Quote:
Originally posted by hoosier
U.Va. frat pledge reports being doused with vinegar, urine
Associated Press
© November 6, 2003 | Last updated 11:28 AM Nov. 6
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A University of Virginia student reported that he and other students were doused with vinegar and urine as part of a fraternity pledge ritual, and said he decided to tell authorities because he was tired of the abuse.
The 19-year-old Delta Sigma Phi pledge also reported that his apartment was vandalized, Charlottesville police Lt. Gary Pleasants said. Physical altercations also took place there, but the man did not give details, police said.
"His arms were shaking" after arriving home to his ransacked apartment, according to a police report. "His body was wet and smelled of vinegar and urine. He said that he was a pledge of a fraternity."
The student complained of "increasingly violent and disgusting hazing rituals including dousing the pledges with vinegar, urine and other substances," the report said.
"He was fed up with the abuse and wanted to press charges," the report said. The man, whom police declined to identify to protect his safety, told police that his entire pledge class had decided to quit pursuing membership in Delta Sigma Phi.
University officials and representatives from the fraternity's national organization are investigating.
Scott Wiley, executive director of the national fraternity, said that his office is investigating allegations that the fraternity's risk-management policy had been violated, but he refused to elaborate further.
Charlottesville police responded to a call on Oct. 28 that two men had broken into the student's apartment and dismantled furniture and other items and threw them outside. . . .
The U.Va. chapter is under temporary probation by the national organization as the investigation takes place, Wiley said.
U.Va.'s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life started its own probe, and it will present a report to the university's dean of students, who will decide on what, if any, punishment is given the house.
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Hmmm: "his entire pledge class had decided to quit pursuing membership in Delta Sigma Phi" -- sounds like a good decision, if all (or even part) of what is alleged took place. The seemingly eternal questions come to mind:
-- if the members loathe the new members/pledges enough to treat them like that, WHY did they bid them in the first place?
-- what is the fascination with filth? Urine in this case, feces for suburban Chicago's "powderpuff" fiasco.
-- where are the values of respect for others, kindness, compassion, brotherhood, and gentlemanly behavior?