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Hazing News

Inquirer opinion: Dying to Belong

You would never get anywhere in law school if you didn’t join a fraternity. That was the mantra we kept hearing after setting foot on the Padre Faura grounds of the Ateneo Law School in the ’70s. The typical promdi that seven of us were, it wasn’t hard
to make us feel so insecure.

We were told that frat members helped each other, especially in the research and photocopying of cases assigned torturously on a daily basis. There was that constant hassle of going to the library ahead of everybody else because books were limited in number. And they had contacts in the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court that enabled them to obtain the “latest jurisprudence” not yet found in any law library. But the more
irresistible temptation was to be in a fellowship with students and professors belonging to the same fraternity. Just add two and two together, we were asked to figure it out ourselves.

We received application forms from the two rival fraternities then: the Order of Utopia and the Aquila Legis. We were on the cusp of making a choice between the two, but some preconceived risk gave us — and our parents down south — sleepless nights.

What about the initiation, now the notorious “hazing” part? We were assured it was all intellectual and mental challenges like being blindfolded and forced to imbibe a cup of sputum when in fact, they would reveal later, it was nothing but raw scrambled eggs; or being pissed on by everyone when in fact it was just tap water mixed with something that smelled like urine! Come to think of it, how would the neophytes really know for sure?! We suspected it was just a preconditioning so we would not fret too much. Paddle-whacking and all sorts of physical-endurance/torture rituals were actually par for the course.

As in almost all law fraternities, the biggest attraction is the picture they paint when the applicants become full-fledged members practicing law in the courts of the land. There are “brods” in all branches of the judiciary and in all levels of the prosecutorial service — to whom they alone have direct lines. And more “brods” are all over the entire government bureaucracy who can facilitate things for them and let them jump the long lines to get ahead. In short, all things being equal, “brods” will always be “more equal” — if one gets their drift!

So what made us res nullius (nobody’s thing) in the end? We were having snacks at the canteen one afternoon when empty bottles of soft drinks flew over our heads. Those bottles were made of thick and heavy glass then. We saw someone, who was just minding his own business at a nearby table by his lonesome, got hit in the head. It was a bloody sight. We found ourselves seeking shelter under our own table until the pandemonium died down. We were informed later that hotheads from the two rival fraternities were just practicing their aims and that happened every now and then!

Cowards, they said we were. But did we really want any part of that insanity? Despite its perverse appeal to two, the rest of us decided to take our chances. We made it through senior year without a hitch. We passed the bar exam the following year — sans any help from classmates who were frat members and spent quite a fortune to sequester themselves in some classy hotels for their “Bar Operations” (BarOps) that lasted one whole month, spoon-fed with answers to possible bar questions.

Yet all that gasconade about frat membership being a sure ticket to passing the bar exam didn’t really stand some of them in good stead. While all five of us got grades above 80, they got below 75 (oops) and flunked! And how did we fare in our law practice since then without any fiscal, judge or justice to call our “brod”? It wasn’t really all that bad. Despite perceptions to the contrary, there are still a great number of judges and justices who take their oath seriously and are able to rise above such petty loyalties. The bottom line is, no fraternity is worth dying for.

STEPHEN L. MONSANTO, lexsquare.firm@gmail.com

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/107385/not-worth-dying#ixzz4te6silwL
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Categories
Hazing News

“Hazing: Destroying Young Lives” on Amazon.

Here is the link to the book!!!!

 

Contributors

 

Elizabeth J. Allan is a professor of Higher Educational Leadership at the University of Maine. Her educational web site is Stophazing.org. Her research on hazing is often noted by national media.

Travis T. Apgar served Cornell University as the Robert G. Engel Senior Associate Dean of Students since 2006, with a portfolio of responsibilities that include Fraternity and Sorority Life, Off-Campus Living and Cooperative Living. An authority on hazing prevention, Travis is a Cornell representative to the National Hazing Prevention Consortium, and regularly contributes content to the resources section of HazingPrevention.org.

Ray Begovich, a former full-time public relations specialist, teaches his PR specialty as a Pulliam School of Journalism faculty member at Franklin College.

Robert A. Biggs is Executive Vice President and CEO of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and the President of the Phi Delta Theta Foundation. He has an MBA from Xavier University and has been a trustee for The ALS Association (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). He is also a Past President of the Fraternity Executives Association.

Brian Crow is professor of Sport Management at Slippery Rock University. He has presented and written extensively on hazing in sports.

