GreekRank hosted an anonymous poll asking its visitors if they have ever been hazed and to what degree. Those who participated responded to the question by selecting one of the multiple choice answers 1) “Yes, I’ve been hazed and it was bad” 2) “Yes, I’ve been hazed but I didn’t think much of it” 3) “Maybe, I possibly experience some light hazing” 4) “No, I’ve never been hazed.” With over 5,000 respondents, the results are certainly worth a discussion.
Just under half of the respondents claim they have been hazed to some degree. About 15% claimed they were hazed badly and 53% responded that they have never been hazed.
Many feel the national media has waged an all-out war on Greeklife that portrays all Greeks as power-drunk students who put potential members’ lives in danger through hazing rituals. Someone who only knows about Greeklife through the lens of big media might be surprised to learn that only about half of the 5,000 respondents claimed to have been hazed.
Many will still contend that any amount of hazing is unacceptable. Yet, some of the comments at the bottom of the poll provided a different viewpoint.
One of the responders commented that:
“I am in a sorority that does not haze and I truly wish that we did. I can't name half of the girls even within my own pledge class. The fraternities on campus do haze and the brotherhood is so strong. The guys would do anything for each other. I don't think that hazing needs to be life-threatening or cause damage, but going through a difficult time with a group of people will bring you together.”
Along the same lines, another commenter added that:
“Hazing is Inhumane and archaic. However, there is something to be said for having a pledge term where the pledges develop a deep bond for each other but they don't need to be for tortured to have that happen. I do think though that stuff like push ups and having blindfolded discussions can be a great learning tool to teach people how to act under pressure with confidence…”
It’s apparent that there are some Greeks out there who think that there’s a responsible way to haze that yields stronger bonds between members. Brotherhood/Sisterhood is the foundation of any fraternity or sorority organization and a passionately contested metric on GreekRank. A great question to pose all Greek members would be whether or not they feel they can achieve the ideal amount of Brotherhood/Sisterhood without practices that by formal definition are considered hazing.
What do you think? Please comment below.
Here’s a snapshot of the poll results for just under 5,100 respondents.
