Every year impressionable young adults set out to find their true calling, where their life is going to take them. Many of them go to college to pursue careers, branching out by joining clubs and even fraternities and sororities. It seems like just a normal part of socializing in a new environment, but dangers lie just beneath the surface.
Hazing is one of the biggest dangers to impressionable college students joining fraternities and sororities. The hazing process could be described as a form of initiation for upcoming new joining members. It consists of completing tasks involving humiliation and even danger. Dozens of young adults have died from brutal hazing rituals, leading it to be banned in fifteen states and making it a felony offense.
The deaths of hazing rituals usually have the most common factor of alcohol poisoning. In October of 2021, a college freshman, Danny Santulli, new to the University of Missouri was a victim of hazing. He was instructed to drink a liter of vodka. Santulli ended up suffering from a severe case of alcohol poisoning, leaving him unable to see, walk, or speak. When he first became unresponsive, with a pale face and blue lips, nobody called 911, frat members driving him to a campus hospital instead.
Another case of hazing that did have an unfortunate ending was at Penn State University. In 2017, sophomore Timothy Piazza had sustained injuries to his head and spleen due to a series of falls, having a blood alcohol level 4x the legal driving limit. He had taken a tumble down the basement stairs of the fraternity leaving him unconscious. When other members found him, they poured alcohol on his face while hitting his body. Piazza regained consciousness, but his intoxicated state would result in him falling down the basement stairs a second time, hitting his head in the process. As he struggled to stay alive the police were never called, leaving Piazza to die a tragic death.
Young women joining sororities are also targets for hazing. Alexandria, Pitt University med student, was pledging Alpha Kappa Alpha. She broke down confiding in her mother about what was going on in the sorority. The ritual included forcing them into a car and taking them to a nearby location where they were then beaten with paddles in a dark basement. Her mother says she had been “Kicked, pushed, punched, slapped… forced to ingest rotten food.” Authorities were contacted leading them to an investigation and the suspension of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Students planning on joining fraternities or sororities shouldn’t be afraid, but they should be aware of dangers. It is so easy to fall into peer pressure especially when you’re trying to please people in a new environment where you want to be viewed as somebody who likes to have fun. The banning, punishment, and education about hazing is something that should be taken more seriously across America.