Douglas Fierberg established the only nationwide legal practice specializing in the representation of victims of school violence nationwide, now operating as The Fierberg National Law Group. Mr. Fierberg also founded the national litigation group, Schools: Violence, Misconduct, and Safety, which operates within and under the authority of the American Association for Justice. Mr. Fierberg is past President of the National Advisory Board of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. Mr. Fierberg graduated from the University of Michigan, with class honors, and received his law degree, with honors, from the National Law Center at George Washington University.

David M. Hovde is associate professor of Library Science and research and instruction librarian at the Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center at Purdue University Libraries.

James F. Keenan, SJ, holds the Canisius Chair at Boston College and is director of the Jesuit Institute. He is the author of University Ethics: How Colleges Can Build and Benefit from a Culture of Ethics.

Stacey Kennelly is a California freelance journalist and former associate editor at Diablo magazine.

Michael Kimmel (Q & A)  is the author of Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men and author or editor on more than twenty books on gender studies. He is professor of Sociology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Morgan B. Kinney is a graduate advisor at University of Maine, Student Life. She has a University of Maine Master’s Degree in Student Development in Higher Education

Peter F. Lake (Q & A) is Professor of Law, Charles A. Dana Chair and Director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law & Policy at Stetson University College of Law. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and author of the seminal The Rights and Responsibilities of the Modern University.

Chloe Neely is in her final year of law school at New York University and is clerking for The Fierberg National Law Group. Neely secured a federal clerkship upon graduation, and plans to represent survivors of sexual assault upon completion of that clerkship.

Gina Lee-Olukoya is Associate Dean of Students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and serves on the foundation of Hope Street Youth Development.

Malinda Matney works as Senior Research Associate for the Division of Student Affairs at the University of Michigan. Student Affairs Research conducts and assists in a wide variety of studies to learn about university students. Matney is the former National President of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.

Tracy Maxwell is the founder of HazingPrevention.Org. She has been working in and around higher education for more than 25 years. She currently speaks about hazing for CAMPUSPEAK. Her intention is that through sharing our personal stories, we can begin to feel less ashamed, disconnected and alone, and recognize the power we have to prevent and address hazing in our communities. Her work as a healing coach can help survivors of hazing and their families. She can be reached through her website www.IAMTracyMaxwell.com

Colleen McGlone is an associate professor in Recreation and Sport Management at Coastal Carolina University. Her Ph.D. is in Sport Administration from the University of New Mexico.

Hank Nuwer is a professor in the Pulliam School of Journalism at Franklin College. He is the author of a one-man play about hazing called “The Broken Pledge” and a novel that concerns hazing in the American West titled “Sons of the Dawn: A Basque Odyssey.” This is his third book on hazing for Indiana University Press. He was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for his work on hazing from the State University of New York, Buffalo State. HazingPrevention.org’s prestigious “Hank Nuwer Antihazing Award” was named to honor his work on hazing for four decades.

Norm Pollard, EdD, is the Dean of Students at Alfred University, a licensed mental health counselor and certified Title IX investigator. Norm was the co-author of one of the first studies of hazing among athletes and hazing in high schools in the United States. He is an Advisory Group member of the National Collaborative for Hazing Research and Prevention. He is a board member of HazingPrevention.org.

Debbie Smith, MM is the founder and CEO of AHA! Movement, a non-profit organization created in memory of her son, college student Matt Carrington.Matt died on February 2, 2005, after enduring a horrific water hazing pledging at a fraternity in Chico, California. Since then, Smith has had one primary mission in life: to bring awareness to the often tortuous and sometimes fatal practice of hazing.

Ashley Stone is an Academic Counselor in the African American Academic Network (AAAN) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). A Student Affairs professional, Stone has used her background in non-violence education and Sociology to create identity-conscious programming for various audiences. Currently, she advises a Black Greek Sorority on UIC’s campus.

Susan P. Stuart has written many perceptive essays on education law. Now retired as dean from the Valparaiso University School of Law, she taught Legal Writing, Trusts and Estates, Insurance Law, and Remedies. Professor Stuart practiced law for 11 years in Indianapolis. Her J.D. is from Indiana University – Indianapolis. She credits her research assistants who assisted her through the years on this study: Colleen Clemons, Emily Calwell France, Adam Miller, William Horvath, and Shay Hughes. Her lengthy piece on Title IX and sexual assault in athletics had to be condensed here but can be accessed in its entirety from the Valparaiso Law School web page: http://scholar.valpo.edu/

Allison Swick-Duttine is Director of Fraternity/Sorority Life at SUNY Plattsburgh. She was a founding board member of HazingPrevention.org.

