broken

Broken Pledges

Chuck Stenzel

Read a speech by Eileen Stevens:

Spring 2001

The work that I do began because of personal experience. I speak from the heart, as a mother, who learned about the ugly tradition of "hazing" in the worst possible way. I lost my son Chuck, 21 years ago in an alcohol/hazing incident in New York State at Alfred University. He was kidnapped from his dorm, locked in a car trunk in freezing weather with the other pledges, and forced to consume a lethal mix of bourbon, wine and beer. Chuck was dead within hours due to acute alcohol poisoning and exposure to cold. Other pledges were hospitalized but fortunately they lived. Since that time I've spoken at over 700 campuses not against fraternities-but against hazing! The organization I founded, C.H.U.C.K., Committee to Halt Useless College Killings, has a definite purpose: to increase awareness, to work to find alternatives to hazing, to encourage educational programs and to lobby for anti-hazing laws.

If Greek life is to remain in existence, it must rid every chapter, on every campus, of hazing in all its ugly forms. The very survival of fraternities and sororities depends on that simple fact. This is not an easy task because students entering fraternal organizations, as well as existing members, are receiving a mixed message. Until there is a clear signal from college administrators, national head quarters and lawmakers that even the most subtle, seemingly innocuous forms of hazing will not be tolerated, the problem will remain and it will worsen. Hazing in any form has no place in any fraternity or sorority. It defeats the very spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood and friendship that Greeks represent and violates the very premise on which they were founded.

Fraternal life was founded on strong values and ideals for good and pure reasons and the founders would hang their heads in shame were they to realize that the ugly practice of hazing entered the pre-initiation programs. "Fraternity" signifies honor, leadership and brotherhood. Hazing is an aberration of all you stand for and must be stopped.

The past decade has seen dramatic, precedent-setting change. Forty-two states have outlawed hazing. Federal attention is taking place right now and the judiciary committee is reviewing two drafts that would criminalize hazing and put mandates on universities. Legally, the landscape is seeing laws being tested in the courts and litigation that is jolting the financial foundation of national fraternities resulting in an insurance crisis. Some university boards are seeking the abolishment of Greek-letter organizations on their campuses and some have succeeded in doing just that! Some courageous fraternities have eliminated the pledge process and may be setting the tone for the future. The ever-present media continues to report the hard truth, abuses, indignities, injuries and fatalities. These are frightening facts that cannot be justified, blemishing the innocent along with the guilty. Adverse publicity, lawsuits and public pressure have put Greeks under fire and Greek life in jeopardy.

Being a Greek is an honor-one that commands responsible behavior. No member of a fraternity should allow hazing to go on in their chapter. Even seemingly harmless activities have led to problem situations. Most reported hazing incidents involve alcohol.

Subservience, ridicule, verbal abuse, intimidation, sleep deprivation, forced calisthenics, unfair tests are all hazing and should be reported. No one should compromise their dignity to belong to any group. If you are allowing yourself to be hazed, or looking the other way when someone else is being hazed, you are enabling this ugly practice to continue and jeopardizing the emotional and physical well being of others. You are the future of fraternity. You have rights and an important voice. This is a time of growth and personal development. You are in a unique position to strengthen your chapter, implement change and set a tone for the future. Only you can eradicate the cancer of hazing. You will face many challenges and choices. I implore you to do so with leadership and courage.

Eileen Stevens

Reviews:

"Anyone concerned about the presenceof fraternities and sororities on college campuses today should read BrokenPledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing. University administrators, advisors,undergraduates, Greek alumni, parents of pledging students, andeven fraternitycritics will learn something from Hank Nuwer’s story of the 1978 death of Chuck Stenzel at Alfred University. . .Nuwer believes hazing kills, has nothing to do with tradition, and must be stopped before more deaths occur."

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)Journal,
John E. Creeden, Associate Provost for Student Affairs, Rutgers
University (New Jersey).

"The definitive study of college hazing"
Tucker Carlson, The Weekly Standard, February 17, 1997

" First, a word on what BrokenPledges is not. The book is not an anti-fraternity diatribe. One of the points brought home so clearly in the book is that hazing is a long-standing societal problem, not the sole province of male fraternities. Broken Pledges is not written by a sensationalist unfamiliar with the territory. Nuwer is a first-class objective journalist who was hazedas a [fraternity] pledge [at Buffalo State College] and who hazed pledges as a member. . . Even as someone who has worked with fraternities for nearly 10 years, I gained a great deal of insight and perspective."

