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Sam McCartney

ENG 112

Research Project

4/18/23

Hazing: Popularity Contest or Death Sentence?

Hazing is very overlooked. Never talked about. Yet, there have been at least 100 hazing

related deaths since 1970. Why isn’t this issue talked about more often? Hazing is an initiation

practice or ceremony into a specific group or organization. Hazing rituals range from harmless

pranks to life threatening behaviors that can be seen as criminal assault or abuse. College is

supposed to be a safe environment to further your education and life experiences. Parents never

assume that when they send their child off to college, their child could die from a tradition very

commonly used in fraternities. No parent should have to live with that fear, and no student

should have to face the possibility of death just to be a part of an organization.

In a New Jersey town, where classes started again in October 2014 for the first time since

seven high school football players were arrested on suspicion of abusing younger teammates

sexually, discussion centered on how well the state's anti-bullying rules applied to team sports.

The seven members of the renowned Sayreville War Memorial High team were accused of

acting inappropriately in relation to events that allegedly took place over a 10-day span. The state

of New Jersey is a national leader in combating the issue after passing an anti-bullying

legislation in 2002 and expanding it ever since. However, sports teams are not explicitly

mentioned in the laws. Richard Labbe, the superintendent of Sayreville, postponed the remaining

games of the school's football season due to the accusations. Due to a sexual penetration against

a team member, three of the students were accused with aggravated sexual assault, hazing, and
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other offenses. Charges of aggravated criminal sexual contact as well as other crimes were

brought against the other four students. The seven have all been put on hold. Since they are

children, none have been named. It is unknown if Sayreville's coaches were aware of the claimed

abuse or had reason to believe it was occurring. This case shows that hazing doesn’t only occur

in fraternities, but also sports teams. Even high school sports teams.

In Detroit 2003, high school student, Terrell Lavender, would be beaten in the buttocks

with a wooden paddle everyday for almost a month when he tried to join the Gamma Psi Nu funk

band at his high school. Terrell ended up suing the district because his band teacher led the

pledge process. In Michigan 2004, 12-year-old Garret Drogosch was forced to participate in

“eighth-grade hit day” to be able to play in the final football game of the season. Eighth grade hit

day was where all eighth graders on the team chose a seventh grader to tackle, without pads. The

seventh grader was not able to block or defend themselves or even move. Garret was chosen

three separate times during this “drill”. The coaches described this as a “tackling drill,” but

instead was very much hazing. Garret ended up breaking his right leg in two places. He spent

four days in the hospital and forgoed two surgeries to insert pins into his leg and would have

another later that year to remove the pins. At the time, Michigan was one of seven states that did

not have any hazing laws set in place. The senate was considering two introduced bills that

would make hazing a crime, even if the person consented to the hazing. If a hazing victim died,

the violator could face 20 years in prison.

Contrary to underage drinking, hazing includes a variety of forms of harassment,

including forced alcohol consumption and physical abuse of college students attempting to join

exclusive organizations like fraternities and sororities. The so-called Andrew's Law, which

grants legal immunity to anyone who provides aid to someone whose safety is threatened by
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hazing, even if they themselves were involved, went into effect in Florida in October 2019.

Before this provision, students who dialed 911 lacked any definite security. Additionally, the

state broadened the meaning of hazing victims to include current and former fraternity members.

The legislation is named in honor of Andrew Coffey, a Florida State University student who

passed away in 2017 from alcohol poisoning following a Pi Kappa Phi party on "Big Brother

Night." Fraternity brothers texted each other for 11 minutes before calling for assistance after he

was discovered without a pulse the following morning. In the Coffey case, five pupils admitted

to misdemeanor hazing, and an undisclosed amount for a civil lawsuit in court was settled. New

health and safety regulations were put into effect by the North American Interfraternity

Conference in September 2019. A prohibition on alcohol with a proof of 15% or higher at the

majority of fraternity gatherings is one of the new rules. The recommendations reaffirm federal

laws, such as abstaining from using illegal drugs.

Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, halted the marching band, three sororities, a business

co-ed fraternity, and 15 chapters of the Interfraternity Council over the course of 2 weeks in

October 2019. In the previous year, Nicholas Cumberland, a junior at the University of Texas at

Austin, passed away in the fall of 2018 from injuries sustained in a car accident after attending

an overnight initiation retreat for the Texas Cowboys, a registered spirit group governed by

alumni. According to the University of Texas, an investigation into the group discovered

evidence that they were paddling, confining students, and forcing them to consume illegal

substances. The group was put on hold for six years, with the prospect of restarting discussions

by 2022. Maxwell Gruver, a student at Louisiana State University, passed away in 2017 after

participating in a Phi Delta Theta ritual dubbed "Bible Study." Maxwell had a blood alcohol

level six times the legal driving limit when he passed away. One former student was found guilty
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of negligent homicide, and two others received $100 in fines and 30 days in prison for hazing.

