The first Greek chapter was created with the motto:
"Love of wisdom. The guide of life."
Timothy Piazza's story is heartbreaking to hear about. While reading stories on his "final hours", I had the chills. With great disgust, it makes me think of how many other sorority and fraternity chapters have had similar incidences and have gotten away with the person not being dead.
Hazing is not a joke, it never has been and it never will be. No matter how "easy" you think your hazing is, it does not make it okay. Greek life is not supposed to be a test of survival of the fittest. Greek chapters are supposed to be a group of friends, not groups of friends where different classes haze the others. How does that instill or promote brotherhood/sisterhood?
Taken from a pro-hazing article:
"Those who join must be put through a standard set of tasks, events, and discipline-instilling exercises to truly appreciate what it means to be a part of that organization."
No organization or member is invincible, hazing has been the cause of death of numerous students. Why does one need to be "disciplined" to join the organization? How about teaching them about the history of the organization and having events where the new members can meet the other members and bond? No one wants to send their kid off to school for them to join Greek life and then never come home for a winter, spring, or summer break again.
As a member of Greek life, I am horrified by the events that go on in other chapters and could not imagine letting that happen to me or my friends. We need to learn how to speak up for one another - we need to learn to walk away from things that could put us in such danger. Compared to my friends who were hazed, I have a much better relationship with my sisters and know way more about my chapter than they do.
From everything I have read, Timothy Piazza was an amazing student, athlete, friend, and son. He did not deserve this; no one does. He didn't deserve to be hazed and neither do you or any of your friends. I feel for the family and so should any of you who have ever hazed anyone else.
Hazing has been taken too far. If you can't do it or wouldn't want to do it, why would you make someone else? It is wrong and it is disgusting that people get joy out of making other people cry and puke from being overly intoxicated. If you think hazing is funny, put yourself in any of these positions and then think about how you'd feel:
1. Eating a goldfish alive
2. Having a male circle the fat on your body while you're sitting on a running washing machine
3. Eating a pack of cigarettes
4. Not being allowed to leave until a certain amount of alcohol is finished
5. Being forced to go out every single night
6. Peeing or puking on each other while drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
7. Being forced to do certain drugs or perform sexual acts
You may think some of those things are funny or stupid, but imagine going through weeks of hell where you barely eat, your grades drop, you get no sleep, etc. No one joins Greek life for the hazing, they join because they want to be there for the friendship or philanthropy. Instead, before being able to do this, new members are tortured in numerous ways. Why don't most of them just drop? Because who wants to be made fun of even more?
Colleges can do more — whether there's more monitoring during the new member period or by having more workshops on hazing and/or drinking. In many of the articles on Timothy Piazza's case, some of the brothers were Googling his symptoms because they didn't know or see the warning signs. Colleges make us do programs like Greeklife.edu or alcohol related simulations online, however these are easy to skim through and be done with it. The simulations don't really teach anything and are not memorable. We need more peer groups on campus that are there to help when we have questions or things go wrong. Colleges should also stress how important it is to call 911 when someone is not well.
SEE ALSO: Timothy Piazza's Death Isn’t On Greek Life Or Penn State. It’s On Us
You are not better than anyone else and physical or mental torture does not do anything for anyone. No one should have to prove themselves like that to be in an organization. So speak up, don't just sit back and watch events like this go on and if you or your friends are being hazed, don't let it go unnoticed.