Fraternity Pledging

[Voodoo Child]

Has anyone else gone through the process?

In my opinion, it often goes way too far. I was older by about a year than most people in my class, so I was being hazed this semester by people my age, and even younger. The things they did to me were inhumane and torturous, and still, I put up with it because of the sort of brainwashing they do to you. I still have an amazing bond with my brothers and am very thankful that I went through with it given the connections and opportunities I have now, but I probably wouldn't have gone through with the process if I know what they were going to do to me in hindsight.

I'm not going to talk openly about what happened, but if anyone wants to talk to me in PM or AIM about it, I'll talk. Basically, I'm not asking for people to share experiences, because I'm mostly from the camp that those sort of things should remain in the rooms they happen in, but I do think that most universities (and even some high schools so I hear) lord fraternity pledging over their students as a social necessity, and the fraternities take advantage of their pledges' desire to be apart of the campus social scene and sometimes abuse them in a way that would make POW's cringe.

So basically, what are everyone's thoughts about hazing? Where's the line, if there even is one, and have/would you subject yourself to such a thing?

 

[Kid Chocolate]

Frats are cool if you wanna pay for friends.

 

[Voodoo Child]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ May 27 2008, 02:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Frats are cool if you wanna pay for friends.</div>

It's not paying for friends but essentially paying so that you and your friends can be able to throw parties, get laid, and get drunk together. It also includes you into a college social scene that is hard to penetrate as a GDI.

 

[NattaNerNuttaMan]

I come from a family of Military servers and I'm currently in the Army serving my 10th year in and have been deployed numerous times and actually deployed right now. I'm not raising a fuss, but could you not tarnish the sacrifices my fellow soldier's have made by comparing hazing to the tortures they have endured. I realize that hazing can be bad and painful, but until you drive in constant convoys and watch as fellow brother's in arms are lost in an IED explosion....I just can't compare the two, let alone say it would make a "POW cringe". Thank you, for your understanding on this touchy comparison.

I know you don't mean any harm by the comment, but being currently deployed...it just kinda hit the wrong nerve. I still love y'all though

 

[Voodoo Child]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NattaNerNuttaMan @ May 27 2008, 03:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I come from a family of Military servers and I'm currently in the Army serving my 10th year in and have been deployed numerous times and actually deployed right now. I'm not raising a fuss, but could you not tarnish the sacrifices my fellow soldier's have made by comparing hazing to the tortures they have endured. I realize that hazing can be bad and painful, but until you drive in constant convoys and watch as fellow brother's in arms are lost in an IED explosion....I just can't compare the two, let alone say it would make a "POW cringe". Thank you, for your understanding on this touchy comparison.

I know you don't mean any harm by the comment, but being currently deployed...it just kinda hit the wrong nerve. I still love y'all though</div>

Good Lord... it was an expression... not meant to be taken literally.

But make no mistake, it is torture. I've still got burns and am healing from bruised ribs. I have a friend who just got out of the hospital for burn treatment and another whose casts are just coming off from the broken bones he endured during the beatings he took in the hazing process.

That's why I made this thread. I don't think hazing should be torturous like military service can be. I think it should be stressful but purposeful, hard yet rewarding. Right now, I think it's gotten to a sadistic level. It's different than joining the military. People who join a fraternity are looking for connections, both job connections in post-college life and social connections for their current college life. They're not looking to fight a war.

 

[NattaNerNuttaMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Voodoo Child @ May 27 2008, 03:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NattaNerNuttaMan @ May 27 2008, 03:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I come from a family of Military servers and I'm currently in the Army serving my 10th year in and have been deployed numerous times and actually deployed right now. I'm not raising a fuss, but could you not tarnish the sacrifices my fellow soldier's have made by comparing hazing to the tortures they have endured. I realize that hazing can be bad and painful, but until you drive in constant convoys and watch as fellow brother's in arms are lost in an IED explosion....I just can't compare the two, let alone say it would make a "POW cringe". Thank you, for your understanding on this touchy comparison.

I know you don't mean any harm by the comment, but being currently deployed...it just kinda hit the wrong nerve. I still love y'all though</div>

Good Lord... it was an expression... not meant to be taken literally.

But make no mistake, it is torture. I've still got burns and am healing from bruised ribs. I have a friend who just got out of the hospital for burn treatment and another whose casts are just coming off from the broken bones he endured during the beatings he took in the hazing process.

That's why I made this thread. I don't think hazing should be torturous. I think it should be stressful but purposeful, hard yet reward. Right now, I think it's gotten to a sadistic level. It's different than joining the military. People who join a fraternity are looking for connections, both job connections in post-college life and social connections for their current college life. They're not looking to fight a war.
</div>

I understand where your coming from , and yes that is terrible and I'm not saying it can't be extreme. But I'm just asking you to not compare that to the gunshot wounds and lost limbs we get over here. The torture methods they use here are beheadings and dismemberments. Remember just because we join the military doesn't mean we're looking for war...for some it means we just want to defend our country. I'm not trying to raise a fuss about it and like I said before, I know you didn't mean any disrepectful by it. But I felt the need to give the input of the soldiers who would balk at the comparision that's all.

 

[Kid Chocolate]

I don't understand the whole beating the shit out of each other thing. Is gay sex involved too?

