In a shocking op-ed published in the Dartmouth student newspaper The Dartmouth at the end of January, former Sigma Alpha Epsilon member and Dartmouth senior Andrew Lohse revealed intimate details of his fraternity's hazing practices and criticized university president Jim Yong Kim '82 for not cracking down on the negative side of Greek culture at Dartmouth. Lohse had informed administrators about the hazing — which included being forced to eat omelets made of vomit and chug cups of vinegar — the previous fall but was disheartened at their lack of response. We believe such willful administrative ignorance exists not only at Dartmouth, but also at many other universities, including Brown. As Dartmouth's troubling allegations underscore the seriousness of the hazing problem, we urge all university administrations, including our own, to impose more stringent policies to combat hazing.
Last week, more than 100 Dartmouth faculty members published a letter in support of Lohse, equating Dartmouth hazing with "moral thuggery" and calling for the administration to "hold (Greek houses) accountable." While we agree with the faculty in their disapproval of the administration, we do not believe simply investigating hazing practices can be commendable unless the investigation demonstrates a true commitment to smoking out such transgressions. Fraternity hazing is not only humiliating and disgusting, but it constitutes emotional, psychological and physical abuse. Several years ago, the death of a pledge at the University of Texas chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon was attributed to excessive hazing, and the only action taken by the fraternity to remain on the school's campus was to "implement a comprehensive educational program to eliminate hazing." Hazing is a dangerous nationwide epidemic, and colleges everywhere need to take a harder line in order to abolish it.
Brown nominally prohibits hazing in not only the Greek system, but in all student organizations. The administration defers to Rhode Island law for its definition of hazing, which includes "forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical health or safety of the student." It is all well and good to have such a policy, but the extent of its enforcement is unclear.
Indeed, at Brown, it is generally accepted within the student body that hazing takes place during fraternity pledging. Yet, Brown has not cracked down on it in any significant or public way. Our frats are perpetually "on probation," a vague term that gives no indication of the crime involved, nor the punishment threatened, nor what constitutes a violation of said probation.
If the University wants hazing to stop once and for all, it needs to communicate to both the Greek system and the Brown community at large that these practices are unacceptable and intolerable. Furthermore, it should work with the Brown Greek Council to impose harsher and more individual punishments than probation to finally remove these foul "traditions" from our campus. We recommend that "higher education" live up to its name and that this be reflected in raised standards concerning student hazing implemented in universities across the country.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
