[DeltAlum]

A lot of issues which are alleged to be hazing are blown out of proportion (my opinion only), but that's the climate we live in. Laws are vague and open to wide interpretation.

Whether the actions are dangerous (or even hazing) or not, the charges are enough to cast a long shadow on a chapter, and sometimes the entire Greek System at a college.

Then, they are added to the "statistics" overall and insurance premiums go up, etc. Remember that no matter what letters you wear, you are painted with the same brush as far as the public and the insurance industry are concerned.

If you could put yourselves in the place of your National Office (or officers), you might have a different view of the problem here. Even a pro-fraternity university administration would be forced to take action when presented with pictures of an event like this one. If they didn't, and the word got out (which it would since someone obviously is passing the pics around), the public outcry would be very damaging to the institution.

Look at some of the lawsuits from hazing. Who gets sued? The chapter officers, the chapter advisors, the national office, the university, sometimes the chapter officers parents, and anyone else the lawyer can think of.

That's why this stuff is called Risk Management.

You can believe you aren't doing anything wrong. You can pontificate that the whole world is against you. You can cry it isn't fair. Whatever.

If you get caught, though, (and these guys did) you're screwed. And everything above ain't gonna help.

The rules are the rules. The law is the law.

Whether this incident is hazing or not isn't going to matter in the end. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck -- a lot of people are going to think it's a duck. Whether it is or not.