NEWS ; STUDENTS
As Hazing Deaths Continue, Experts Warn Against Quick Fixes
conduct a robust interdisciplinary
study of hazing, examining the par-
ticularities of Florida A&M’s cam-
pus—who its students are and where
they come from.
Moreover, there’s too much em-
phasis, on the behavioral aspects
of hazing, and too little on “the
psyche” of it, he believes: “For me,
it’s the motivational, the emotional,
and the cognitive, the historical or
cultural conditions that breed this
kind of behavior. What I don’t want
to see is for a panel to come in and
after the work is done, we feel like
we’ve done a good job and the issues
are gone. If the issues are grounded
in the campus culture, they will rise
again.”
Hazing is the beast in academe’s
basement, often lurking unseen
and unreported, only to rise again
and again despite countless rules
and zero-tolerance policies. It takes
many forms, some physically vio-
lent, some emotionally cruel, some
booze-soaked, some silly. Since
1970, colleges have seen at least one
hazing-related fatality each year, and
the annual tally of reported injuries
and abuse is long.
Despite its prevalence, hazing
remains somewhat mysterious. It’s
been the subject of relatively little
research, and relevant studies are
longer on the “what” than the “why.”
Nonetheless, recent data suggest that
hazing affects more students—and
starts much earlier—than college of-
;cials may have previously thought.
Several scholars have also exam-
ined how hazing rituals tend to vary
among students from different racial
and ethnic backgrounds. Lawrence
C. Ross Jr., author of The Divine
Nine: The History of African Amer-
ican Fraternities and Sororities, has
written that hazing among white stu-
dents often involves excessive alco-
hol consumption, whereas hazing
among black students typically in-
volves “brutalizing pledges.”
But make no mistake, hazing is an
“equal-opportunity disgrace.” That
phrase comes from Hank J. Nuwer,
an associate professor of journal-
ism at Franklin College and author
of four books on hazing. On college
campuses, the ritual infects athletics
teams, honor societies, glee clubs,
and drama clubs. After three stu-
dents were hospitalized last month,
Illinois College suspended pledging
among its literary societies.
Whatever their hobbies and in-
terests, humans are built for initia-
tion rituals. We are social animals
with the need to belong, and we de-
vise tests that others must pass to
prove they deserve a place among
us. “It’s about prestige,” Mr. Nuwer
says. “Where there’s a group that’s
perceived to have status and power,
there will be newcomers willing to
make some sort of sacri;ce to be-
come a part of the group.”
Continued From Page A1
idea of taking punches or chugging
a ;fth of bourbon to become a mem-
ber of a campus club may seem ab-
surd. But it’s easy to forget the gut-
churning insecurity many teenagers
experience when they ;rst arrive
at college, desperate to ;t in some-
where among the hordes of strang-
ers. Moreover, if you happen to as-
sociate marching bands with nerds,
you may underestimate the power
and prestige of the big, loud, and
electrifying bands that have long
marched at several historically black
campuses.
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For an outsider, as for the adult
looking backward through time, the
