UConn Hazing

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

Hearing personal stories from friends who were in a sorority (including stories about fraternity parties and alcohol) would have given her context for that night even if those stories didn't exactly match what happened at the SAE house. We all evaluate situations based on our personal experiences and the experiences of other people we trust. Without much (if any) personal experience with fraternity parties, she didn't have much material to evaluate whether that night at the SAE house was no big deal or something major.

That lack of context coupled with her being older when she entered the Greek world makes her reaction much more understandable. Teenagers are much more likely to accept undesirable situations, especially if they think it's something that everybody else accepts without question (based on what they've heard through their network). Twenty-somethings are more confident about pushing back. And if she felt that this "hazing" was part of a bigger, ongoing, pervasive problem at UConn she might have felt obligated to shine a spotlight on it to help eradicate that kind of behavior.

What does this have to do with going to the media?

Pushing back doesn't include going to the media.

For example, in the NPHC, the majority of people going through collegiate and alumnae/alumni/graduate intake, and who are new members, are 20 yo and older. Many of them don't feel comfortable pushing back but those who do are not inclined to contact the media. Alcohol plays a very small or nonexistent role in most NPHC antics but other claims of mistreatment are taken more seriously when the accuser doesn't bypass other means and seek the media.

[OPhiAGinger]

If someone wanted to handle an issue discreetly, then yes, they would take it to the organization(s) involved. If they thought a crime was broken, they would take it to the local police. But if they thought that this was part of an ongoing pervasive problem that those existing organizations had not dealt with after multiple opportunities (i.e., a pattern of hazing at UConn) then it makes sense to get the media involved.

I'm just saying that there is a rational thought process that leads to media involvement, other than the hope for a big cash payoff. None of us knows what really happened that night or what this young lady's motivations are. I'm just offering an alternate perspective.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

If someone wanted to handle an issue discreetly, then yes, they would take it to the organization(s) involved. If they thought a crime was broken, they would take it to the local police. But if they thought that this was part of an ongoing pervasive problem that those existing organizations had not dealt with after multiple opportunities (i.e., a pattern of hazing at UConn) then it makes sense to get the media involved.

Then stop attributing this to Hawaii, age, and transfer student. Just say she wanted to make some noise.

[33girl]

That 73% were hazed statistic is ridiculous. More likely than not, people were asked questions that were framed to elicit a certain answer and then twisted. Shame on Katie Couric for buying into this.