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James, you have finally hit the nail on the head. However, you didnt' really answer any of the questions I asked to discuss. You did though, provide me with the answer to why no one is willing to discuss this topic maturely. I think that maybe I should have narrowed my topic down a little bit. Maybe to "Do you think that the FIPG definition of hazing is too strict?" I have come to the conclusion that this website is loaded with brothers and sisters who haven't been hazed and have no tolerance for it. I think James said it right that the word "hazing" has such a negative connotation that no one seems to be able to look beyond the word. I want to reiterate that I do not agree with nor condone any extreme forms of hazing. I get just as sick as you all do when I see something in the news about a pledge, or NM as you guys call them, going to the hospital or even dying because of some active making them drink too much. It sickens me to hear of pledges having to go the hospital because someone beat their ass 30 times with a paddle. I think that kind of hazing is stupid, irresponsible, degrading, and utterly wrong. But I also think that it is because of these frats' actions that frats that do haze in a controlled way are lumped together in the same category. NeonPi you said that many students don't go Greek because of hazing. In my fraternity, we only rush guys that go Greek because of hazing. We don't keep very many secrets from the guys that rush us. They know pretty much exactly what they're getting into when they sign their bid. We do not do anything that puts our pledges in any danger. We also give our pledges the power to tell us if they refuse to do something. That is one of the biggest things that we want our pledges to understand. You should never do anything that you would not want your brother to do. We allow our pledges to stand up for themselves. That does not mean we don't go beyond the FIPG definition of hazing. It just means that we do so in a respectful and very careful way. No pledge has to prove their loyalty or whatever by drinking. That's just not what we do. We do require signatures for them to get to know the actives. They are required to do some physical fitness activities to stay in shape. And there are some things that we do that are funny and stupid. But never anything that puts our pledges' safety at risk. I think that there are a lot of other fraternities and maybe even sororities that feel the same way and "haze" in a responsible manner. I'm not sure if any those people look at this website, but I know first hand of at least 15 other frats and sororities at 8 different universities in 4 different states that do. I have read all the opinions of why hazing is horrible and so bad and most, if not all, of these opinions are from people who have never gone through anything. If were never hazed, how do you know how bad it is? I feel sorry for crazyleggedsigma that their sorority can't have an interview form filled out. Am I the only one that thinks that is absolutely ridiculous? I passed out questionairres to people at school about their hazing experiences. Is this hazing too? Look, I'm all for kicking people out of school that do intentional harm to another person. Making someone drink, no matter how much, or beating the crap out of someone is intentional harm. But I sincerely feel that some hazing should be allowed. Especially if the pledges agree to it up front.
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