When going through rush, fraternities are often instructed by nationals to tell potential new members that they believe and practice “non-hazing" ideals. After being around the Greek system for almost two years and hearing the experiences of many people going through pledgeship at other fraternities, it is obvious that this no-hazing promise often rings hollow.
Over 20 student organizations at UT were disciplined by the Dean of Students for hazing, including several fraternities. Common sense and word-of-mouth tells me that there were even more that didn't get caught.
Let me say this first. I am not here to bash any fraternity's new-member program or things that they do that could be possibly considered “hazing." I obviously have never been through their program, so I feel that I have no right to speak on the matter. It would do a disservice to the individual organizations and the Greek system as a whole to speculate about the harms any potential hazing might cause.
In addition, hazing is a broadly defined term and it is impossible to separate the organizations that simply make their pledges memorize trivial information or do embarrassing things from those that really serve as a danger -- like those that we, unfortunately, see make national news.
What I would like to speak on is how I feel joining a non-hazing fraternity has benefited myself and our organization. When I say non-hazing, I don't mean that as just a cover-up or buzzword. I can legitimately say that at no point during my new-member period did I encounter anything that would be considered hazing.
Coming to college, I looked around at many fraternities and eventually settled on the one that I felt fit me best. Like many associates (my fraternity's word for "pledges"), I was nervous going into the first meeting. I expected to be handed a rigid set of lists that told me what I had to wear, all the times I had to be available, and rules that I had to strictly adhere to.
Instead, I found the opposite. Although we were occasionally asked to dress nice or act a certain way, we were always encouraged to become the person we wanted to be. The fraternity helped us develop academically, socially, and emotionally, but did not force us to.
As the semester continued, I faced some struggles both within the fraternity and outside of it. However, instead of being berated for these issues or embarrassed for my shortcomings, I was given the support of the chapter. This support helped my transition to college at such a large university like UT.
In addition, I have respect for every man in the chapter. I often hear people in other fraternities complain of hating certain actives who were particularly brutal in their hazing. I can honestly say that when I was initiated, I held no ill will toward any active in the chapter and that is because I was treated as an equal and not a servant.
Some might argue that hazing is needed in order for a fraternity to grow and achieve success. My fraternity's results suggest otherwise. In the fall of 2010, our chapter had just 18 men -- one of the lowest totals on the UT campus. Fast forward to now and we have over 130 men. This growth is near unprecedented in the Greek community.
But we're not just about numbers. We've also increased the quality of guys we take. In the spring of 2010, we had an IFC-worst average GPA of 2.564. This rose to a 3.21 in the fall of 2014. My associate class had a GPA of 3.4, which put us in first place of all new-member classes for the fall of 2013. We've experienced a lot of philanthropic success as well as increased our visibility among the U.T. community.
Throughout these changes, we have remained true to our no-hazing principles. Despite others' insistence of hazing practices, my experience tells me that they are not needed.
