Quote:
Originally Posted by djpsk21
There is a national standard and that is what i am wanting move towards. On the same note, I love my brothers and this brotherhood. There is always resistance to change, that is obvious. I am looking for either advice or what others have successfully gone through or implemented this kind of change.
I want to create change but not at the expense of losing half of my brothers. They really are not bad people, they just don't know anyother way. That's why I am posting on a public forming and seeking assistance/guidance.
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I suspect this is not your intent, but your second paragraph comes off as sounding like you think you are an inherently better person than a lot of guys in your chapter. You may have a good idea here depending on your specific circumstances, but with age and experience I can tell you that marketing an idea is even more important than the idea itself when it comes to successful implementation. Do a Google search on the war between Beta and VHS many years ago for a good example. Beta was a superior product, but it is VHS players that prevailed until DVDs came along.
Defining hazing is very important for you at this point. You need to come up with a concise definitition of exactly what you want to eradicate and why. One suggestion I would have is to do another Google search- or check your college's Greek Life site- and read the hazing laws in your state.
I have read many such laws and while they provide specific examples of what COULD be hazing, the overriding spirit of such laws gets to the intent of the activity and what it actually does to pledges in terms of forcing them to break the law or be truly "humiliated".
Forcing a pledge who is 18 years old to drink until he is drunk and then drive a vehicle is a no-brainer. Major law violations. But who really does that? These black and white scenarios are rarely the reality.
Let's take something that is a bit more gray- requiring a pledge to learn fraternity lore. It is a necessary exercise- but in many laws it is cited as an example of hazing depending on how the requirement is enforced.
A pledge is required to learn, each week, fraternity history. Do you consider this hazing?
Let's say a pledge must take a test each week covering material he was supposed to learn the prior week. Hazing?
If the pledge takes the test and gets below a 70, he has to do 20 pushups. Is this hazing?
If the pledge gets below a 70 on the test and is banned from social events until he gets a 70 or greater on this test- hazing?
If the pledge gets below a 70 on the test and is placed before a kangaroo court of actives who scare him into thinking he will get depledged if he does not get a 70 or better on a future retest- is this hazing?
The pledge gets below a 70 on the test and is pestered by actives when he is at the house with questions on the same material, and minor punishments like pushups or washing cars until he starts getting the answers right. Is this hazing?
The pledge gets below 70 on a lore test and is automatically dropped from pledgeship. Not hazing- rather he failed to meet a basic requirement. This is the option that has you 100% free and clear of ever being accused of hazing, but is this the tone you want to set? I can tell you this is not how things work in the real world- which fraternities are supposed to mimic and prepare members for professional success.
These are the questions I would suggest you ask yourself as you plan your new pledging program. As my last example showed- there is a way to make pledges prove their worth by their effort to become members without ever doing anything that anyone could ever consider hazing- but it also means acting in a way that is counter to what fraternities are all about.
One other thing to consider- remember that INTENT is the most important thing when looking at acts that could be considered hazing.
When I was a pledge, one night we had to do a mini tour in neckties and our underwear- and nothing else- and serenade several sorority houses. They loved it- and it made a good story for all of us to reminisce on later.
Some might consider this hazing, but it was not hazing in the illegal sense of the term. Those who were too uptight to participate would not only make bad pledges, but were also probably not suited for any kind of membership in any kind of group where people have a little fun at their own expense to make the world a little more interesting, even if only for a few moments.
When it comes to dangerous hazing activities, I will tell you that I think alcohol is the absolute #1 contributor to pledge activities gone wrong.
Three simple rules can save a chapter from the worst 99% of the time;
1. Noone is forced to drink.
2. Sober active executive officers are present at every pledge activity and have the guts, chapter respect and/or physical presence to prevent anything from getting out of hand.
3. Noone- and I mean noone- gets into a car or is left alone (especially in the wild) after having anything to drink.
You take care of this- and you have covered the three most common hallmarks of situations that result in non-productive pledge activities, injury and death.
I for one would love to see a very honest and open conversation about hazing on this forum- and the seeds of it are here already. But OP- please consider your position in greater detail and report back. There are many people here with good answers, but we need to know where you draw the line and your underlying reasons for drawing that line.
Hope this is helpful.
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