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Again the disclaimer: I hope this doesn't truly offend someone, but it probably will...
Just because you've done something for 30 or fourty years doesn't mean it's still the best thing to do. Old traditions like that can hold you back.
Having been the colony marshal for a year I was charged with our new member education. I guarantee you there are things, FUN things that you can do without hazing. Ever tried a ropes course? (well that's not the best we can do, but it's the easiest thing to tell you about in one sentance =) )
I would agree that values and character are innate to a degree, but I would also challenge you in that statement by saying that our values and our character are in a constant state of readjustment. Especially around the ages when young men enter University.
You haven't got a clue as to the brotherhood that exists in our chapter. You can mock it all you want and say that no one understands your "bond", but aren't you just assuming things? THings you know only half the truth about? Do you know what it's like to be a founding father of your chapter? The guys that I've done this with are close, very close. Believe me, I understand brotherhood.
But I digress. My father belongs to a fraternity in which he was active in the late 1960's. I am well aware of what they did, the fact that they had a pledge trainer who was exceedingly cruel (who ended up not coming back after some pledges had their revenge on them) and basically everything involving their pledge program. He recalls his fraternity days as something of a waste. The stories are interesting, but the deeds I hear about are not the deeds that would be committed by men of character. I am not saying that pledging any fraternity should be easy.
I'm not saying that we hand them their pledge pin, give them a manual, a hug and a couple of ceremonies and then say welcome! I'm simply saying that you have to know where to draw the line.
Some fraternities and sororities take the definition of hazing a bit too far in my opinion (and I think most folks would agree). We send our new guys to help sororities clean their houses, move large things, etc... as kind of a relations thing. Some of their national offices call that hazing?!
Many people's national governing bodies have taken the initiative by defining our pledge programs for us to replace the old ones -- we have the LEAD (Leadership, Ethics, Achievment and Development). The program is great and has turned many of our old and hurting chapters into the top chapters on their respective campuses. It encompasses all four years of your college career, so that there is always something to do. It encourages positive relationships with alums and essentially is aimed at developing the whole man and preparing him for the professional world.
If you're willing to listen you'll hear plenty of success stories from these chapters that have subscribed to the newer pledge education systems. Your fraternity is different from mine and I can respect that. I know however that mine was actually founded against the practices of hazing and for me to call myself a Sigma Nu and to support hazing would be a bit hypocritical.
How paddling, lineups, late work sessions and the like make you any more of a 'man' sounds like a fairly pathetic excuse to continue antiquated traditions that have long outlived their welcome in the Greek community as a whole. Anyone that has not moved past these old traditions at this point must either make the decision to change or to fade away.
LHT,
Kevin Taylor
MT #5 (as of 3-9-02)
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