life w/o hazing
 

i'm admittedly one of the last of the old school pledge classes to really get hazed, have a hell night, etc. b4 everyone flies off the handle... i personally hate hazing and think it destroys fraternities, but i do feel there is something to be said for making pledging tough. has anyone gone through the transition from hazing to non-hazing and come up with good, productive ideas to make pledging challenging? i really feel that something is lost on both the brothers and the candidates when pledging seems to be some formality that one has to go through b4 initiation.

Gamma Rho was recolonized last year. We initiated 30 new members, ALL of which agreed that hazing would NOT be tolerated by our chapter. While we want to make pledging tough, we refuse to be part of the norm on our campus (every other fraternity here hazes in some way). Of course, it should be said that some things that are considered "hazing" we do participate in (walkout, for example). After Walkout, I asked every pledge if they had fun. "DAMN IT WAS A BLAST!!!" was every response I got. Personally, I consider hazing to be something that degrades or harms a pledge. If it does not live up to this definition, I don't think it should be called hazing. While I do belive making all your pledges strip naked and run down the street (the last act one fraternity here required before initiation) is haizing, I don't think a scavenger hunt to learn about campus and town should be. I think such events as this promote brotherhood, unity, and understanding between the pledges, and ultimately teaches them a lot about the local area that they probably would not know, or learn about throughout their college experience.