Tragically, the new rule did not apply to their trials.

Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo has been trying to pass a law since 2006 to increase

universities' reports of any hazing going on. Even after 10 deaths since 2000, they finally passed

the bill in 2020. But that has not stopped any acts of hazing. The semester prior to passing the

bill, according to the university’s report, the University of Texas at Austin put Delta Upsilon on

probation until May 2021 for forcing pledges to drink two handles of liquor at an off-campus

retreat. The entire reason Greek Life organizations were created were to form

brotherhoods/sisterhoods, scholarships and philanthropy. These values are no longer the reason

for these fraternities and sororities. The law mandates greater transparency in how universities

report hazing to the public and was championed by state senator Judith Zaffirini, who began

advocating for its passage in 2006. Additionally, it broadened the meaning of hazing in law to

include forced drug and alcohol use. Hazing continues unabated in defiance of the new laws.

According to a story from the University of Texas at Austin, Delta Upsilon was placed on

probation for "subjecting new members to calisthenics" and encouraging them to share two

handles of alcohol during an off-campus retreat.

In 2018, an ASU frat engaged in a series of hazing events during "Hell Week," which

almost resulted in the death of an 18-year-old freshman pledge. He was tortured, deprived of

sleep, made to eat candy that was covered in feces, and consume copious quantities of alcohol.

He was physically injured permanently as a result of the incident. The goal of college is for

young lives to thrive, not end there. Torture or death shouldn't be the cost of looking for a little

company. It is insane that there needs to be a law implemented. But in actuality, we DO require

such a rule to exist. Arizona was one of only six states without criminal penalties for bullying.
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Well not anymore. September 2022 marked the implementation of Jack's Law, which comes at a

time when many college freshmen are debating entering a fraternity or sorority. Along with

holding the Greek system accountable, they also collaborated on a new legislation that outlaws

hazing in Arizona with state representative John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills. In addition to

potentially fatal outcomes, many hazing events leave young people with permanent mental and

physical scars.

Forty-four states, including Virginia, have anti-hazing laws set in place. These laws still

have not restricted fraternities and black organizations enough to put an end to hazing. There are

still many fraternities and organizations getting suspended from colleges due to this issue. Hank

Nuwer, journalist and author, reported that since 1970 there have been more than 100 hazing

related deaths at colleges and universities in the US. Nuwer also stated that 90% of hazing is not

reported. Hank Nuwer bemoans the fact that a lot of young men consider hazing to be "a

requirement for manhood." Many supporters claim that the fraternal society, fundraising, and

volunteerism outweigh the negative traits. However, more and more people are making

connections between the high-profile fatal instances and are blaming the fraternity hazing

culture.

The difficulty is in the stillness. The majority of college students engaged in clubs, teams,

and organizations experience hazing, but 95% never report it, according to a 2008 study by

researchers at the University of Maine. The conspiracy of silence is the percentage of the cases

where students identified their experience as hazing, but they did not report events to campus

officials. The reality that many members of these groups believe the tactic to be ineffective but

still effective serves to exacerbate this. The weak are separated from the powerful by it. The

pledges are going through a forced group trauma, and that helps them connect. And those who
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have been hazed frequently view it as a test of tenacity and take a perverse pleasure in their

tenacity.

Works Cited

Andu, Naomi. "To End Hazing, Students Must Be Individually Punished or Prosecuted..." Texas

Tribune, 11 Feb. 2020. SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2372331507?accountid=3785.

Blow, Charles M. "The Brutal Side of Hazing." The New York Times, 10 Dec. 2011, p. A25(L).

Gale in Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A274558288/GIC?

u=vbcps&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=dc3d5f7f. Accessed 27 Jan. 2023.

Coronado, Acacia. "Test for Colleges This Fall: Does Criminalizing Hazing Tame..." Wall Street

Journal Online, 12 Oct. 2019. SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2315343326?accountid=3785.

Culolias, Grace, and Pat Mcgroder. "No One Should Have to Die Trying to Join a Fraternity."

Arizona Capitol Times, 6 Sept. 2022. SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2732787286?accountid=3785.

Fuller, Cricket. "Virginia State Student Deaths Renew Debate over Hazing Abuse." Christian

Science Monitor, 25 Apr. 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2263513608?accountid=3785.

Porter, David, and Joseph Frederick. "New Jersey Hazing Arrests Put Focus on Policies."

Courier News, 13 Oct. 2014. SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265542240?accountid=3785.
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Quintana, Chris. "4 Frat Deaths This Month, 2 This Week Alone. What's Going On.." USA

Today (Online), 11/12 2019. ProQuest; SIRS Issues Researcher,

https://explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2327631401?

accountid=3785.

Scott, Melanie D. "Childhood Hazing's Legal, but It Hurts." Detroit Free Press, 7 Mar. 2004.

SIRS Issues Researcher,

explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2266256476?accountid=3785.