Hazing Allegations Investigated: Kappa Alpha Order, U. Florida
 

The Alligator reports that alleged hazing by the Kappa Alpha Order chapter at the U. of Florida is being investigated, and that the chapter is on interim suspension:

http://www.alligator.org/pt2/050711charge.php

Excerpts from the article:

Kappa Alpha President Dan Boda said his chapter's hazing rituals aren't what they once were.

"The momentum of hazing in KA has been slowed down in the past couple years," he said. "This incident will put a firm stop to it."

UPD reports detailing . . . [the] allegations have been handed to Student Judicial Affairs, and a hearing with Kappa Alpha is being scheduled.

The organization is on interim suspension prohibiting Kappa Alpha from taking part in any chapter activities on or off campus, and the chapter house is closed until the hearing.

Am I the only one who cringes at the term "hazing ritual"? I think of our ritual as such a beautiful and wonderful tie that bonds us and to put hazing in that phrase just makes me cringe. I know, the media aren't educated in terminology, but the way it is worded in this article makes it sound like a quote from the Pres.

I understand what you're saying but rituals, like many other words and things, can be good or bad.

What struck me was the president's comment about hazing having slowed down, but this will stop it.

In other words, we knew we were breaking the rules (and the law, probably), but we'll be good from now on.

It's that kind of attitude that kills chapters.

Yes, DeltAlum, I noticed that comment you mentioned, and I agree with you.

Re: Hazing Allegations Investigated: Kappa Alpha Order, U. Florida
 

It's time for the lawyers. It's being investigated. You can't suspend and close the house while you investigate.

sure seems like the hazing was a part of the plan, according to the article.
that's terrible.

Re: Re: Hazing Allegations Investigated: Kappa Alpha Order, U. Florida
 

Actually, I think that happens fairly often under the guise of "suspension."

Re: Hazing Allegations Investigated: Kappa Alpha Order, U. Florida
 

I think that "interim" is the key word here. I see chapters all of the time put on interim supension. It is better to do something temporary than just completely getting rid of the chapter at first inkling of wrong doing. Plus when you know your chapter is in trouble and think it might be gone soon, alot of people will just raise hell while they still can. This puts an official stop to activity.

Unfortunately Kappa Alpha has been suspended from UF until Fall 2007.

Hazing ritual is probably better termed "ritualized hazing", meaning that the hazing has no ties to your ritual, but through reproduction, it has been ceremonialized to the point where members believe it to be part of it., thus continuing the cycle.

yeah, i think that is a better description. unfortunately, independents hear a fraternity or sorority member talk about the Ritual of their group as being lifechanging etc and they will think immediately of hazing because of statements like those from the KA member. our Ritual (the ceremony) dictates what our group stands for, sometimes in an abstract form. but when we go through it and take a pledge to our org, we are saying we will uphold the values and actions deamed appropriate by our individual organization. thus we should take our Ritual with us everyday and it should become our daily ritual (actions, activities, etc). this understood, there should not be ritualized hazing or "hazing rituals" in any of our chapters. in a perfect world i guess. unfortunately many greeks do not know or understand their ritual enough to be able to know what they are supossed to be standing for and what they are pledging themselves too. honestly i think more education in chapters, with each member, about this kind of stuff and more peer accountability would almost completely eliminate hazing in greek life. we afre lucky we have these values and Ritual to base ourselves on. sports teams, etc do not and that is what sets us apart from them, makes our hazing different-there is more of a reason to eliminate it other than it is illegal and dangerous, and that is tradition and Rital/ritual.

sorry about the long post. this isa topic i feel very strongly about. education is key.

dznat187


Agree as it should be in most if not all GLOs. But, as can be seen by so many reports, it is not takenn seriously enough.

As I said in another post the 3-5 Fraternitys who had the most Hazing incidents was very suprising to me.:(

No, I will not repeat them as have deleted the information I got them from. Maybe this will make some people think about if their GLO was on the list.

I don't understand why all of you are bent out of shape about hazing at UF......it happens in every frat there.

"ALL", ""FRATS""?

Isnt LXA there as a Fraternity? I dont know without checking but if they do, they will be in a world of Crap if found out!

