In defense of hazing
 

In defense of hazing: Critics of fraternities at Dartmouth and other colleges have it all wrong

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen: In the basement of a fraternity at Dartmouth College, I watched as two of my best friends stood on either side of a trash can. They had just competed to see who could drink the most beer in the shortest amount of time.

Now they were attempting to “pull the trigger,” inducing vomiting to get rid of the 15 cups of beer in each of their stomachs.

But there was a twist. The first guy reached his hand into the mouth of the second guy, attempting to pull his trigger for him, while the second guy did the very same thing to the first guy. Soon enough, they both succeeded in helping each other disgorge the beer.

In awe, I whispered to the person standing next to me, “It’s like watching two kittens lick each other clean.”

Over the past few months, such activities within Greek organizations at Dartmouth and elsewhere have come under scrutiny, due mostly to claims made by a young writer named Andrew Lohse.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/d...#ixzz1rqzPloMy

Comments anyone? I personally agree with most of those posted within comment section.

Hazing cannot be allowed for liability reasons. End of story, really. A national organization which tolerates hazing on any level better make sure they have meaningful insurance coverage and that said bill is paid on time.

Except that tolerating the hazing on any level by a national organization just might void the meaningful insurance coverage.

As for the article, the part quoted above was enough to make me wonder whether this was actually a "news" story or some kind of fantasy. Like watching two kittens lick each other clean? Seriously?

And I did note the "I was a member of SAE almost a decade ago." So apparently whatever "value" hazing had, a sense of loyalty and lifetime commitment to the fraternity wasn't one of them.

Doesn't this whole article sort of smack of 'While ordinary people take hazing to unfortunate extremes, this is Dartmouth, we're better than you and wouldn't do that.' ?

Very much so.

Eww...

Monkeys pick fleas off eachother and eat them as well. It's not beautiful, it's gross when you get to this stage of the evolutionary scale. I didn't think Dartmouth would admit cavemen.

I have a friend who is a physician and is an alumnus of a Dartmouth fraternity. We had a nice discussion about this issue over dinner the other night. As he put it, there is nothing better to do at Dartmouth, where it is cold and snowing the majority of the year, than drink to excess and do drugs. Some guys talk about ways to get away with raping women (apparently a chapter got in big trouble for some list a few years back) and other unsavory misogynistic sexual exploits, but most people (Greek or not) just drink.

(lane swerve)

Didn't I read in an old fraternity book where Dartmouth students create huge ice sculptures during a yearly winter festival?

(end lane swerve)

I think that's mentioned in The Real Animal House by Chris Miller.