Apart from being elitist clubs that promote snobbery and boorish behavior, fraternities regularly turn healthy young people into corpses.
In the latest incident, Stone Foltz, 20, a student at Bowling Green State University, in an Ohio city of the same name, is on life support while his family arrange to donate his organs. Foltz (photo, right) went to a fraternity party and became yet another victim of hazing. He was made to drink a 1.75L bottle of booze — about 40 shots, photo below — then was hauled to his apartment and dumped there. Read story here.
No one knows how many people have been killed by fraternity hazing, because no one keeps a body count. Wikipedia, which has a partial list of casualties, says here at least 40 hazing deaths have occurred from 2007 to 2017, and “alcohol poisoning is the biggest cause of death.”
Meanwhile, BGSU officials said they’re meeting with student leaders “to decide the short- and long-term future of fraternity and sorority life at BGSU.” That’s a no-brainer. Get rid of them.
They can. Colleges can’t stop social clubs from existing off campus, but they can refuse to recognize them, deny them use of college facilities, and adopt student codes of conduct prohibiting membership in them or participation in their activities. Amherst College, for example, did so in 2014 (read about that here).
Hazing deaths are entirely preventable. It’s time to get serious about preventing them.
While I agree with all the criticism of the Greek societies. I realize they are not going away, simply follow the money. Nine million current students are members. They also have the right to be members. There are legitimate reasons to be members and membership continues after graduation. So there are definite perks.
Colleges can do as Bradeis University does and ban secret societies and state all societies must be open to all students. That is stuff universities can do. They cannot have rules though that deny students from joining a society. That would be unconstitutional, or an infringement upon the student entering into an agreement with another entity. Universities have struggled with trying to prevent or close down fraternities and sororities since they started in the 21780’s in the US. Often universities have stabbed themselves in the foot by not having adequate, comfortable amenities for their students. And students don’t want to spend all their time on campus. and students want to socialize with other students away from the eyes of the campus parents or adults.
Colleges can’t regulate what happens off-campus, but they get to choose their students. They also can say, “You can’t be a student here if you drink, smoke, or engage in premarital sex.” That, in fact, is Liberty University’s student conduct policy.