 

[NattaNerNuttaMan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ May 27 2008, 03:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't understand the whole beating the shit out of each other thing. Is gay sex involved too?</div>

I guess that depends on which side is receiving....ouch!

 

[Voodoo Child]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NattaNerNuttaMan @ May 27 2008, 03:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Voodoo Child @ May 27 2008, 03:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (NattaNerNuttaMan @ May 27 2008, 03:09 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I come from a family of Military servers and I'm currently in the Army serving my 10th year in and have been deployed numerous times and actually deployed right now. I'm not raising a fuss, but could you not tarnish the sacrifices my fellow soldier's have made by comparing hazing to the tortures they have endured. I realize that hazing can be bad and painful, but until you drive in constant convoys and watch as fellow brother's in arms are lost in an IED explosion....I just can't compare the two, let alone say it would make a "POW cringe". Thank you, for your understanding on this touchy comparison.

I know you don't mean any harm by the comment, but being currently deployed...it just kinda hit the wrong nerve. I still love y'all though</div>

Good Lord... it was an expression... not meant to be taken literally.

But make no mistake, it is torture. I've still got burns and am healing from bruised ribs. I have a friend who just got out of the hospital for burn treatment and another whose casts are just coming off from the broken bones he endured during the beatings he took in the hazing process.

That's why I made this thread. I don't think hazing should be torturous. I think it should be stressful but purposeful, hard yet reward. Right now, I think it's gotten to a sadistic level. It's different than joining the military. People who join a fraternity are looking for connections, both job connections in post-college life and social connections for their current college life. They're not looking to fight a war.
</div>

I understand where your coming from , and yes that is terrible and I'm not saying it can't be extreme. But I'm just asking you to not compare that to the gunshot wounds and lost limbs we get over here. The torture methods they use here are beheadings and dismemberments. Remember just because we join the military doesn't mean we're looking for war...for some it means we just want to defend our country. I'm not trying to raise a fuss about it and like I said before, I know you didn't mean any disrepectful by it. But I felt the need to give the input of the soldiers who would balk at the comparision that's all.
</div>

Like I said a post up, it wasn't meant to be taken literally. It was an expression.

The point of the thread is that I don't think 18 year old college students should be beaten half to death and abused physically and mentally for half a year just to join a social club.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I don't understand the whole beating the shit out of each other thing. Is gay sex involved too?</div>

Not with our frat, but some frats do homosexual acts. It's crossing the line, in my opinion.

 

[Chutney]

Frats aren't nearly as popular up here in Canadian universities as they are in the US. They exist, but they don't have as big a presence on campus and its not as much a necessity to build a social network. So I don't really have much of a basis for comparison. Even though you haven't specified what happened, your general descriptions sound pretty ridiculous. I don't see why anyone would go through with it in hindsight.

I remember a year or so ago, there was a big fuss over hazing in minor league hockey teams. Some borderline sexual abuse incidents came out in the media and it caused a lot of controversy. The interesting thing was that a lot of former hockey players were asked to comment on hazing and they generally supported it as something they all went through that brought them all closer. But their descriptions were a helluva lot tamer than what was people were talking about. In general, it seems like hazing has gradually gotten more depraved, over-the-top, and unnecessary over the years.

 

[Run BJM]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ May 27 2008, 03:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't understand the whole beating the shit out of each other thing. Is gay sex involved too?</div>
Yes, its required in fact.

They don't have many frats in Santa Cruz, don't know if thats good or bad. Everyone's so anti-society, anti-church, anti-preppies. I think there might only be one in the whole college.

Sounds cool for the parties and shit but I don't know if its worth it to go through the stupid hazing and pledging. Its not that hard to find a party in college is it?

 

[zєяσ]

Im kinda glad now that Im going to a school with no frats(I'll just go to Johns Hopkins next door and raid their frat parties!)

 

[bbwchingy0007]

As far as I know there are no frats at all in any Universities. At some there might be "initiations" to Universities, but they mostly revolve around drinking, and are optional. Which is good, since I'm going to Uni next year and there's no way I'm letting anyone beat be or put anything anywhere where I don't want it to go

.

 

[cpawfan]

Been there, done that, still have many of the T-Shirts

Southern chapters, at least in my day, were notoriously the worst when it came to hazing.

 

[Kid Chocolate]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 30 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Been there, done that, still have many of the T-Shirts

Southern chapters, at least in my day, were notoriously the worst when it came to hazing.</div>

How's your butthole these days?

 

[cpawfan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ May 30 2008, 12:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 30 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Been there, done that, still have many of the T-Shirts

Southern chapters, at least in my day, were notoriously the worst when it came to hazing.</div>

How's your butthole these days?
</div>

Same as it has ever been.

My chapter didn't have crap like that

It was cheaper to live in the house than in an off campus apartment. Every quarter I drank more free beer and booze than what my dues were and the free T-Shirts were great for going drinking.

 

[Kid Chocolate]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 30 2008, 12:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kid Chocolate @ May 30 2008, 12:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 30 2008, 12:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Been there, done that, still have many of the T-Shirts

Southern chapters, at least in my day, were notoriously the worst when it came to hazing.</div>

How's your butthole these days?
</div>

Same as it has ever been.
</div>

Gaping and sore?