probably all have been very softly hazed multiple times in our lives.

If humiliation is what really defines hazing, then hazing has a very wide gray zone, a zone in which any one can say that they feel uncomfortable and claim they have been hazed while trying to gain admittance to a club or society. Think back to sixth grade when classroom presentations were in their prime and there was always that one kid with massive anxiety issues when it came to standing up in front of the class and giving a speech. In my own memory at least, I remember that most times this student would be forced to do the presentation anyway.

This is not the same thing as what the school and state deals with in terms of illegal hazing activities, but to some degree it is the same. The school and the state use the term hazing so vaguely that it covers miles of area. Any type of hazing, whether it be of the seriously illegal kind or the kidding kind that makes people feel uncomfortable, and especially the extreme cases of humiliation for admittance should be stopped.

Societies on campus are currently being carefully watched over by administration. Their schedules and practices for pledging during JanTerm are reviewed as delicately as possible without harming tradition and allowing some amount of secrecy. Hazing is a serious concern, and although it does not appear to be a serious problem for concern of the school, this does not mean that individuals cannot or will not get caught up in a hazing mentality.

The more people everywhere become aware that hazing is not simply an activity involving alcohol, the more we can protect future students everywhere.