More Hazing
 

There's been a lot of talk about hazing lately, and once again, publicity no GLO needs. This time the Alphas engaged in some suspicious hazing behavior.

http://www.ksbitv.com/home/6342592.html

Fraternity Pledges Severely Beaten

Tuesday, March 6, 2007; Posted: 5:37 p.m. (CDT)
Members of an Oklahoma State University fraternity could face some serious charges later this week. Stillwater police say six members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity could be charged with assault and battery or hazing for accusations of paddling five pledging members.

Police say the five pledges received a series of beatings almost every day for three weeks.
"The paddling would be anywhere from one swat to several swats," says Lieutenant Mike Metcalf, with the Stillwater Police Department. "On one victim his buttocks was, the flesh was torn away down to the muscle."

Police say the beatings took place in an off-campus apartment. They say the pledges were supposed to learn the fraternities history. They would then be quizzed over what they had learned.

Metcalf says, "If they messed up on giving the answer they would be pulled out in front of the rest of the group. They would be told to stand in a certain position while the other members would take and hit them with paddles on the buttocks."

It's an incident that has OSU students in shock.
Lisa Osborn, a senior at OSU, says, "I think it's ridiculous and that it shouldn't be happening."
Amber Govan, an OSU senior says, "I thought hazing was completely and absolutely gone."

Conner Mahan, a freshman at OSU and member of a different fraternity, says, "A fraternity is supposed to be for people to bond together and I find it hard to believe that people can bond when they're being physically and mentally harmed from each other."
Govan says she is familiar with the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. She says the group is usually about community service.

Govan says, "They're all about helping people. I'm just kind of surprised."

Police seized several paddles from the apartment where the hazing took place.

As for the fraternity, the national office released this statement:
"We believe hazing does not accurately reflect the high ideals and principles on which we were founded. Under no circumstances does the fraternity ever condone it."
As for police they say this is one of the worst cases of hazing they've seen in quite a while.

Metcalf says, "It was a pretty gruesome site compared to what I've seen of other injuries."

Oklahoma State University has released this statement:

"We are addressing the incident through our student conduct committee, while cooperating fully with local law enforcement authorities."

The names of the suspects are not being released at this time. The Payne County District Attorney says he will likely file formal charges later this week. After charges are filed the suspects names will be released.

The OSU students were in shock???!!! That makes me laugh.

Uh PrettyBoy, considering your siggy you are hardly one to be posting about the hazing of another fraternity.

I have a question.

What is up with graduate chapter interests or prospectives never showing up to graduate chapter events? Like can they buy a ticket to our gala? How can we think to ask for members and they fail to work or attend our functions? How am I suppose to know what they really do when we are all about community service?

I have often wondered that myself. Makes me crazy. ;)

Those are good questions! I have a friend who is all about wanting to join another sorority on the graduate level, she asks if I know anybody and when events are. I tell her and she dosen't go. Crazy just crazy!

That is also a good hint, but many of the interest will not likely see the questions for what they are worth.

this problem seems to be extremely severe in BGLOs. This is definitely NOT the first time I've heard of this happening with Alpha Phi Alpha pledges. I'm shocked that APhiA national has not taken more firm steps in ensuring this doesn't happen anymore. This activity is the sort that gets an entire chapter shut down with most GLOs.

Hi there, I'm in Alpha lane, which you seem to be swerving into right now. Before I shoot your tires out and drive around you, I'm just curious -- why do you think my fraternity hasn't "taken more firm steps in ensuring this doesn't happen anymore?"

Oh Lawd, it's on now. (getting some popcorn)

ETA: I know he doesn't think the white fraternities don't haze. Don't get me started on their "fertility rituals" I've heard about! :eek:

LOL...I'm saying SisterGreek :p

I remember hearing about the nekkid beach runs with bananas tucked between pledges butt cheeks and the last two had to eat the banana from each other. Yep, white frats don't haze. ;)

You sound as if you think these are sanctioned actuivities. All of the D9 orgs have policies and procedures in place to stop this. But if someone is bent on doing wrong, they will do it regardless.

And yes we suspend individuals and whole chapters. Heck we even expel individuals for life.

I know I'm new to the boards, but shouldn't this be in risk management? If not, can someone PM me and say why?

