A New Policy on Hazing? by Jason Fonseca

A New Policy on Hazing for A New Policy on Hazing for A New Policy on Hazing for A New Policy on Hazing for A New Policy on Hazing for ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ ΚΚΨ and and and and and ΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ ΤΒΣ? ? ? ? ?

by Jason Fonseca Epsilon Upsilon/Kappa Kappa Psi

1. If you have to ask if it’s hazing, it is. 2. If in doubt, call your advisor/coach/national office. If you won’t pick up the phone, you have your answer. Don’t B.S. yourself. 3. If you haze, you have low self-esteem. 4. If you allow hazing to occur, you are a ‘hazing enabler.’ 5. Failure to stop hazing will result in death...

Will Keim, Ph.D., “The Power of Caring”

When I came to the University of Maine, Greek life was the furthest thing from my mind. There was no way that I was going to rush some frat when I knew full well what went on to a pledge. I heard stories too, of things that go on. Wearing dresses out on campus, eating out of some bucket filled with raw eggs and vomit, and paddling… No. I was going to college to prove who I was and who I could be, and I was not going to college to be ridiculed by a bunch of “paid friends.”

I joined the Marching Band up here and found that most of its members were in Kappa Kappa Psi or Tau Beta Sigma. There were some people who were gay or bisexual, some were complete nerds, and some seemed to get smashed almost every night. When I stepped onto that field that first day of band camp, I knew then that I had to accept everyone for who they were. “To each man his own,” I recalled hearing. And so it was. Some people were Greek, some were gay, and I accepted them all for whatever they wanted to do. I left my prejudices back home.

Well, I got to know many of the Brothers and Sisters and began to envy the relationship they had with each other. Being the only person from my High School to go to UMaine, I didn’t know anyone, and was eager for some friends. Finally they started talking about rushes. Many other first years were going, and they said there’d be ice cream, so why not? I went to the rush with nothing to lose. I knew what hazing was, and if they tried it, I’d walk. And then I’d do my best to get them in whatever trouble I could.

The first thing they did though, right after we all introduced ourselves, was to show a video on hazing. It talked about a student that died while being hazed. He was forced to drink way more than he should’ve and then do calisthenics. He threw up and choked to death on his own vomit. Everyone was so drunk that even if they knew how to save him, they couldn’t. And people who are pro-hazing actually believe that their “pledges” are never in any real harm? Well, that one died that day.1

Another great example is that of my ex-roommate. He was a pledge of a social fraternity, and I know for a fact he got hazed. I was still an MC (Membership Candidate) at the time, and we’d compare stories of our times with the two groups. He told me the story of the day he became a pledge. Here’s what I remember of it:

“So last night at about 9:00 we all went into the basement of the house blindfolded. They sat us in chairs and suddenly this loud music came on. When they took off our blindfolds there were three strippers right there in front of us! The brothers had all chipped in to get us strippers to start off our pledge period! Dude, I remember this hot one getting right in my face. It was awesome! Then later on she comes up to me, right? She tells me to pull down my pants and turn around. The chicks got a paddle but she liked me, so whatever. I did, and she nailed me! I winced, but I was, like, ‘Thank you, ma’am, may I have another?’”

While being paddled, male pledges have had their testes rupture from the impact. They will never have children.

What was so amazing about the example of my roommate is that he was so disillusioned by being hazed, he didn’t even realize he was being hazed! It’s like the battered wife who knows no other way but her abusive husband, so she clutches to him as all she knows or sees possible. My roommate didn’t know that you don’t have to be hazed to become a brother of a fraternity.

Advocates of hazing will say, “It teaches the pledges togetherness, communication, respect, courage, and a huge sense of accomplishment.”2 It amazes me that someone could actually believe that. I mean, what if this is how they instilled values in us in elementary school? Can you imagine a teacher forcing kids to eat onions, or get paddled, while the teacher is saying all the while, “This will make you strong! Don’t you feel togetherness? Don’t you respect each other now?” That thought disgusts me.

Think of all the prospective members you’re driving away by hazing. Hazing puts fear into your “pledges,” and the only

thing it does for unity is scare them into submission. Are the only people you want in your organization the kind of people who are too weak to defend themselves? People who aren’t strong enough to turn away? What kind of Brother is someone who says, “Yes sir, whatever you’d like, sir.” When you haze, it is the weak that stay, and the strong that walk away.