David Westol, JD, is the Founder of Limberlost Consulting, providing strategic planning and consulting to campuses, organizations and foundations. A former Executive Director of Theta Chi Fraternity and a long-time hazing speaker, he formerly served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Presented annually, the David L. Westol Sacred Purpose Award goes to the Theta Chi chapter that most exemplifies the spirit of the organization’s Sacred Purpose movement.

Ed Whipple, a fourth-generation Oregonian, is Vice President for Campus Life at Willamette University. Whipple says his liberal arts education at Willamette shaped his values and influenced his approach to teaching, leading and building community. He holds a doctorate from Oregon State University and is a member of the Phi Delta Theta General Counsel. He is the recipient of many national student life awards.

Sarah Wild is a National Certified Counselor, with a professional background in fraternity/sorority advising and career counseling. She is an active volunteer for inter/national fraternities and sororities, HazingPrevention.Org, and passionate about volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. Although she is originally from New York, she currently resides in North Carolina, near her family.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Hazing News

Hey, hey, hey, goodbye. 22 suspended for ragging in India

Here is the story link

Categories
Hazing News

Philippines president admits he had been hospitalized after a hazing

From GMA News

Duterte admits being hospitalized due to hazing

President Rodrigo Duterte had admitted that he was brought to the hospital after being subjected to hazing.

“Kaya ako, three days ako umuwi kaagad ako. Pa-ospital. Massive hematoma,” Duterte said during a dinner with members of the media in Davao City on Friday night.

Duterte, however, did not say if the hazing was part of initiation rites for new recruits of his San Beda College fraternity Lex Talionis.

He said during his speech that fraternity members are more cruel to recruits who are children of high-profile personalities.

He said that when he was recruited, he was asked if he was the son of the late Davao governor Vicente Gonzales Duterte.

Duterte related his hazing experience amid the outcry against the hazing death of Horacio Tomas “Atio” Castillo III, a 22-year-old freshman law student at the University of Santo Tomas.

The Manila Police District has detained frat member John Paul Solano, who brought Castillo to the Chinese General Hospital where the freshman law student was pronounced dead last Sunday.

Solano had denied that he took part in the hazing of Castillo and claimed that he tried to resuscitate Castillo.

He said that fellow members of Aegis Juris fraternity called him up to help them provide first aid to Castillo.

Solano said Castillo was “half dead” when he arrived and tried to revive the student.

The Department of Justice has issued a lookout bulletin order against other members of the fraternity. Marlly Rome Bondoc/ALG, GMA News

Categories
Hazing News

On the need for tougher state laws: By Kerry Lester, Daily Herald

Here is the link  

Excerpt

 

A suburban lawmaker who sponsored anti-hazing legislation four years ago says allegations by a former Wheaton College football player show the law needs to be strengthened.

“We’ll have to make stronger laws with heavier punishments,” state Rep. Marty Moylan, a Des Plaines Democrat, said in an interview.

Moylan and some who work with young athletes say they’re dismayed by the number and scope of hazing cases even after a strong emphasis on prevention in recent years.

At Wheaton College, five football players face felony charges after being accused of abducting a freshman on the team, restraining him with duct tape, putting a pillow case over his head, suggesting he would be sexually violated and leaving him in a baseball field in March 2016.

While it’s the latest suburban hazing scandal, it’s far from the only one in recent years. Lake Zurich Unit District 95 faces a federal lawsuit in which it is accused of allowing hazing and bullying to occur in the high school football team locker room last year. In the past decade, hazing scandals have rocked Northern Illinois University, where a student died, as well as high schools in Crystal Lake and Des Plaines.

Despite new state laws and school-based anti-hazing initiatives during that time, Olen McGhee, a Mundelein-based trainer for high school and college athletes, said he believes hazing is worse than it was in the past.

“Core values aren’t the same anymore,” he said, and social media can make hazing or bullying seem more appealing to teens.

Moylan called it “ridiculous” that the March 2016 hazing at Wheaton only became public in recent days. Though it was reported to the college and to police at the time, the players remained on the team until last week.

Moylan’s bill, signed into law by former Gov. Pat Quinn in August 2013, created a new criminal offense for school officials who fail to report hazing that “he or she personally observes.” A separate law makes hazing a misdemeanor in Illinois, or a felony if it causes death or serious harm.

Hank Nuwer, a professor at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and a hazing expert, echoed Moylan’s argument that Illinois’s anti-hazing law isn’t strong enough. Nuwer wants Congress to pass the Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act “calling for greater transparency and mandatory education” about hazing.