Most Universities have strict regulations in place to ensure that fraternities treat their pledges with kindness and respect. While that may seem like a good idea, 'kindness' and 'respect' are rarely how brotherhood relationships within a fraternity work.

Another Odyssey writer, Mark Fisker, recently wrote a thoughtful article about Purdue's ludicrously broad interpretation of hazing. Purdue, and many other schools with Greek life, consider hazing to be forcing the pledges to deal with anything they don't enjoy or agree with. I understand what they're going for, but their interpretation shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of fraternities. Of course we're going to antagonize the pledges. We antagonize everybody, especially each other. To deny the pledges that would be to deny them an accurate taste of what living in a fraternity will really be like. 

I should probably begin by clarifying that I don’t condone any sort of hazing where pledges are humiliated, endangered or forced to drink. These are freshmen we're talking about, and they are perfectly capable of endangering, humiliating and inebriating themselves without anyone's assistance. That’s the kind of hazing that gives hazing a bad name. The stuff I’m referring to is far less insidious and serves to prepare the pledges for what's to come. Without giving any specific examples that might incriminate my fraternity or anyone else’s, I can say that most of the so-called 'hazing' that goes on at any school amounts to prankish behavior, cleaning, and maybe a few insults; all of which are things that pledges must get used to if they plan to live in a frat house.

Nobody in the world messes with each other as much as fraternity guys do. Sometimes we give brothers arbitrary nicknames that they may not like. Sometimes we carefully flip all the posters and furniture in someone’s room upside down. Sometimes we drop garbage bags full of horrific, unspeakable filth upon their heads. Sometimes we mess with each other in ways that are even harsher than that, which I won't put into print. That's what's so unique about the bonds between fraternity brothers: no one else could do these things to each other and still remain friends. The kind of dumb shenanigans and brutal honesty found in fraternities are rarely found anywhere else. Fraternity life is never smooth sailing, and never dull. Why should pledgeship be?

I loved my pledgeship. It helped make me who I am and, most importantly, it taught me to stop taking myself so seriously. But pampered pledges grow up to be thin-skinned actives who can’t take a joke. Dozens of young men living together are inevitably going to butt heads once in a while, and pledgeship is necessary to prepare them for that. Unless everyone is taken down a peg, their egos can’t all fit in one house.

If nothing else, the definition of hazing should be softened so that newly initiated actives don’t suddenly get their first real taste of fraternity life and think 'why is everyone being such a jerk all the sudden?' The truth is, we've always been jerks. But if our hands are tied during pledgeship, how are they supposed to know that until it's too late? For the good of all pledges, I beseech the universities and IFCs of this great nation to please allow us to treat our beloved new members the way they deserve to be treated: with the same crass indecency we give to our own brothers. It's only fair.