So now let’s talk about hazing in Kappa Kappa Psi. In our National Policy on Hazing it states “The Kappa Kappa Psi Fraternity & Tau Beta Sigma Sorority neither approves of nor is responsible for actions of members of local chapters which may result in injury to persons or damage to property.” Well, that’s just dandy. You don’t approve, nor do you accept responsibility.

But it’s happening.

So what do I do as a Brother who sees it happening in other chapters? Do I stand by, knowing full well what is happening, and say nothing? Or do I call my District President and tell him? It’s called “whistle blowing,” and what appears in our ΚΚΨ/ΤΒΣ policy is, well, there is no policy on it.

At West Point, the Cadets have a code of honor. It states: “A Cadet shall not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.” That is a policy on whistle blowing. It gives the Cadets the responsibility to do something about it, or they’re just as guilty. Am I less of a Brother because I haven’t said anything yet? No, but I know that Brothers who haze are less a Brother than I.

Here at the University of Maine, if you are caught cheating on a test, you can be thrown out of school. Can you imagine being tossed out of college for glancing on someone else’s paper on something as small as a 10-point quiz? That one point that you would’ve missed just cost you your degree. Incredible.

The University rationalizes this by saying that, “Cheating is an act of deception by which a student misrepresents that he/she has mastered information on an academic exercise that he/she has not mastered.” Is it really that farfetched to say that not to report a hazing chapter is also an act of deception? It is not farfetched at all. Hazing undermines the basic principles of brotherhood. We teach our MC’s to trust, and we teach them to love. How are we demonstrating this when we go up to them, the moment before initiation, and say, “We’re sorry, you will not become Brothers. You did not complete the requirements. Your class project was not good enough. You are not good enough for this Fraternity.”

And they cry. God, you just made your M.C.’s cry. How do you rationalize that? These are people you are about to call Brothers, and you undermine their trust in you, and in Kappa Kappa Psi. How do you build love and trust on that? Do you really believe that later that night, after what they’ve gone through, a big ol’ slap on the back and a “Just Kidding,” is gonna amount to anything? And yes, one of our chapters actually does this, and that’s just one example from the many chapters that haze.

On our National Web Page, there are 39 examples of hazing. My roommate’s experience fits these criteria: 7. Causing fatigue through physical or psychological shock. 14. Verbally addressing prospective members in a demeaning manner. 15. Misleading prospective members in an effort to convince them that they will not be initiated or that they will be hurt during initiation.

I gotta ask, guys, did you look at this list and just say, “Well damn! That looks like fun! Hey, Chuck, check out number 15! I bet I can make a good half of them cry too!” As Corresponding Secretary, I was very excited to get my chapter out there. I couldn’t wait to meet other brothers and get to know everyone across the district. We’ve met some great Brothers too, but, oh God, have we met some bad ones!

So let’s say we report these chapters, but what if they want to know where this accusation came from? There’s one more thing I want to talk about, and that’s anonymity. A huge problem with whistle-blowing policies is that if the accuser is named, repercussions may come down on them by the accused. In business, you can be fired for pointing out something you see as wrong. This is where the Fraternity and Sorority can take responsibility at a national level. They should not only encourage us to come forward with what’s going on, but to guarantee that our names won’t be let out. (Editor’s note: this is in fact the current policy and procedure of both National Councils and Headquarters staff.) If an M.C. or P.M. is being hazed, can you imagine what may happen to him or her if the chapter’s charter is revoked? They could be socially ostracized. That would be counterproductive, therefore the guarantee of anonymity is essential.

So hazing is happening, and we all know it. Now we need to act. There needs to be a whistle blowing policy and it needs to guarantee anonymity to the brothers, sisters or M.C.’s who report hazing. Brothers need to know what to do when we learn of things like this. The National Headquarters cannot wipe these lesser chapters of our roster unless they find out about it. You may find out for them on a road trip or by talking over the computer, and we need a policy that states that we can and should let the National Headquarters know about these Brothers that have fallen by the wayside.

I am a Brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, but as far as I’m concerned, if you haze, you are not my Brother, and you do not deserve to wear those letters. }

1 The Hazing Video/Flashback Version 2 “Prohazing Comments.” http://www.stophazing.org/pro-hazing/ 052200a.htm