--From the review by Richard Harris,The Fraternity Newsletter: a publication of the Association of FraternityAdvisors, Inc.

"Broken Pledges is replete with page after page of evidence showing that no one looks good when fraternities and hazing are scrutinized. Not the injured or deceased. Not [fraternity] brothers who have a habit of dissembling or clamming up to protect themselves during the resulting inquiries. Not faculty advisors who look the other way during hazing. And not hapless college officials left with the task of public relations damage control and the curbing of future incidents.. .Eileen Stevens, the mother of Chuck Stenzel [pledge killed in a hazingat Alfred University] and founder of the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings (CHUCK) said [in a telephone interview] reading Nuwer’s book wasvery painful. `But it’s very valuable because he makes clear the devastating effect hazing deaths have on families.’" From the article/review by GeorgeSmith of the Allentown [PA] Morning Call

"A thorough and eye-opening examination of the dangers of initiation and hazing
rituals. . .A powerful investigation into a practice in dire need of curtailment."
Kirkus Reviews

"Everyone associated with fraternity life should read Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing. . .Perhaps it should be compulsory reading for all actives prior to rush. Put this one on the bookshelf in your chapter house." Book review, Fraternal Law

"Required reading for all prospective college students and others who belong to groups where hazing is an accepted ritual." Sue Ellen Beauregard, Booklist

"Grade A: Though sometimes graphic, this book is important because it offers proof that hazing is everywhere, not just in college fraternal organizations. The book belongs on the shelves of groups where hazing may occur." Library Journal (Danna C. Bell, Marymount University Library, Arlington, VA.)

"Greek leaders say [Broken Pledges] illustrates a problem fraternities and sororities are working togethertoeliminate—organizational hazing. Jonathan Brant, spokesman for theNationalInterfraternity Conference in Indianapolis, an organization thatrepresentsabout 5,200 fraternity chapters nationwide, says Nuwer’sbook should `raiseawareness’ about hazing and its consequences. But even more importantly, he says, the book might also put the spotlight on the work individual Greek chapters are doing to eliminate the problem." LesleyAnn Mitchell, Article/Review,Gannett News Service

"Hank Nuwer uses the Stenzel case—one that ultimately resulted in a tough New York State law on fraternity hazing—to investigate the persistence of such harassment not only at the university level, but in the world of professional societies and the military. Thedetails are sufficiently horrifying to make good agitprop—just what Nuwerintends."
Alanna Nash, Entertainment Weekly

"Mr. Nuwer was an associate professor of journalism at Ball State University when, in 1988, he received a Gannett Foundation fellowship to write his book. The book examines hazing abusesthat Mr. Nuwer says are prevalent not only among Greek organizations butalso in the military, athletic teams, and high school and college bands.In the course of his investigation, [the author] found that fraternity and sorority members who haze pledges don’t mean to harm them. . . "What strikes you is the very ordinariness of the death that makes it so chilling.I want to show that these men didn’t start out to kill anyone. To view them as villainsis not to get an accurate picture." (Note: Wrongs of Passage examines acts of negligence so often associated with deaths--HN). Michele N-K Collison,The Chronicle ofHigh Education

"It is indeed a rare event whena new book of any kind about college fraternities appears. . .And mostof the few which do pop up have little serious interest or value. However,Hank Nuwer’s Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing is a welcome exceptionto this rule. All Greeks who love their fraternities, and value the positiveforce theycan exert on members and campuses, need to read this book. . . Nuwer takes off to discuss aspects of hazing I know ofnothing elsein print which tells so much about this extraordinarily complicated student behavorial phenomenon. Moreover, Broken Pledges is very good reading.Its affect upon my wife illustrates this. She was at first interested only because it dealt exclusively with Eileen Stevens, whom she knows. But once engaged in readingthe book, she became so fascinated she could hardly put it down.A loyal sorority alumna, she said that for the first time n her life it lefther wondering if the Greek letter sorority and fraternity systems as described here were worth saving, and if our own granddaughterswould be safe in them.. . So thank you, Hank Nuwer, for writing a booksouseful for those concernedwith student life—and
especially the Greeks—the likes of which we have not seen for many years." Frederick D. Kershner,TheDelta Tau DeltaMagazine, past international president of the fraternity