Originally Posted by DeltAlum
I'm not telling you that. Your university administration and your lawmakers are. I'm not taking a position on whether they're right or wrong.
Your name calling doesn't fix anything. No matter what you say or believe, hazing is ILLEGAL, weather the definitions are right, wrong or indifferent.
I've been around this stuff for years as an undergraduate, an advisor and a division officer. Frankly, some people act like spoiled little wet behind the ears rich kids who, as near as I can tell, have no clue about how much trouble this stuff can cause. How's that for name calling? But this isn't a matter of who can yell the loudest and call people names. It's a matter of survival for not only our chapters, but the Fraternity and Sorority system as we know it.
I went through rush and pledging before this stuff was against the law, and frankly I doubt that you have any idea of what went on in that period. If you think that our brotherhood stronger, you're wrong. That's rhetoric instead of reality.
You can yell "naive" all you want, but some of us have a whole lot of experience that you (global you) don't and we can use that experience to come to logical conclusions that you don't have the background to even consider.
Times have changed, and the stuff that your daddys and I went through have to be memories -- or our chapters will be. I hope that you don't discover that the hard way, given present circumstances.
University administrations and state legislatures have decided that they have to stop hazing because little things lead to bigger ones and sooner or later someone gets badly hurt or killed. Maybe some have over reacted, but that's beside the point. They have the elected or appointed right to do that.
On both sides of the argument, it's the famous, "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" syndrome. Unfortunately, the cliche' is too true all too often.
Insurance companies have decided that because of the rules and laws that have been put in place, they won't insure chapters that don't obey those laws. Suits have been filed against everyone from chapter members, officers, advisors, nationals, house corporation members, university administrators and even parents. Even if you're insured, if you break the law or the rules, the insurance company isn't going to pay damages -- they're going to cancel the policy and run the other way. They have the power to do that, too.
Want to write a few million dollar checks out of the chapter treasury?
When are you all going to figure out that it doesn't matter whether study tables, quizes, scavenger hunts, house cleanups, sleep deprivation, lineups, hell week and the like may not be dangerous? Somebody in authority at the university, the legislature or the GLO have decided that they won't be tolerated. Did I mention that they have the power to do that until a court decides they're wrong?
That doesn't even touch on drugs and underage drinking.
The bottom line is this -- take a look at the threads in this forum. Check out how many chapters have been suspended. See how many university administrations are cracking down. Look at how many nationals have been backed into a corner and forced to crack down on chapters for things they might have overlooked in the past. Consider how insurance rates have skyrocked. More than that, look at how many lawsuits have been filed. Even worse, consider how many people have been hurt or even killed when little things went just one step too far.
Then, when your chapter is gone, consider who is the moron. Who is niave. It's not the ones who enforce or obey the rules, it's the ones who break them.
Don't be an idiot.
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