OPINION: Greek organizations must consider alternatives to hazing

Within the past two months, four USC fraternities have faced or currently face suspension due to charges of hazing. Although it is well-known among students that hazing is alive and well on USC’s campus, what’s seldom considered is the psychological motivations behind the practice — a critical step in taking measures to offer alternatives to dangerous hazing practices in the future.

USC’s policy guidelines and California law explicitly forbid hazing, with SCampus defining it as “any method of initiation or preinitiation into a student organization … which is likely to cause serious bodily injury to any former, current or prospective student.”

David Burkman, director of the independent film “HAZE” explains in a USA Today article that the psychology of hazing is rooted in humans’ primal need to become a part of a community and that all people share this psychological drive.

But Burkman said becoming an accepted part of a group doesn’t fully satisfy this evolutionary urge.

“We need hazing to make it feel like we are achieving something real (even if it isn’t),” Burkman wrote. “We have to feel that we earned it, that we went through a trial. It’s in every story: The hero must face trials and tribulations to grow in strength and knowledge to become all that he or she can be. It has to be hard.”

However, this explanation does not adequately address how the humiliation and scare tactics associated with hazing is conducive to building “brotherhood.”

In fact, many researchers, including psychologist and hazing expert Susan Lipkins, assert that hazing is about something psychologically darker and less obvious than community building.

“This century has seen a rise in deaths and sodomy due to hazing rituals,” Lipkins wrote on her website Inside Hazing, which aims to raise awareness on the widespread practice. “In general, hazing has become more violent, more humiliating, and more sexual. Hazardous hazing is a virus that has attacked our youth and is spreading quickly.”

Former fraternity brother Gabriel Maestretti, who was charged for the hazing-related death of Matthew Carrington at Chico State University in 2005, confirmed that his motivations for hazing were more sinister than many are led to believe. At his sentencing, Maestretti took ownership for his actions and told the jury, “Hazing isn’t funny, it’s not cute. It’s stupid, dangerous. It’s not about brotherhood, it’s about power and control.”

In light of the recent interim suspensions of fraternities at USC, the administration is trying to figure out how to prevent dangerous hazing-related accidents from happening on campus. Suspending fraternities isn’t the answer, because uncertified Greek groups do not have to answer to anti-hazing regulations.

Moreover, Greek organizations on campus have made it clear that regulations won’t deter them, as evidenced by recent hazing suspensions.

For Maestretti, it took a felony on his record and a year in jail to finally realize the dark reality of hazing.

Hopefully, the same measures will not be necessary for USC’s students to wise up.

The University made the right decision in placing Sigma Alpha Mu and Phi Sigma Kappa on interim suspension, but students and the administration alike must find alternative, beneficial ways to build the culture of “brotherhood” that’s used  to justify hazing.

After all, other student organizations on campus maintain beneficial initiation practices. For many organizations, a simple application that proves one’s skill and character is enough for communal acceptance. For many clubs, a shared interest is all it takes to create bonds.

StopHazing, an anti-hazing awareness group comprising teachers and researchers alike, lists multiple healthy alternatives to dangerous hazing practices, including participating in community service projects together, planning athletic or social events with other organizations or developing a peer mentor system.

It is entirely possible for Greek organizations to adopt the same approach, but they first must find the courage to shirk dangerous, arbitrary traditions in favor of building positive institutions for the future.