Suspended Sorority is Just Plain Sick
September 1st, 2009
If there’s one thing I’m glad I didn’t participate in during my time at university, it’s the sorority system. While it’s true that the Greek collegiate system has officially banned hazing, that hasn’t stopped sororities and fraternities around the nation from continuing their practices. Case in point: the Omicron Omicron chapter of Zeta Phi Beta at Colorado State University.
According to a nearly 60-page police report, the sorority was guilty of extreme hazing that actively put their pledges’ health at risk. While other students worried about test scores and where the next party would be, the young pledges were run through the ringer – made to do strenuous calisthenics and even held in a apartment for three days with neither sleep nor food.
The result? Not only did one pledge throw up from being so hungry, two more threw up from being pressured into eating onions, and a fourth student repeatedly passed out due to her kidney problems. After hearing of these and other allegations, the university suspended the sorority.
While I’m glad the university has done the right thing by suspending this sorority, I can’t help but be disappointed by two things: that colleges and the Greek collegiate system exercise so little control and review over sororities and fraternities, and that the pledges allow themselves to be put through these ordeals. While it’s true that they were pressured into these actions, it’s also true that college, more than any other time, is when students should learn to exercise their independence and self-reliance. Once they saw that the sorority was engaging in hazing, which even included being forced to eat cat food, they should have walked out the door and reported them to school administrators.
What’s your take?
– Genevieve M. Blaber
Entry Filed under: College Craziness,News
2 Comments Add your own
1. Amanda | September 2nd, 2009 at 8:26 am
I hear this kind of story all the time. A sorority girl, myself, it does disgust me that those types of things occur. I am not naive to it, because I do know it exists. However, I was not hazed by my sorority and doubt that I would have continued on had such a thing occurred.
However, I think it’s tough to say what you would do in a situation if faced with it. While you think you know what you’d do, it’s always easier on the outside looking in. I would compare the situation of walking away and reporting the sorority to a bad relationship. The people looking from the outside can’t understand why this person can’t walk away from the relationship. I’m not in any way defending the actions of this or any other hazing sorority, but it just makes me so sad to hear these things. I guess the lesson here is to watch out who you trust and to remember that although college is a fun time with friends, it’s also about academics and personal growth.
2. Barbara | September 14th, 2009 at 10:57 am
I, too, pledged a sorority that did not haze, so stories like this make me sick. However, there are colleges that do have a much better handle on their Greek organizations than Colorado State does, and these kinds of things are kept in check.
What upsets me even more is this: don’t these pledges know how to say “no”? I understand dropping out as a pledge can be embarrassing, but so is having friends who would subject you to this kind of torture. That’s not sisterhood at all.
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