Fraternity Group Moves to Stop Hazing

An organization representing fraternities at 900 college campuses throughout the United States and Canada announced Friday that it was launching a campaign to eliminate hazing, which in the past decade has led to 40 student deaths.

“Hazing has no place in the fraternity experience. It is a dangerous form of intimidation that makes a mockery of fraternal love, and we’re dedicated to eradicating it in the fraternity system,” said Jonathan Brant, executive director of the National Interfraternity Conference.

Brant said his group defines hazing as any action or situation intended to produce mental or physical harassment, embarrassment or ridicule.

“We are today launching an anti-hazing campaign that declares in unequivocal terms fraternities’ outright condemnation of all forms of hazing,” he said at a news conference.

The National Interfraternity Conference, based in Indianapolis, represents 59 major fraternities with 5,155 chapters and more than 400,000 student members in the United States and Canada.

Brant said that the conference had adopted an anti-hazing resolution more than 30 years ago and that most fraternities have had rules against hazing for two decades.

However, he said, “we are painfully aware that in the past 10 years more than 40 students have died and hundreds have been seriously injured by student organizations in what have been referred to as ‘hazing-related incidents.’ ”

Brant said the anti-hazing campaign will involve distribution of printed materials on campuses, organizing discussion groups at fraternity chapters and publishing articles in alumni magazines.

“Our challenge will be reaching those 5% of our members who I think for sincere but sincerely wrong reasons believe that hazing is a fundamental part of the fraternity experience,” he said.

Last month, two major fraternities, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau, announced that in an effort to eliminate hazing they have eliminated the traditional pledge period for students wishing to join.

Fraternity pledging evolved in the late 19th Century and was meant to be a rite of passage for new recruits before their initiation as full members.