Is Illegal Hazing Still Common Among American Fraternities?

All fraternities at American universities have a process of inviting new first-year university students to join their ranks, followed by a formal initiation ceremony. What does differ from one fraternity to another, however, is precisely what goes on during the initiation period and what prospective new members—often called “pledges”—have to do in order to gain admission. While just about all major American universities explicitly ban fraternities from hazing potential recruits, it is difficult to determine what actually goes on behind the closed doors of fraternity houses, where critics believe the forced consumption of alcohol, abuse, physical violence and humiliation sometimes still occur. Hazing may have been rejected and even banned in the past two decades, but after numerous scandals appeared in the media, it is clear that some fraternities still humiliate their pledges and put their in harm’s way, before offering them admission.

A short history of fraternities
In order to understand why hazing was once so prevalent on American university campuses and why it almost certainly still exists today, we have to examine the history of secret societies. Fraternities are based on the idea of “brotherhood” and very close, almost familial ties between members. In fact, fraternity members will often refer to their colleagues as “brothers.” All families have secrets, and fraternities are no exception. The first fraternity to use ancient Greek letters—something which remains to this very day a hallmark of fraternities--was the Phi Beta Kappa Society, based in Williamsburg, Virginia and formed in 1776. Archival documents show that Phi Beta Kappa began initiating pledges in 1777 and that after passing through these rites, members were informed of the group’s secret greeting. This secret “salute” included clapping one’s hand, and then wiping the back of one’s hand over one’s mouth.

Fraternities arose on dozens of American university campuses during the 19^th century and the secretive nature of these groups fascinated the public, especially following the sudden disappearance of William Morgan, a Freemason, who published some of the most closely guarded secrets of Freemasonry. Some people believed that Morgan might have been abducted or killed for revealing Freemasonry’s secrets. After this incident, an almost cult-like interest developed in fraternities, which were often inspired by Freemasonry. The number of fraternities operating in the US grew dramatically during the 1880s and even more so during the first decades of the twentieth century. In fact, fraternity membership reached an all-time high in the 1950s. The popularity of fraternities took somewhat of a hit during the 1960s, when conforming to rules and regulations was replaced by a counter-culture which questioned authority. Yet the fact that most American presidents were fraternity members during their college days—including Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and his son, George W. Bush—only increased the appeal of Greek Letter Societies among first-year students and this appeal exists to this very day. Until very recently, most were quite willing to go through humiliating and sometimes dangerous hazing routines, just to gain admission.

The allure of fraternities
Many first year university students are attracted to fraternities, because these organizations are seen as offering a range of benefits for students. Eighteen year old students who have left their parents for the first time often find themselves on large, seemingly foreign college campuses, far away from home. Fraternities provide a sense of community, belonging and a whole range of social events for these students. In fact, some young freshmen join fraternities out of pressure, or the fear that they will otherwise not be able to make friends or even attract a girlfriend. Two other reasons for joining a fraternity are based on purely pragmatic grounds. The largest, very well-established fraternities offer their members a place to live while at university and many students are also attracted by the important professional or political connections that they expect to make by meeting fraternity alumni.

Fatal fraternities
Every fraternity initiates their pledges, and some of these practices are relatively harmless. For example, the international Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity asks potential members to participate in charitable activities and to study the organization’s history. But some of the local, smaller fraternities still continue the worst traditions of hazing, sometimes resulting in fatal consequences. American journalist and fraternity expert Hank Nuwer wrote a book on hazing in the 1990s and discovered that the practice of humiliating pledges and making them do dangerous stunts as part of their admission to a fraternity resulted in at least 50 deaths in the US alone. One of the most well-known cases was that of college student and athlete Chuck Stenzel. Stenzel died during a hazing ritual at Alfred University, when his fraternity brothers forced him to drink dangerously large quantities of alcohol. According to reports, Stenzel died of alcohol poisoning. The circumstances of Stenzel’s death were horrific. The fraternity initiation involved locking Stenzel in the trunk of a car along with another pledge and forcing them to consume a bottle of Jack Daniels, six cans of beer and a large amount of wine. Stenzel’s fraternity brothers took the boys in the trunk for a ride and told them that they must consume all of the alcohol by the time the automobile came to a stop. Although Stenzel survived the car ride and drinking binge, he died after being forced to consume even more alcohol at the fraternity house.



Those who have studied hazing-related deaths note that there has been at least one casualty each year for the past three to four decades. One of the most recent incidents occurred at California’s Chico State University, where 21 year old Matthew Carrington died following his initiation in February 2005. Carrington had been a member of ChicoState’s Chi Tau Fraternity, which some had already suspected of engaging in dangerous hazing activities.

When Carrington was hazed during “Hell Week,” he and other pledges were led down to the basement of the fraternity’s house. The pledges were forced to sleep in cubby holes cut out from the basement’s wall for several days during the infamous Hell Week. Once in the basement, Carrington was forced to do exercises in several inches of raw sewage.

According to court documents, older fraternity members threatened and stoked fear in the young college students for hours, pouring cold water on their bodies and running a ventilator a few metres from them. They even had them take off their shoes and shirt, so as to make them even colder. While Carrington and one of his mates were performing the forced exercises, they were forced to drink several litres of water. Even after the boys started vomiting and urinating all over themselves, the Chi Tau brothers continued their merciless hazing routine. Carrington, however, eventually collapsed and began having seizures. It was too late by the time an ambulance took him to the hospital, because Carrington’s heart had stopped beating and doctors determined that he died of water intoxication. Chi Tau was shut down after Carrington’s death and the fraternity house where the horror took place remains abandoned and boarded up. The shocking incident led California to adopt a piece of legislation called Matt’s Law, in memory of Carrington. The law means that those convicted of engaging in hazing now commit a felony offense and face a jail sentence. Gabriel Maestretti, the Chi Tau brother who led the initiation pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges and received a 12 month jail sentence. Several other fraternity brothers received jail sentences lasting from three to six months.

Contemporary hazing
While most hazing ritual do not result in deaths, absolutely all of them aim to humiliate and abuse pledges, or place them in dangerous and uncomfortable situations. Some of the more common hazing rites include spanking pledges with a wooden paddle, hosing them down with cold water, forced public nudity, and those who are hazed are often required to eat unpleasant food, such as raw eggs or hot chili peppers. Binge drinking is a very common form of hazing, and this usually means that pledges must consume large quantities of beer and hard liquor in a short period of time.

Nearly all universities in the US have rules that explicitly ban hazing and threaten fraternities with closure if they are found to engage in such activities. The problem, however, is that most incidents of hazing go unreported, due to vows of secrecy within fraternities and information only surfaces on what really goes on in frat houses when a fatality occurs. The fact that hazing is considered a misdemeanor in most jurisdictions means that there are only very minor legal consequences if someone is found to have hazed a fellow fraternity member. Those freshmen who are certain that they wish to join a fraternity should always ask older brothers about their hazing policy before making any commitments. Fuzzy or otherwise unclear answers should serve as warning signs.