It’s Time to End Fraternities for Good September, 22 2014 in Clemson, SC Tucker Hipps passed away from an alleged hazing incident. Hipps, a sophomore at Clemson University, was pledging to Sigma Phi Epsilon and among his pledging period was forced by his fraternity “brothers” to walk along the railing of a bridge where he slipped and fell into the water. Shortly after the accident, his body was found floating along the water of Lake Hartwell. “Cindy and Gary Hipps lost their only son in a senseless way” (Mayo). If one death from hazing is not enough for colleges to take real action, this week alone a student from LSU, Maxwell Gruver, was forced to drink by his fraternity brothers resulting in death of alcohol poisoning. “Gruver’s blood …show more content…
So why am I so concerned about it? Because there is no change being done. This issue is so important to me because now, being a student in college with friends in college as well, it is prevalent in my life. I know what many people are thinking, putting an end to fraternities won’t necessarily put an end to hazing or rape, but it is still an abundant issue and leading cause of death occurring at most colleges. Granted, there are many cases were hazing, also known as bullying, takes place in everyday occasions, as noted, it is most prevalent within fraternities. I am aware that there are precautions to hazing incidents, such as the hazing form on the colleges website, but to me it makes more sense to unload a gun than shoot at a bullet proof vest. So, with that, put an end to fraternities now instead of waiting for another death to motivate the movement.
Along with hazing, there have been many sexual assaults reported against women by college fraternity brothers. According to Jessica Valenti in her article, “Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in 5 women are sexually assaulted on campus. Should we ban frats?” she states three sexual assaults that were reported last year in one Texas fraternity (Valenti). That is three assaults too many. Along with that at Georgia Tech, our neighboring state school, a frat brother sent out an email strictly designed to learn to “Lure your
In February 2017, Tim Piazza died as a result of hazing within his fraternity. In the article “Death at a Penn State Fraternity”, Caitlin Flanagan summarizes the death and events beforehand that made the death occur. She also gives insight as to other occurrences in other fraternities along with at Penn State. Throughout the article, Flanagan seems to rely on life being valuable and that life should not be cut short for social reasons within one’s control. Caitlin Flanagan provides meaningful commentary to help others realize the dangers affiliated with hazing and other “social norms”.
The chapter “ Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why are some fraternities more dangerous places for women?” by A. Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade helps to shed light on why some fraternities are associated with high number of sexual assaults on women. I was surprised to learn that “frat brothers rape 300% more and 1 in 5 women are raped on campus” (Valenti, 2014) and despite these horrendous statistics fraternities are still around. So why aren’t there more stringent actions set into motion to stop sexual assaults on women on campus or better yet ban fraternities. A lot has to do with how society as a whole sets double standards with regard to gender sexuality. Men who sleep around are viewed as “studs” or a “player” and women who sleep
Death at a Penn State Fraternity is an article written by Caitlin Flanagan discussing the tragic death of a student. Flanagan touches on how Tim Piazza, former Penn State student, died and how his death was handled by other students and the University. Her article spreads awareness of fraternity hazing and lack of humanity. When one searches “fraternity hazing,” Tim Piazza’s story is not the first story on the page. In fact, someone might have to search through numerous hazing deaths and accidents to something written about him.
By using a collection of interviews and recollections, the audience receives both sides about the truth of fraternities while lacking any sort of bias. Throughout the article you made it clear that a solution to ether side was impossible; therefore the focal purpose is to teach students, parents, professors, or community residents about fraternities. The absence of a possible resolution leaves a window for any reader’s interpretation.
While Ithaca College’s Greek life scene was vibrant in the seventies and eighties, a number of hazing scandals occurred in the 80s. These scandals were brought to national attention following the hazing related death of one student. Because of this, Ithaca College no longer recognizes any social or service fraternities and sororities. Students who are interested in joining a social fraternity or sorority are able to rush at neighboring Cornell
One of the main reasons I was initially interested in Delta Sigma Pi was the professional aspect of it and how it focused on skill development and cultivating a better future. Although I have come to find over the past semester and a half that there is so much more to the fraternity than just that, business professionalism is still the fundamental cornerstone of this organization.
