One Miami University Fraternity's Hazing Affects Our Whole Greek Community
"The contents of this report are brutal and deplorable."
"Call 911, I feel like I'm going to die."
These were the words spoken by a pledge on March 16 at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity house in Oxford, Ohio.
An email was sent out to the entire student body on March 22 by University President Gregory Crawford. The text was vague, but it certainly didn't take long for rumors to start and get around. Every group chat I am a part of had heard something different, some gorier than others. The actual report of what really happened in that house was released just a few days after.
According to the report, the student who provided the information along with the other pledges in his class were forced to stay at the house, even after he asked to leave. What happened next is quite mortifying. The pledges were hit with a paddle that contained spikes and grooves and forced to drink alcohol underage and smoke marijuana. They were also blindfolded and left in a room with scary music playing for over an hour.
The student who was transported to the hospital was discovered to have a .231 blood alcohol level. This number is way too close to the "danger zone."
As President Crawford put it in his email, the actions performed at the Delta Tau Delta house truly were "brutal and deplorable." He proceeded to announce that the fraternity was suspended immediately, and the sophomores who are currently living in the house will be relocated into on-campus residence halls.
One thing that stood out to me as a Greek woman came toward the end of the email when Dr. Crawford said that all of Greek life will be reevaluated. "Nothing is off limits in this evaluation."
The sorority I recently joined, Alpha Omicron Pi, will be celebrating its centennial this year. As a new member, I was informed of how rare it is for a Greek organization to make it this far (literally 100 years) without getting kicked off campus. I am honored to be a part of a Greek organization that has followed our school's Code of Love and Honor so well and efficiently.
The questions that lie unanswered as of right now involve the future of Delta Tau Delta as well as the fate of its scarred pledges, the effect this will have on the entire Greek community at Miami University, and of course, if any fraternities who still haze will finally understand that it has no positive effect.
After doing my research on what occurred at Delta Tau Delta, I looked into other past hazing reports for various fraternities, and I was truly horrified. I won't go into detail, but overall it's highly upsetting to realize that terrible, psychotic things such as these are happening every day, even on my own college campus.
So much for a "brotherhood."
Lauren Trimble
Lauren Trimble
Lauren Trimble
Theta Tau members in action!Kimberly Lawton
