What began with pledges forced to eat a jar of mayonnaise has now escalated into forcing alcohol down their throats until they throw up.
The University has failed in its ability to mediate hazing rituals, and it’s the AU community that will suffer.
The AU chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon was reprimanded last year for hazing pledges. However, these charges have resurfaced and, in fact, have gotten worse.
Things are bad within the TKE fraternity. Brothers are fighting with each other, pledges are forced to find their way home without cellphones from Maryland and verbal and physical abuses are committed time and time again.
So much for the University cracking down on hazing.
Not to mention that the brother in charge of all of this is not technically allowed to be a brother. He has not been a student since fall 2011, and according to Greek life regulations all members must be enrolled AU students. That’s right, the pledge master is a super, super senior spending his time creating hazing rituals that are beyond disgusting.
We know hazing is bad, all AU students understand that. Anyone can distinguish right from wrong in hazing rituals and know that being forced to drink alcohol and being marched into the woods blindfolded is not a good idea.
The problem is not the hazing, it’s the fact that the University let it get this bad.
How is it that freshmen boys are continuously forced to smoke marijuana and no one is doing anything about it? Supposedly, the Interfraternity Council is there to keep Greek organizations from hazing.
The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution is also there to help mitigate these situations. But both have failed entirely.
These allegations are not a secret. TKE has been investigated by The Eagle,, the University and by TKE National. The University has known about TKE’s abusive hazing for a year.
AU cannot defend itself on this one. It just let the issue slide.
The University will face repercussions for letting these obscene hazing rituals go unchecked. Prospective students are making their final decisions, and the bad reputation this will give AU may sway their decisions.
Yet TKE’s actions create a horrendous and unfair portrayal of Greek life at AU. Not all Greek organizations are like TKE. Fraternity life can be a rewarding experience, if done honorably and legally.
It is simply unfortunate that the actions of a few will reflect on all of Greek life.
Responsibility needs to be taken for the minimal investigation done this year. The University has an obligation to let students know what is going on and to let future pledges know what they are getting into. AU needed to step in before it got this bad, but they can still step in now and give the incoming freshmen the opportunity to stay away from dangerous fraternities.
Fraternity brothers also owe it to themselves to protect incoming members. The five whistleblowers who came forward to the University should be commended, and more should follow in their path. If Greek life is ever going to be policed, part of it will have to be done by the organizations themselves.
Laws need to be made, and enforced, to protect AU students. The last thing we want is news of some freshman boy passed out in the middle of Maryland next Welcome Week. ? E
edpage@theeagleonline.com