To some fraternity and sorority chapters hazing may be a way of group bonding and teaching respect, it is not indispensable. Hazing has been going on for quite amount of time, and banning organization who haze will make other chapters want to inflict pain and humiliation to their own pledges. Not only does is lead to a physical and mental breakdown path, but it also weakens the students and strips them of their power. Studies have shown that there are in fact fraternity and sorority chapters who believe that hazing is unnecessary, degrading and view it as juvenile, do not haze their members and perform true Greek rituals. Those chapters reported to become popular on campuses and did not see a loss in member loyalty and respect (Lowery). Fraternity
In the United States, fraternities and sororities have been using hazing rituals as part of their pledging processes. Death, injury, and suspensions have all been a result of this action. Greek life has been one of the most influential subjects in multiple universities today. Typically we see the positives of Greek Organizations in media and from universities, but the negative outcomes are typically left behind the curtain. In most cases, organizations have their houses on campus. The controversy comes from these organizations getting away with the harmful actions and universities not taking action. Are these rituals ethical or not?
The binge drinking and partying of fraternities and sororities is now under the concern of the chapter locally and nationally. Every year there is a national hazing awareness week that every fraternity and sorority on every campus in America participates in. The only way to fix the problem is the educate people about the problem. To outweigh the heavy expense on a member’s pocket is the ability to apply for scholarships within a fraternity or sorority nationally. A Greek organization offers aid when needed and if cannot solely help look for other outlets for financial aid for a member. Organizations focus on education and give endless resources to members within the house and on campus. Members of Greek organizations have so much potential to become well-rounded individuals and being in these organizations helps them shape these potentials to achieve the most success as
First off, colleges and universities should ban Greek life on campuses for obvious reasons, the first being rape culture. Sexual violence is not something to be swept under the rug and brushed off. It continues to be a massive problem everywhere in America, and colleges are no exception. An article by The Guardian states, “Frat brothers rape 300% more. One in five women are sexually assaulted on campus” (Valenti, 2014). Looking at that statistic in real terms, 20% of females on a college campus will be sexually assaulted before they graduate. This evidence clearly
I love you.'” (qtd. in “HAZING AT COLLEGE FRATERNITIES”) This was the last conversation that Mrs. Culolias ever had with her son before his life was taken after a tragic incident at a fraternity party. After consuming an enormous amount of alcohol, days later, Jack Culolias was found at a nearby river. “The coroner determined that his drowning was an accident caused by heavy drinking and hypothermia” (“HAZING AT COLLEGE FRATERNITIES”). Jack’s death was a result of the fraternity and they hold responsibility for allowing his death to occur. While looking deeper into this subject, there are many other hazing allegations that ultimately have led to a death in some way. At the University of Albany, a student was forced, through a pledging ritual, to drink a gallon of alcohol of his choice. After that night, he was found dead due to alcohol poisoning (“UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY”). It shocks me that with multiple counts of deaths occurring in fraternities all across the United States, nothing is really being done to solve this issue. Without immediate attention, fraternities will continue to affect these pledges by either scarring them for life or even worse, being the sole reason for their
Though some members in a fraternity or sorority may be against what is happening to these individuals, the codes of secrecy and brotherhood/sisterhood are so strong that they fear to break them and come forward to report these acts (Ruffins 18). Lydia Bradley, a strong advocate of anti-hazing laws and national speaker for
Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an “underground” activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these
Basing the research on one single school, and on one single year, gives very little “accurate” information. There needs to be a diversification of the database to consider these numbers and these statements to be valid. Male victims should also be taken into account when tallying the numbers. The article focusses mainly on women being sexually abused by men, but there is a big possibility that men were also targets of sexual assaults, and them being male doesn’t make it any less relevant. This alternative side to the problem should be presented and further looked in to in hopes of not only bringing awareness to the issue of male sexual assault, but also of getting the proper numbers and the most accurate information out there to the public. All in all, the article brings up many issues regarding sexual assault on females, specifically those brought on by drinking and partying at fraternities, but there is a lot more information to gather concerning this issue: sexual abuse on men, rapes occurring for other reasons, fraternities’ rights, etc. A mix of education and awareness as well as bigger sanctions needs to be imposed when these events occur in hopes of bringing these elevated numbers
Recently, the idea of partaking in a fraternity has become more prevalent. Young adults are captivated with wanting to live the Greek life. The clothes and parties seem to drawn in teens like a magnet. However what these teens do not realize is the terrible things associated with fraternities. Many fraternities have a reputation for turning college students into drunks, treating women vulgarly, enacting violent hazing against other fraternity members and disrupting the true reason why students go to college. For these reasons fraternities should be banned altogether on college campuses.