Actually sorry to say, but this bozo stuck his mouth and shoe right up his rear. Damn, how stupid!:(

Stuff like this is like a wild fire and runs rampant across Campus.

Thanks for Making us all look bad you Moron!

Alum would and should hve been used on this kid!:mad:

Tom, you should really go to Gainesville and see the geek life there. Myabe then you'd understand.

More details, from WCJB - TV on August 1 '05, on Kappa Alpha national's statements about what their investigation of the U. of Florida chapter found:

http://www.wcjb.com/news.asp?id=12995

I'm not necessarily sticking up for "cashmoney", but yes, hazing has historically been really rampant at some of the fraternities at UF. Most of my high school went to UF and I am from a town where KA is dominant and the alums have a lot of power (My Dad is a KA). I think what happened to them was a long time coming and needed to stop. It is too bad for them, they have existed on that campus for a LONG time (I think for at least 100 years).

Yea, well my chapter was one of the 1st 3 frats at UF we got banned back in 99. KA should have been banned back then.

Kappa Alpha fraternity ousted from UF for hazing activities
By JANINE YOUNG SIKES
Sun staff writer


August 02. 2005 6:01AM





The Kappa Alpha fraternity national office ousted the University of Florida's chapter off campus for two years as the penalty for sending pledges on a sign-stealing spree, forcing them to rigorously exercise without water and demanding that they drive other members from bar to bar on various days of the week. All activities are considered hazing.
"Given today's climate and our own fraternity's stance against hazing, we can't tolerate that type of behavior in our chapter," said Larry Wiese, executive director of the Lexington, Va.-based organization.
The group's house on fraternity row is being closed down and Kappa Alpha will not be allowed to have a presence on campus for two years. Thirty or so members are being forced to find new housing immediately.
And in a letter sent to Christopher Bullins, UF's director of sorority and fraternity affairs, Wiese said that one of Kappa Alpha's officers was removed as of Thursday.
The suspension comes in the wake of a UF-commissioned study released last month that says the Greek system is "clearly not meeting its potential."
UF has not yet completed its judicial review of the fraternity and the events of March 18.
Pledges were instructed by fraternity members to "keep with Kappa Alpha tradition" and to steal signs from businesses and apartment complexes to decorate the fraternity house for an upcoming party, University Police reports show.
Three pledges, caught by police with the goods in the bed of a truck, were arrested for stealing signs from Brookside Apartments and several other places in west Gainesville, as well as a life-size horse replica from Mel's Tack Room.
A patrol officer noticed the signs and several 4-by-4 posts with the concrete and dirt still attached sticking out of the back of a truck parked in the service drive of the fraternity house at 4 a.m. on March 18, police records show. The pledges - William Travis Page, 22, Michael McFadden, 19, and Kirby Ingram, 19 - told investigators that they and the rest of the pledge class had been told to take the signs as part of their membership.
But further interviews with the pledges also revealed they had been subjected to a series of hazing activities.
Page told police that the pledges would be punished if they did not complete a task, such as cleaning a fellow member's house or memorizing all the names of the members, with physical training on Flavet Field. For 1 hours, the pledges were told to run, do sit-ups and push-ups without being given any water, reports show.
Page also told police that some pledges vomited, including himself.
During the week, Page said he had been assigned to be the designated driver of members of the fraternity for three nights a week. He said he would drive the men, who had been drinking, wherever they wanted to go.
Page told officers he complied because "he did not want to face the consequences."
Calls to Kappa Alpha were referred to the national office.
The university's Greek judicial board plans to make its own recommendation for Kappa Alpha in coming weeks. The board could accept the sanctions of the national headquarters or make some changes, Bullins said. Suspensions from the national headquarters are typical, he said. "They try to take a time-out and allow the students involved in the situation to graduate to build a fresh perspective and culture there," Bullins said.
Fraternities Delta Chi and Chi Phi are scheduled to return to campus this fall after lengthy suspensions from campus.
Phi Gamma Delta, which was accused of breaking into and vandalizing the fraternity house next door last summer, is also eligible to return to campus, but the terms of reinstatement have yet to have been negotiated, Bullins said.