Why is hazing bad

At first, hazing doesn't seem that bad. Then it gets worse. Hazing typically begins mildly, said Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and the author of "Preventing Hazing. It could start out as something as harmless as being made to cross-dress, Lipkins said. I can handle that,'" she added. But soon the rituals become more intense. When Burch was first seeking to join Gamma Psi, she says members told her there would be some hazing.

But she believed the girls were kind and fun and would take care of the pledges. At first, Burch says the hazing was minor. Pledges had to visit sorority members to learn about them, or study in the library. They had to carry a marble on their person at all times, and wear a ribbon on their backpack.

But it didn't stay that way for long. About a week in, Burch says she was blindfolded and put in the back of a car, like Schlank. There, in the middle of the night, the pledges were forced into a frigid creek, where they were made to do pushups and sit ups and crawl through the water, resulting in numerous bruises and cuts, Burch said.

The girls were screamed at, taunted and spit on. And while they were shivering from the cold, the sisters made the pledges build fires to warm themselves -- only to have the sisters immediately put them out, Burch said. It went on for hours. I hated that.

I hated it. Unlike many sororities, the Gamma Psi sorority at Young Harris College is a local sorority, meaning it doesn't answer to a national organization and exists under the purview of the school. It did not respond to a request for comment. Anyone found to be violating that policy would be "sanctioned appropriately," the school said. It also said hazing education was a"priority" for the school, particularly for students in Greek life. Cimino called hazing "fundamentally coercive," and said it can cause hazees to eventually submit to behavior they wouldn't normally be on board with.

Exacerbating the situation, he added, is the fact that hazing often entails sleep deprivation or excessive drinking, further diminishing hazees' inhibitions. That's when pledges start relenting and doing things outside their comfort zones, he said. People make poor decisions when they are sleep-deprived. All of these things impact your ability to make good decisions.

University leaders describe the challenge of reforming fraternity culture as a balancing act. Some schools have taken steps to limit alcohol at parties, push back recruitment schedules and mandate anti-hazing workshops, and national fraternity organizations have rolled out required trainings and safety programs. But tragedies have continued to occur with alarming regularity.

He temporarily suspended all Greek life at the school in , when year-old Nolan Burch died after an initiation event while pledging Kappa Sigma, according to police. University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides thinks alumni, who regale younger generations with their college stories and often contribute financially to schools, need to be part of the effort to stop recurring misconduct.

He received pushback from both alumni and current students after saying in that he would consider ending pledging following a student death, though he ultimately decided not to do so. Even when those within the fraternity community advocate for reforms, they often face strong opposition.

University administrators and national fraternity leaders admit that reforms will work only if fraternity members follow them. Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Phi Epsilon both ended pledging in an effort to reduce hazing, but several chapters have since been investigated for hazing violations. In the rare instance when a chapter is banned for good, it can still re-emerge underground. The fraternity says no official member was involved.

In the face of these challenges, critics say the reforms many universities have adopted are too incremental to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of students who participate in Greek life. Such incidents are troubling to those who are still mourning Piazza. Brooks, his former roommate, worries about what will happen as more time passes and the urgency behind hazing reform fades.

Write to Katie Reilly at Katie. Reilly time. A Penn State student and Beta Theta Pi fraternity pledge, Piazza had taken part in a ceremony known as "the gauntlet," in which he consumed a high volume of alcohol. He subsequently fell and hit his head repeatedly, including tumbling down a staircase, and died the next morning. Piazza's death, like other hazing incidents, resulted in anti-hazing legislation. Passed in early , the Timothy J. Piazza Antihazing Law provides stricter punishment and a tiered penalty system for fraternity and sorority members in Pennsylvania.

While was the first year in 60 years to lack any hazing-related deaths, due largely in part to the transition to remote learning, swiftly took back any sense of relief schools and parents might have felt. Both incidents — especially that involving Foltz, who was kept alive so his organs could be donated — gained media attention and reignited appeals for schools to crack down on hazing. As the death toll from hazing rises, parents around the country are increasingly outraged by the lack of action universities are taking to protect students.

In response, more states are introducing anti-hazing laws and pushing for stricter consequences for hazing. Currently, 44 states maintain laws prohibiting hazing , but most deem it a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

Additionally, many anti-hazing laws specifically refer to initiation rituals despite the fact hazing can take place outside fraternities. In , Florida passed an anti-hazing law that allows for legal action against students who assist in hazing, regardless of whether they were present for the actual hazing. This bill, called Andrew's Law, was named after Florida State University student Andrew Coffey, who died from alcohol-related hazing in In February, the Georgia Senate unanimously voted in support of a bill that would increase penalties for those involved in hazing.

Even more recently, the Georgia Senate unanimously voted in February in support of a bill that would increase penalties for those involved in hazing. The bill was created in honor of Max Gruver, a Louisiana State University student who died from alcohol-related hazing in But many believe state bills aren't enough.

In the United States, victims of hazing incidents were either humiliated in public and some even died in the process. Although efforts have been launched to stop college hazing in the country, hazing rituals continue to plague several universities and colleges and they have increased in numbers. The members ran to one end of the bus while they were kicked or punched by their fellow band members.

If they were to fail to get to the other side without falling down on the way, they had to restart the entire process. Champion originally left the bus to vomit, but he was forced by his bandmates to return back to do the challenge again. An hour later, he collapsed and died due to blunt trauma.

His death was ruled as a homicide case according to the police and a lawsuit was filed to those who took part in the event. He was asked several questions regarding the fraternity and with every wrong answer, he was force fed with vodka, Pixy Stix, hot sauce, chocolate powder and dish soap. Not all frat members are supportive of hazing and that is the same case with Benjamin Klein. They beat him up and held his head under a bathtub full of water until he agreed not to leave the room.