Is this sort of hazing normal?

[DrPhil]

Ultimately it is up to excelblue's chapter's school and GLO to determine whether what they do is hazing. Some schools and GLOs stopped caring whether a chapter was thinking they were hazing or bonding years ago because they got tired of trying to determine whether chapter members' intentions were what they claimed. Some schools and GLOs also determined that the outcome for the prospective members and the notion of "stopping this before it gets out of hand" mattered more than what the chapter claims they intended. If a chapter can share its practices with the school and GLO, all is fine as long as they don't get out of hand. If a chapter has to keep things secret from the school and GLO, that sometimes means they know that their "bonding" event tolls the line and could very well be seen as hazing.

Originally Posted by excelblue

1.) Pledges performing a extremely intense early-morning workout that causes them to think they're going to die. Without consent and as a surprise, it's definitely hazing. However, in our case, we just have a few brothers that do CrossFit and joined in.

This is an unofficial event therefore what would happen if the "pledges" did not join in?

Originally Posted by excelblue

The exact same activity, depending on the context, is the difference between hazing and bonding.

While I agree to some extent, it is probably not the exact same activity if there is a different context. There are tons of events that chapters considered bonding activities but the activities were deemed hazing by Greek Life Offices and GLO NHQs. Chapters, members, and prospective members have gotten in trouble for their bonding events that members and prospective members enjoyed participating in. There are some happy "pledges" who are excited to do what they do although what they are doing is technically hazing. That includes forms of mental and physical hazing that some "pledges" actually enjoy participating in. Pretending that context is the ultimate determinant between hazing and bonding attaches an inaccurate description to hazing.