Andrew Lohse stepped forward as a whistleblower, detailing some of the abusive activity he and his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, engaged in. (Photo courtesy of St. Martin’s Press)
Now, two years later, he has authored Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy, his memoir of his rise and fall as a fraternity brother. Lohse claims SAE built its brotherhood on a foundation of brutal hazing and an enforced code of silence. He condemns the Dartmouth administration for tacitly condoning the abuses that go on in its powerful Greek system.
Before delving into the book, it is important to take note of Lohse’s biases as a narrator. By stepping forward as a whistleblower, he subjected his own character and reputation to intense public scrutiny. His excesses and run-ins with police authority are well documented online, and the memoir is a partial attempt to rationalize such behavior.
As a brother, Lohse also perpetuated the same abuses that he was a victim of initially. At times, the memoir appears to whitewash his own involvement in hazing activity, particularly when read in conjunction with police reports of some of the incidents he describes.
Finally, he abdicates personal responsibility for his own actions by blaming SAE and the college for creating an environment that “allowed” him to behave that way.
“When compared to hazing horror stories I’ve heard from colleges in the southeastern (United States) and even elsewhere at Dartmouth, I always viewed SAE’s pledge term as tame, fun and inclusive,” a former SAE brother who graduated from Dartmouth in 2012 tells Diverse via email. “Of all the brothers I’ve spoken to about pledge term, (Lohse) is the only one who does not remember that time with some degree of fondness, and the only one who seems to feel victimized by the experience.”
Dangerous culture
