Consequences of Hazing
Hazing has been going on for decades and it is time for parents, celebrities, and legislators to act on it, but for the students as well. Students have the greatest power within a college campus to report hazing and bring it to a halt. Tragedies involving hazing have devastating and sometimes even long lasting effects on families, friends, and for the reputation of universities, fraternities and sororities across the nation.
One recent example of hazing that resulted in the death of Chun “Michael” Deng, freshmen at Baruch College, took place in a rental house near Pocono Mountain. The case finally came to a close this past year. Deng was reportedly blindfolded and required to wear a heavy backpack. In the hazing ritual known as “glass ceiling” Deng was repeatedly tackled until the members saw him fall to the ground (Bacon, J). After falling, the members apparently brought Deng inside and tried to hide all objects relating back to the fraternity. Deng was eventually taken to a hospital where he died a day later from his injuries. The fraternity, Pi Delta Psi, was thrown off campus and five of the 37 members accused of hazing were charged with murder charges to the third degree. The short-term consequences for this terrible and negligent act include negative recognition of the university and the fraternity itself (Bacon J). Whenever there is a death of a student the student body, and the nation, if the event was recognized nationally, would face media conflicts and angry protestors looking to seek justice for member’s actions. Long-term consequences include the loss of a family member and a friend. The parents of Chun will have to live their lives knowing that their son’s death could’ve been easily prevented if someone put a stop to the brutality he faced. The fraternity members will have to live the entirety of their lives knowing that they caused the death of a fellow brother. The college community will have to face problems with parents and students urging to ban fraternities and sororities on campus. Throughout the years to come, the college will be faced with negative publicity, which could also hinder enrollment for future students.
Another example of a recent hazing event took place on November 16, 2014 at the University at Albany-SUNY. Steven Vila and Jonathon Maldonado were arraigned after rushing members were required to drink 1.75 liters of alcohol. Trevor Duffy died of alcohol overdose from this event for the fraternity Zeta Beta Tau, which was not sanctioned by the university. Duffy reportedly had a blood-alcohol concentration of .583 and many other rushing members were sent to the hospital because of high intoxication levels (Vilensky, M). The men are no longer enrolled at the school. Consequences here are very similar to the ones discussed in the recent example. The family will now have to deal with the death of their son for the rest of their lives. The campus will again face negative coverage through media and people across the state and country. The college also did not recognize the fraternity, but a fraternity with the same name was sanctioned by the college and did not have any responsibility or involvement with this incident (Vilensky, M). This fraternity will now face negative impacts due to the fact that many people may not know the recognized fraternity had nothing to do with the accident. Again friends, families, and the university will have to deal with the loss of a fellow man even though it could have been prevented if someone stood up and stopped it.
One more example of hazing took place with a student, Tucker Hipps, died with what is still being investigated in relating to hazing. Reportedly Hipps was forced to walk across a bridge; he ended up falling to his death over a year ago. Officials are still investigating to understand exactly what happened. The family believes members of the fraternity were trying to cover up the death of Hipps. Members of the fraternity have apparently been deceiving with the investigation; a few members have deleted messages and even switched phone numbers. Hipps body was recovered hours after his death floating in a lake (Ganim, S). Some theories include the pressuring of rushing members to jump of bridges. After falling, apparently no members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity attempted to help him. This is a special case due to the fact that it is still being investigated. Many aspects lead to hazing, but authorities still cannot crack the code. Consequences for this case includes yet again the mourning of a young man who had a bright future ahead of him. The university will receive negative coverage and students will have to go against negative coverage they will face. A problem here is that no one even tried to help or come forward in Hipp’s death. Even if hazing was going on, if someone falls and could be severely injured, help should be immediately ready in case of an emergency to prevent someone’s death. It also bothers me that a few of the members of the fraternity tried to delete messages and change phone numbers. If that’s going on then I believe hazing was a part of the crime. This must feel terrible for families and friends who want to know the exact reason this young man died tragically. That’s a terrible consequence knowing that someone may know what happened to someone’s child, but no one will come forward with any information. If hazing did not take place, whether it’s in all these examples or many more from past incidents, then the negative publicity on fraternities and sororities could be diminished.
In my opinion, I do not believe any types of these accidents related to hazing would happen here and I hope they never will. In my experience here at SUNY Cortland I have met members of other fraternities and sororities and we have talked about certain issues related to hazing and the negative outcomes and impact it can have on families and the college community. I believe the school does an excellent job with preventing hazing from taking place. The hazing seminars are great examples of what could happen to our good friends. No life is worth risking, especially if it is making a person do something they do not want to do or making them do something that could cause physical harm or even death. I also believe that the more students that start reading more into hazing events and tragedies that have occurred the better. With more knowledge about tragedies and hazing students can come together and discuss the various ways that it can be stopped. Everybody wants to have a good time throughout his or her college career, but risking someone else’s health or life should never even come to thought or action. Also with regards to hazing, I believe many people forget that hazing can go on with any groups or sport teams. I have not heard about any hazing events with our sports teams here in Cortland, but I think sport teams should be educated on hazing and the events that happened throughout the country whether hazing was related to a fraternity, sorority, or a sports team. All in all, SUNY Cortland is a safe environment and I believe parents and family of the student body here should not be worried with hazing events that could lead to tragic injury or death.