Hazing. Is it necessary?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

National GLO's are killing the greek system. I understand some of their obligations, but it'd be nice if we could somehow distribute the liability in order to allow local groups to act more as their own entity.

Not really. My chapter operates on a campus where many other groups do haze, and they haze pretty hard. It's part of the culture here in Oklahoma, and it's what kids expect when they come through Rush.

On one hand, we do let them know that we don't haze. On the other hand, pledging is still no picnic. We follow the rules, we keep them busy, and I absolutely feel that they earn their letters while developing a strong appreciation for our chapter, and the organization at large.

Without hazing, our chapter does pretty well on a campus where hazing is (or at least was when I was there) the norm.

It's absolutely true that hazing works. Fortunately, so do other things. Paintballing, ropes courses, sports, all of those things bring those classes together.

We're still very selective, we put plenty of guys into campus leadership positions, do well in intramurals, Greek Week, etc. We do it without hazing though, in any way shape or form. Anything that the pledge marshal does is vetted through our hazing policy.

So does hazing work? Sure. Is it absolutely necessary? Not from what I've seen.