I have seen my fraternity's ritual exemplification performed nearly 30 times now. I have honestly never seen any hazing occur. I am not just saying that to cover my chapter's butt. I have seen it done by 6 different chapters and our international ritual team at our inter/national leadership seminar. I don't know about anyone elses ritual, but I don't understand how someone could get injured at ritual. It's a ceremony. A moving one, but a ceremony. We actually perform ours in a local presbyterian church. I will say that there are always going to be variances bewtween the way headquarters wants it done, and how some chapters perform it, but I still don't understand how hazing could be brought into the(our)ceremony itself. It wouldn't fit. You're there, learning secret mottos, handshakes and the like and all the sudden you get beat down? How's that work?
I was elected ritualist a year after I joined my chapter. The only change I made was to eliminate the use of alcohol immediately after the ceremony. I just didn't think it fit with the christian teachings of the ritual. (you don't booze it up in a church.) and the guys need to reflect on what they just experienced (active brothers, as well as new members).
I think what Talisman was speaking to was the pre-rit ceremonies. If a chapter was going to take liberties, it would be the local-ritual, or the few days leading up to the ritual itself. Although not all chapters were once local orgs, as is the case with our house (we were a picked deligation - colonized by headquarters). We do have local traditions that are very set. I think it is up to all of us to maintain a proactive role in the elimination of hazing from all aspects of Greek Life.
|