A look at hazing in Ohio

ILLUSTRATIONS BY OLIVIA JUENGER

One Bad Seed

JILLIAN CRAIG SENIOR WRITER

The following report includes content about alcohol use and acts of physical violence.

Since 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 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 defi nition of “anything that someone would do to gain membership into a fraternity that goes against their personal moral code.” Uqdah said, however, because his defi nition 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 desire people have to belong to groups. On top of wanting to be part of a group, insuffi cient justifi cation 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 insuffi cient justifi cation comes in.”

Cognitive dissonance is when a person’s actions do not align with a person’s personal beliefs. Insuffi cient justifi cation 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

loyalty and positive feelings towards the group. It’s a little weird,” Hoyt said. “And then I think it persists because what happens is one student had to go through this to get into this group. And so they assume, ‘Well, these other students should have to go through something similar to get into this group,’ and then it becomes, ‘Not only should they go through something similar, but we should make it a little more extreme.’”

And although hazing is a risk, people join those organizations because there is usually a positive aspect presented, Hoyt said.

Hazing is not confi ned to OU, though. Other universities of similar size in Ohio have experienced their fair share of hazing incidents as well.

At University of Toledo, Megan Stoops, the outgoing panhellenic president and a senior studying psychology, also never witnessed hazing.

“I don’t think that there were instances where there was hazing. I think it was rather endangerment of people,” Stoops said. “And that was like my freshman year, so I don’t really know of something specifi c.”

Stoops said there’s a zero-tolerance policy at UT when it comes to hazing and said there’s been increased education on hazing and increased accountability in addition to the anonymous reporting options available.

“I think that’s really benefi ted our community because not only are we more mindful of one another and holding each other accountable, (but) it’s forever ingrained in our community now,” Stoops said. “I think that is a benefi t for us specifi cally because keeping one another accountable (and) keeping us safe is a huge part of how the community can fl ourish: by holding each other to the same standard that we would hold our friends.”

Between 2010 and 2020, UT received three reports of hazing that the university found violated the student code of conduct.

After the death in 2021 of Stone Foltz after a hazing ritual at Pi Kappa Alpha, also known as PIKE, at Bowling Green State University, Anna Lipinski, a freshman studying nursing and a member of Kappa Delta at BGSU, said it revealed the seriousness of hazing.

“I think that having that incident happen, and seeing how it affected his parents and his girlfriend at the time and his friends and everything, I think it really shed light on what hazing is and how it can go to an extreme and how it can be fatal in the end,” Lipinski said.

PIKE was expelled from campus in 2021 after Foltz’s death. Prior to his death, the fraternity had two allegations of hazing in 2018, one of which included forced consumption of alcohol. The two allegations, however, were not supported after further questioning and investigation.

Before the semester even started, Lipinski said she was required to complete modules on hazing and drinking awareness. During her BGSU freshman orientation, Lipinski was given information on resources to contact if someone is being hazed, and during her potential new member orientation, the same information and resources were presented. After joining, Lipinski’s sorority president also held a seminar on hazing.

“I felt more comfortable with having that freshman orientation and talking about how … if there’s any signs of hazing going around, ‘Please report it and everything,’” Lipinski said. “So, I feel like it really depends on the college that you go to, but I felt very comfortable.”

Between 2017 and 2021, BGSU received 24 hazing reports, and six of the reports received sanctions.

At Kent State, Luke Schiopota, a junior studying exercise physiology, said his fraternity does not have a pledging process, so new members do not have to prove their worth to be included.

“They’re initiated right away, and they’re equal to all the other brothers that are already in the fraternity, so that just completely eliminates the factor of hazing altogether for us,” Schiopota said.

Schiopota said his fraternity attended hazing seminars and learned about the new hazing laws.

“For my fraternity, it defi nitely is a big factor for us, (and) that’s kind of one of our main selling points when we’re recruiting,” Schiopota said. “We like to make sure that people know that there’s no opportunity that you’re going to be hazed in our fraternity.”

Schiopota was not aware of any hazing cases at Kent State specifi cally but was aware of hazing at other schools based on what was being reported in the news.

Kent State’s offi ce of student conduct does not keep records past seven years, Stephanie Jones, special assistant in the offi ce of general counsel at Kent State, said in an email, so there was no data from 2010–2013 to share. Additionally, the offi ce of student code and conduct was not in charge of records of investigations until 2017 because they were facilitated through the center for student involvement. Kent State had three records of hazing from 2016–2019.

Hoyt said clear messaging from universities, such as clear zero-tolerance policies and harsher penalties for hazing, would be effective in hazing prevention, in addition to educating students on the topic.

“If you aren’t trying to educate the students about it and their parents and the faculty and staff, then that’s when more things fl y under the radar,” Hoyt said. “And I think penalties have to be there. Because when people get in groups, they sometimes forget about things, and they’ll do things that are somewhat unusual that they certainly wouldn’t typically ever do just by themselves.”

In general, Ohio colleges in the MAC have issued punishments, also known as “sanctions,” when an organization is found in violation of the student code of conduct. Examples include disciplinary probation, suspension for a specifi ed period of time, mandatory education, required fees and required paperwork, such as new member materials.

Hank Nuwer, author and professor emeritus at Franklin College, put together a database of hazing cases, which includes high school and college hazing cases dating as far back as 1838.

“The fi rst hazing death that I could fi nd in a school was 1838, and the fi rst fraternity 1873,” Nuwer said. “I think the fact that in my research there was a death every year from 1959 until 2019 says an awful lot.”

Nuwer said a combination of clear, stringent anti-hazing laws and continued information on the effects of hazing on others would be benefi cial in hazing prevention.

“I don’t think we can stop hazing, but my whole career has been aimed at least stopping the deaths and serious injuries,” Nuwer said. “I think that’s a buy-in we should be able to get from all undergrads.”

Uqdah said every organization has a group of people who try to push the limits of what is allowed, and a conversation needs to happen with those people.

“I always go back to the ‘one bad seed’ thing because, one, it’s funny,” Uqdah said. “You can say that for every organization, but it’s those fi ve people that are in a chapter that are always trying to push the envelope further. Those are the people that need to be sat down and have a conversation.”

@JILLIANCRAIG18

JC986517@OHIO.EDU

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