Michigan proposes hazing ban

Pledging a greek organization can mean several things, but for some fraternities at some colleges, initiation procedures can get out of control.\nA recent event on the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor campus raised the question of "hazing" after a Sigma Chi pledge was hospitalized for kidney failure due to lack of sleep and over-worked muscles. However, due to laws in Michigan, this is not a crime because the pledge consented.\nMichigan is now proposing a law that will make hazing a crime, punishable by up to 20 years in prison if the hazing results in death. Consent would not be a factor.\nAccording to the Detroit Free Press, during Sept. 10-12, the eight pledges to the Sigma Chi fraternity at U-M were taunted. They were ordered to crawl on bare hands and feet over a basement floor littered with shards of broken beer bottles and had to do up to 1,000 push-ups. And they were deprived of adequate amounts of sleep, water and food.\nAccording to a police report obtained Wednesday by the Free Press, one pledge got sick the second day but refused to drop out because the pledges were told that if one gave up, none of them could join the house.\nIf an event such as this were to occur at IU, action would be taken depending on the case. \n"A fraternity that's in the situation of the chapter in Michigan's national organization, the University and the interfraternity council would examine the incident along with the greek judicial board," said Evan Waldman, president of IU's Interfraternity Council. "There are too many 'what ifs' attached to situations like these to determine one specific corrective action that would be taken. Incidents like these are taken case by case."\nIndiana does have hazing laws, and there have been such cases in IU's past.\n"We haven't had anything similar to that specific event (at U-M), but there has certainly been hazing, and a case of two students being hospitalized in the past," Dean of Students Richard McKaig said. \nAccording to www.stophazing.org, a Web site explaining Indiana's anti-hazing laws, hazing is defined as "forcing or requiring another person (to do something) with or without the consent of the other person; and as a condition of association with a group or organization, to perform an act that creates a substantial risk of bodily injury."\nIn order to prevent similar situations from occurring on IU's campus, highly esteemed speakers are brought in to the IFC at least once a semester to discuss some of the harsh realities in fraternity history, Waldman said.\n"There are several councils such as IFC and the Panhellenic Association that have educational programs," said McKaig. "When students join fraternities or sororities, they sign a form that acknowledges hazing as a notification process."\nThere are only eight states that still don't have anti-hazing laws. However, it is difficult to determine what is considered hazing and most incidents are not taken seriously, Waldman said.\n"Unfortunately, most people look at these types of situations as no big deal until someone gets hurt," Waldman said. "In similar cases in the past, fraternity members had no intention of harming their new members, but there are simply too many unforeseeable factors that come into the mix."\nAn anti-hazing law would simply make all forms of hazing illegal -- not just in fraternities but in any organization.\n"Michigan should have an anti-hazing law," Waldman said. "Hazing takes place on too many levels today. Greek letter organizations are by no means the only organizations where hazing can occur. Being a member of athletic teams, co-curricular clubs, or even being a freshman at some schools warrants hazing. In today's society, everyday life brings plenty of emotional, mental and physical burdens; yet we still insist on putting more weight on each other."\n-- Contact staff writer Lee Cleary at lgcleary@indiana.edu.