One Bad Seed
ILLUSTRATIONS BY OLIVIA JUENGER
JILLIAN CRAIG SENIOR WRITER The following report includes content about alcohol use and acts of physical violence.
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ince the death of Collin Wiant, an Ohio University student, in 2018 and the subsequent passing of Collin’s Law in 2021, hazing in colleges remains in the spotlight in the state of Ohio. In 2019, OU’s Greek life organizations, in addition to the Marching 110 and the men’s rugby club, received cease and desist orders as the university investigated allegations of hazing. Through the years, other Greek life organizations, like Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, alongside other organizations across campus, like the OU men’s club soccer team and waterpolo team, have all faced hazing allegations, according to previous Post reports. Other schools, like those in the 12 / APRIL 14, 2022
Mid-American Conference in Ohio, including Kent State University, Miami University, Bowling Green State University, University of Akron and University of Toledo, have also had hazing allegations in the years before and since 2019. Beau Uqdah, a senior studying integrated language arts at OU, joined Phi Delta Theta in fall 2019. Uqdah held various leadership positions within the organization and said he has not witnessed any hazing based on his definition of “anything that someone would do to gain membership into a fraternity that goes against their personal moral code.” Uqdah said, however, because his definition is so broad, it is likely someone could consider an act or situation to be hazing that he personally might not. “Everything that I hear is always like hearsay, until there’s a document or a group chat that is leaked where it’s without a doubt what this chapter is doing on this campus,”
Uqdah said. When it came to forced drinking, Uqdah said he heard of that being a part of other organizations, too. Uqdah’s fraternity was given a hazing module from OU to complete, which went over what hazing looks like, what the warning signs are and what hazing is. The depth of educating one’s fraternity on hazing depends on the organization, Uqdah said. For his fraternity, the national chapter also provides materials. “From the school’s perspective, they introduced the UC 1500 class, which is ‘Intro to Sorority and Fraternity Life,’” Uqdah said. “That allows students a voice away from their organization to hear about what hazing might look like.” Sandra Hoyt, a professor of instruction within the psychology department at OU, said there are multiple factors that go into why hazing happens, but the basis is the de-
sire people have to belong to groups. On top of wanting to be part of a group, insufficient justification plays a role. “Not even just getting the hazing, but if you get into groups (that are) really hard to get into, you had to really work hard to do that. Afterward, you say to yourself, ‘Well, why did I really do this?’’ Hoyt said. “And it’s all about cognitive dissonance, which is where the insufficient justification comes in.” Cognitive dissonance is when a person’s actions do not align with a person’s personal beliefs. Insufficient justification is a theory that states people are more likely to participate in an act that goes against their personal beliefs when offered a small reward instead of a large reward. Because an individual cannot change their behavior to affect a new outcome, they will choose to change their attitude, Hoyt said. “So hazing, even though it can take on some terrible forms, has this ability to build
