John Hechinger is one of the most brilliant investigative journalists now writing. His specialty is higher education.
This harrowing in-depth article describes fraternity hazing. A young man who suffered weeks of cruelty, degradation, and humiliation dropped out of the initiation process, told his story to university officials, and spoke to Hechinger.
The story reads like something out of a horror movie.
It begins:
“On a chilly March night, Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers ordered Justin Stuart to recite the fraternity’s creed.
“The true gentleman,” said the 19-year-old freshman, shivering in the backyard, “is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies.”
“It wasn’t easy to get the words out. Stuart was naked, except for his underwear, and standing in a trash can filled waist-deep with ice. Fraternity members sprayed him with a hose and poured buckets of water over his head. Convinced that SAE would bring him social success in college and then a Wall Street job, the lanky recruit from suburban Maryland endured the abuse.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It sounds to me like the only consequences those monsters received were university based discipline – the fraternity was suspended, and some individuals were “disciplined” according to the article.
But had any of those things happened outside a fraternity context, there would have been criminal charges. Assault, forced confinement, poisoning, torture, etc. are all crimes and rather serious ones too. If the perpetrators don’t do jail time, there are an awful lot of people in jail who should be freed.
Where the hell were the police (the real ones, not the university ones)?
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Please, these are wealthy white guys. They don’t go to jail. That’s reserved for the poor, black & Hispanics.
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Yep.
When I taught at a posh HS, the ” antics” of the children of the wealthy, well educated, impressively employed parents were occasionally shocking.
Just a few examples:
Stealing a car for joy riding. Dumping it in a lake.
Setting a disliked teachers trash can on fire during class.
Destroying a neighborhood Christmas light display.
Drugs galore. Buying, selling.
Several types of assaults on other ( usually less privileged) children.
Chalked up to “High spirits” , etc. the police and or school officials dismissed. Physical damages paid for. Those who helped ” keep it quiet” and “clean it up” we’re well rewarded. Apologies were made.
But no real police, jail time, alternative school, suspensions.
( I want to be clear, only a small minority of the kids and families acted this way….but they had a lot of power)
At my current school kids have left in handcuffs for much less.
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My first job in this state was in an affluent public school where the students showed up to the 8th grade dance drunk, and the principal conveniently looked the other way. The teacher chaperones were flabbergasted, but everyone knew that if any of them called the cops, it would be treated as a big joke by law enforcement and the whistle-blowing staff member would be reprimanded. Glad I’m out of there.
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Imagine enduring that torture JUST TO BELONG. OY! This is crazy. Where’s the independent thinking? And yes, had this been outside the university, criminal charges would have been brought against the perpetrators. But then, WHY WOULD ANY PERSON PUT UP WITH SUCH HUMILIATION and TORTURE just to belong? Something is WRONG here.
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Because they perceive (not necessarily inaccurately either) that going through all this will get them the keys to the kingdom. Did you read the list of SAE alumni, including T. Boone PIckens? If you’re motivated to “succeed” (in Wall Street/economic terms), what would it be worth to you to have connections with those kinds of movers and shakers? The fact that those powerful people would use that power to inflict that kind of harm says more about them. It’s a good illustration of the connections between money, power and (lack of) morality.
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A related article on this same site exposes the fraternity-Wall Street connection, explaining, in part, why the deck is stacked against women in the corporate world.
Remember, a fraternity is built upon EXCLUSION, the antithesis of community, public schools, democracy.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-23/secret-handshakes-greet-frat-brothers-on-wall-street.html
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It’s not just in college. When I was in high-school, if I wanted to be in the band, I would have had to endure a week of hazing… including having cafeteria left overs dumped on me and other humiliating activities. They did that to ALL the freshmen joining band. There are pictures in the yearbook of it, which means the adults were complicit. Disgusted, I opted to go into orchestra instead. I learned a different instrument and kept my dignity. Admittedly, I tend to “go along to get along,” but there does come a time when I draw the line. Hmmm… I’ve never thought about actively teaching that, as it’s never been on any curriculum… but I smell a lesson plan brewing…
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… this also makes me think of the reform movement as it was applied in the charter school where I used to work… in a much subtler way though… First, they start by “educating” the teachers using reform language… words have power. Then, if you say anything that doesn’t jibe with what they say, you’re considered someone who has a “negative attitude.” It’s the same idea though. As teachers, there’s the fear of being labeled a “Bad Teacher.” “Bad Teachers” have “negative attitudes.” What it really means though is having an attitude that doesn’t jibe with admin., and if your admin is completely on board with the reform movement… well there ya go!
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Charter schools are run by the business-mined types. Put yourself into the shoes of a newly minted MBA who only sees & associates with like-minded corporate types. Their corporate business plans are based on a shared vision- getting rich. Everyone must execute the plan or the dream collapses. If someone dares to insert reality into the plan they’re haters, or negative, etc. and find themselves demoted or unemployed.
These guys take their early loyalty oaths at SAE or Skull & Bones.
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It’s not only charter schools. My public school is the same way. The administrators put inexperienced teacher’s on their “leadership team”, brainwash them with “reform language”, then if anyone dares to challenge the lies, (or as I put it, “refuse to drink the Kool-Aid”), you are labeled a nay-sayer, blocker, old school, etc.
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First they humiliate and endanger fellow students–then these frat morons grow up to become edu-bullies. Although not physically dangerous like taping children’s mouths shut with duct tape, a charter school “administrative leader” in the Bronx fastened messages on the backs of students detailing their dress-code “infractions,” and then made them walk around all day with them. This “principal” was one of these bright, ivy-league types who used humiliation tactics to control the herd. Thank GOD she is no longer there.
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MANY years ago the wife of a college president – it was so long ago that names and places have long been forgotten – wrote a piece entitled “Heartache on the Campus” in which she wrote of the tragic circumstances of not only the hazing but of the people who did not get selected for this “prestigious” group.
I remember when in college at one of the few times I ever stopped for coffee with some of my fellow classmates and they talked about joining the frats. I told them then that if someone ever asked me to scrub a sidewalk with a toothbrush what they could do with that toothbrush. For me it is inane. Students have literally died under the hazing. WHY do students put up with it. Have they so little self confidence in themselves that they must build up their ego with others with so little self confidence in themselves?
Sometimes it seems that our schools are indeed NOT educating our students
AND
with all the politics involved now, test scores ad nauseum, it can only get worse.
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I get what you are saying, Gordon . But see some of the comments above. Joining certain frats and be very helpful/ lucrative for ones future. Not just anyone even gets an interview at the big Wall Street firms.
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The schools are witting accomplices to much of this, doing the same when they were young.
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At Mizzou I was a GDI. What were you in college?
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