Try again, Frat Inc.

Fraternity hazing isn’t a foreign concept to most college students. We’ve all heard the stories of forced binge drinking and physical abuse or read the headlines reporting on the reckless rituals some fraternities force their new members to complete to get initiated.

One of the largest fraternities in the nation, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, recently attempted to mitigate the issue of hazing. According to Bloomberg News, at least 10 students have died in SAE-related events, which is the highest death rate for a fraternity in the country.

In order to try and protect their members, as well as save some face, the national office eliminated its pledge process for good. According to a March 9 press release, men pledging SAE will no longer be forced to endure “servitude,” “memorizing obscure facts,” or “enduring physical challenges.”

Also according to the release, prospective members now have only 96 hours from the time they accept their bid to complete the requirements of membership, during which time they cannot be hazed.

The Editorial Board applauds Sigma Alpha Epsilon for stepping forward to protect their
members from direct physical or mental harm. It’s a step in the right direction of reforming the greek system to make it safer.

However, we find a major flaw in the larger logic behind the hazing ban. While hazing is prohibited during the 96-hour pledging period, there’s no explicit mention of parties or drinking. And since the national offices do not acknowledge that drinking occurs at their fraternities, it is not explicitly covered under “enduring physical challenges.”

While the specific hazing practices outlined in the new policy are banned, it begs the question of what fraternities will do to “test the worthiness” of their potential brothers.
If they don’t want to risk being caught by the national office, they’ll more than likely turn to finding ways to circumvent the new policy. And unfortunately — given the existing culture — drinking doesn’t seemed too far fetched as an option.

By condensing what used to be months of pledging — and by extension drinking — into potentially a four-day boozathon, the national office might have accidentally created a catch-22 situation.

SAE risks being seen as an organization that doesn’t care about the well-being of its members if it ignores the problem of hazing, but by not addressing drinking in its new policy, it risks doing the exact same.

The Editorial Board fully supports the effort to end hazing in greek chapters.
But the policy seems geared toward good PR and preventing further insurance liabilities rather than addressing the systemic dangers new members can encounter.

The potential for impressionable underclassmen to consume large amounts of alcohol in such a short timespan is still too risky to ignore.

But unfortunately, and primarily for insurance purposes, most national fraternities don’t even acknowledge that drinking — including underage drinking — occurs in their chapter houses on any given weekend. They simply look the other way until something happens.

The ignorance surrounding binge drinking in the new policy, whether inadvertent or not, is a major misstep in trying to end hazing.

It’s almost certain many more fraternities will follow SAE’s lead, given the generally positive response the organization has received. But, if fraternities are serious about tackling hazing, drinking must also be addressed.

We say national offices need to reevaluate their policies regarding drinking, otherwise they’re just putting a band-aid on a bullet wound.

opinion@idsnews.com
@ids_opinion