Videoconference searches for ways to end fraternity and sorority hazing
Washington — Why are Black students continuing to hurt — and even
kill — each other in the name of fraternity/sorority brotherhood and
sisterhood? What are the dynamics that keep this outlawed tradition
alive among Black Greeks? Is it just a Black problem? Why is it that
such incidents elude the supposedly vigilant eyes of fraternal
organizations and college administrators? These were but a few of the
questions explored by a panel of experts in a live videoconference
entitled, Broken Pledges: Fraternities and Sororities at the Crossroads.
The videoconference, the first of a series sponsored by Black
Issues In Higher Education for the 1998-99 academic year, was moderated
by James Adams, a news anchor with NBC-TV-4 in Washington, D.C.
Panelists included: Hank Nuwer, author of the book Broken Pledges; Dr.
Earl Richardson, president of Morgan State University; Dr. Gloria R.
Scott, president of Bennett College; Michael W. Gordon, executive
director of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Inc., the umbrella
organization for predominantly Black fraternities and sororities;
Maureen Syring, assistant director of Delta Gamma Foundation; Douglas
E. Fierberg, attorney-at-law who has prosecuted many hazing incidents;
and Dr. Walter Kimbrough, director of student activities and leadership
at Old Dominion University.
According to Black Issues correspondent Paul Ruffins, who has done
extensive research on the subject, one reason hazing persists is that
many fraternity and sorority members don’t consider new members to be
true members unless they have been properly inducted. And to many,
“induction” includes hazing.
To get around the pan-Hellenic council restrictions placed on the
hazing of pledges — students seeking admission to Greek-life
organizations — students are now being hazed after they have become
members of the fraternity, as was the case in a recent incident at the
University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES). Despite the National
Pan-Hellenic Council’s 1990 ban on hazing, last spring six (UMES)
students who were already inducted into the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity
were hospitalized for injuries to their buttocks — the results of a
paddling ritual. One of the students had to undergo surgery to remove
gangrenous flesh. (See Black Issues, June 25)
The practice was defended by a student who said that, for the most
part, students who he knew didn’t see anything wrong with hazing.
“They know what to expect before they pledge,” the student said. “I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
