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Charges dropped
technicianonline.com / 03.17.2005 / news / Greek Life
Hazing placed on trial; TKE suspension dropped
Posted: 03.17.2005
Rebecca Heslin
The Campus Cinema was nearly filled to capacity last night by members of Greek organizations -- and it's not even Greek Week yet.
Thirty percent of each Greek organization was mandated to attend the event "Hazing on Trial" sponsored by Greek Life. In the last two years alone, five fraternities have been suspended because of hazing, according to Shelly Brown Dobek, associate director of Greek Life.
National Hazing Prevention Week is scheduled for Sept. 26-30, but due to the influx of fraternities suspended for hazing on campus, the event couldn't wait any longer, she said.
The last fraternity temporarily suspended pending hazing charges was Tau Kappa Epsilon. That suspension has since been lifted and the Office of Student Conduct is not issuing any charges, according to John Mountz, director of Greek Life.
Dave Westol, the executive director to Theta Chi fraternity and keynote speaker at "Hazing on Trial," delivered a fiery speech about the negative aspects of hazing in the Greek community.
"If hazing truly worked, our hazing chapters would be the best," Westol said. "Instead, they're the worst."
Westol went on to compare the mentality fraternity members have about their pledges to being "human PlayStations," by explaining that brothers have fun at the expense of the pledges.
"Hazers are not complete people," Westol said. "Hazers lie."
According to Westol, the entire pledging process is a lie if hazing is involved. He said that when a brother that hazes tells a pledge he will always be there for him, he only means he'll be there until he hazes him.
"I love fraternities and sororities -- it's my job," Westol said. "But I know this -- every case I've seen in hazing is lacking that one person to stand up and say it's wrong."
While the fiery nature of the presentation got the attention of the audience, some disagreed with Westol's tactics.
"Yelling at a group of college students doesn't seem like the best way to solve a hazing problem," Kelly Schwartz, a junior in communication, said. "He tried to get through to the audience by yelling, yet that's what he was criticizing fraternities for doing to their pledges."
While the growing number of hazing incidents on campus do seem to have students concerned, everyone agrees that the solution to the problem will be no small feat.
"Hazing has become a pressing issue on campus that needs to be addressed in order for Greek Life to improve," Tyler Helikson, a sophomore in communication, said. "[Westol] made some examples that hit home with a lot of Greek organizations, however noticeable change is going to take time."
Westol concluded by explaining that hazing hasn't changed much over the years and it's going to take people stepping up and admitting that hazing is indeed wrong for a change to take place.
"One of the casualties of hazing is that you think it's a secret -- it's not," Westol said. "You're dumb if you think it is."
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