Rise in hazing leads to policy review

A recent increase in reported hazing incidents has prompted universities throughout the nation to re-evaluate their hazing prevention measures and regulations.

In late September, UNC-CH sanctioned three of the nine fraternities it is investigating for possible hazing violations.

Two of the fraternities were found guilty of hazing.

An East Carolina University mother is currently suing Delta Sigma Theta sorority for the 2010 death of her daughter Victoria Carter, who died in a car crash after the driver, exhausted from hazing acts, fell asleep.

Tracy Maxwell, executive director of hazingprevention.org, said that little is being done to study the origins of hazing.

“Simply saying, ‘Don’t haze,’ is not going to stop these problems from happening,” she said.

The last study on hazing, conducted by the University of Maine in 2008, stated that 55 percent of students who have participated in college extracurricular activities have been hazed.

Maxwell said that 80 percent of hazing-related deaths are related to alcohol consumption.

She said the college environment can be particularly conducive to hazing.

“For some people, it is a little bit like a hero’s journey or a rite of passage to go through something difficult. It can bring people closer together for the people going through it together, but it is not proven to bring an entire group together,” Maxwell said.

“The people that are being hazed usually end up resenting the people who are abusing them.”

Mary Schulken, spokeswoman for ECU, said the university made some significant changes to its hazing policy in 2008.

These changes include mandating full investigations of any hazing allegations brought by outside parties and requiring all fraternity and sorority members to sign an anti-hazing pledge.

Schulken said, despite the university’s recent troubles with hazing, the changes will help to adjudicate and prevent future violations from occurring.

“(The policy) sets a really clear standard,” she said.

Alap Patel, a member of UNC-CH’s Delta Sigma Iota fraternity, said his group rejects the tradition of hazing and opts for other means to promote brotherhood.

“I understand that it’s an old, institutionalized system that’s been around in Greek (life) for a long, long time,” he said.

“I think it’s kind of archaic, and DSI shares that belief as well.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.