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Forms of Hazing
Mental
Fraternity hazing, although either illegal by state law in 44 states and banned by college policy, is still routinely practiced on every campus that hosts fraternities. A central part of such hazing is the emotional and mental abuse of fraternity pledges. Although each fraternity has its own techniques, fraternity hazing are meant to degrade the pledge in public and within the fraternity itself. Pledges are required to address the fraternity “brothers” in the manner that a second-class citizen would speak to a member of the privileged classes or that of a slave addressing his master. At the same time, the pledges’ older fraternity brothers refer to their pledges in terms that have no place in modern college life. Although such practices have been banned by national fraternity organizations and by individual colleges, the fact that these practices are still in use would seem to indicate that this mental hazing is unofficially accepted by all concerned.
Sexual
Many fraternities include some form of sexual hazing in their initiations. In some cases this involves forcing pledges to dress as women and act as if they were housemaids or in some other stereotyped role. Sometimes this hazing involves such inexcusable brutality as repeated anal insertions of foreign objects or even forcing pledges to perform simulated homosexual acts. Fraternities are supposedly prohibited from engaging in these degrading activities by college rules governing fraternity life and by the rules and bylaws of the fraternity’s national headquarters. In many states, fraternity hazing of any type is illegal and can result in criminal charges against those responsible for planning or participating in these prohibited activities. Regardless of whether there are criminal laws prohibiting hazing, the fraternity and its individual members can be taken to court in a personal injury lawsuit.
Physical
Every fraternity that includes hazing as a part of its initiation will employ some form of physical abuse. This physical hazing can range from seemingly harmless practices such as paddling a pledge to activities that would be considered a violation of the Geneva Conventions if forced upon prisoners of war. In many cases physical hazing is accompanied by forcing pledges to consume alcohol prior to participating in an activity that poses some physical danger and a real possibility that the pledge could be seriously injured. Since the existence of state laws prohibiting physical hazing are routinely disregarded by fraternities and their college sponsors, it is usually necessary to file a personal injury lawsuit to bring justice to the victims of such rituals.
Alcohol
Many fraternity initiations are nothing more than alcohol-fueled brutality, humiliation, and torture sessions that have resulted in the deaths of young men only weeks removed from high school.
Studies of fraternity hazing have shown that there has been at least one death that can be directly attributed to fraternity hazing each year since 1969, and toxicology testing has revealed that the hazing victim’s blood alcohol concentrations were high enough to be considered legally intoxicated in 82% of deaths that have occurred during fraternity initiations.
Deaths due to alcohol abuse during hazing are the result of negligence or indifference by the fraternity members, the college, and the fraternity’s national headquarters. On the request of the hazing victim’s family we will take every responsible individual, and their fraternity, to court as defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit.