Good point. Maybe a mod hasn't been around to move it yet.

Because I think there's a real image problem here man. All four of my school's councils went on a retreat together and after playing the stereotype game (yes it's a real game we play, and apparently NIC fraternities are all snobby white date rapists) the elephant in the room was NPHC and their notorious hazing methods (severe beatings, etc).

Now I guess you could take the easy road and pin me as a racist, but you have to admit that there is a hardcore element of physical hazing impressed on the NPHC culture.

Some things remain the same: The "white" NIC houses get busted having "Ghetto Parties" or they force a pledge to drink himself to death and the media goes nuts. The NPHC houses get busted beating the crap out of a pledge and he winds up in the hospital and the media goes nuts.

Now the APhiA thing.....it could be that there is a real epidemic here OR it could be that APhiA gets the most hazing stories because they're the largest BGLO.

Well I've never heard of Fertility Rituals but I have heard of all kinds of hazing on the part of NIC fraternities.....I just rarely hear about them physically beating pledges....it's usually something like drinking them to death or humiliating them (which isn't better really) all I know is that you've gotta be one dumbass punk to let a bunch of 20 year olds torture you for one or two semesters just to get initiated.

Sorry if I've lighted a gas soaked rag on this thread but hazing drives me nuts and I have no respect for people that partake in it as "character" building. Unlike most people on this forum I've had the advantage of going through hazing and non-hazing pledge programs by going through a local non-greek "Society" and a national greek fraternity founded against hazing. It should be pretty obvious which organization I pride myself on and which I don't even talk about anymore.

YOU haven't answered my question. Nobody is calling you a racist. I do, however, think you need to stay in your lane on YOUR campus.

The difference between you and I is when a fraternity (or SEVERAL) have racist parties or drink a pledge to death, I still don't view it as an issue that your ENTIRE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION has failed to address. I view it as some members breaking the rules. I would expect that same courtesy from a fellow Greek.

On your campus?

Amen. and for much less than this.

So what is your point, really?

There is no dignity or pride in being "forced" to drink alcohol to the point where you can cause serious harm to yourself or die. A person who is injured or killed through alcohol is no less of a dumbass punk than the one hurt or killed through beatings.

The problem here is too much defensiveness. The truth is that for historically white and historically black GLOs there are differing cultures of hazing, which go beyond talk of individual responsibility and transcend national Greek affiliation. Yes, alcohol abuse is a very serious (and ocaasionally deadly!) problem with the former and physical hazing represents the same for the latter. We have to look at these things head on.

I see the "white groups" instituting all kinds of educational programs, including "dry houses" (which many actives and chapters disregard or rebel against said programs) and you still see the stories of deaths due to alcohol poisonings; and physical hazing continues to be single biggest threat to the survivial of BGLOs,even though pledging was done away with. In truth, now,it's simply become a sub rosa ("underground") activity.

It's not so much about the sensationalized stories of hazing by whatever BGLO gets the headlines for an egregious hazing incident, where the Nupes and the Apes have garnered the most headlines recently, it's about the fact that this is the tip of the iceberg, extreme examples of common place behaviour. The same goes for "white" groups and alcohol abuse. On the whole, though, I do think the "white" groups have addressed the alcohol abuse problem in their groups in a more integral way than BGLOs have physical hazing, as a part of the "culture" of the organizations. (Just as we are not fully comfortable in dealing with the issue of homophobia in the context of the AIDS crisis in the African American community at large---from the street corner to the church.) This is what Prof. Ricky Jones, Ph.D. (a Nupe) is trying to do with his book, "Black Haze"; he has received chilly if not hostile responses from some Black Greeks for his radical means of addressing physical hazing:dismantling the organizations if they don't deal with this issue forthright.

We're past the point of defensiveness. Ultimately, Greek Life as we know it is at stake--for all groups. This is the real issue.

No.

The problem is figuring out why that poster is acting like an NIC culture of binge drinking and whatever the hell else they do is remotely more noble than an alleged NPHC culture of paddling/beating. Every national body does things to prevent hazing and punishes those who are caught. Hazing still happens for every type of organization. The form of hazing doesn't matter.

Moving on.

awesome, another thread developing into a racial issue

KyleMcGuire is the only one who tried to make it into one.