April, the University of Buffalo suspended all official activities of its fraternities and sororities in response to the death of student Sebastian Serafin-Bazan in a suspected hazing incident. Serafin-Bazan was found in a state of cardiac arrest outside the Sigma Pi fraternity house.

Serafin-Bazan’s death is among dozens of fraternity-related deaths this decade.

Amy Nakamura | Senior Design Editor

Fraternities and sororities have shown that fatalities teach them alarmingly little. Greek organizations are stuck in a cycle of rinse-and-repeat cruelty, and if the dozens of prior fatalities didn’t produce a cultural shift, there may not be much hope for reform in Greek life.

“Well, I’m 73 now, I plan on living to 100, and I believe there will still be hazing by then,” said Hank Nuwer, author of the 1980 book, “Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing,” Nuwer is a leading scholar on hazing.

The issue is that it takes a fatality or a public scandal for the public to acknowledge there is a problem. Fraternities operate at a level where campuses no longer expect acceptable conduct from them.

It appears that Greek organizations nationwide view death and gross mistreatment as unavoidable collateral damage. To them, the harm done to their own members is a valuable part of the “brotherhood” their organizations offer.

Hazing is not an exercise in brotherhood — it is the debasement for its own sake. These are future white collar workers drinking themselves sick under peer pressure, not commandos preparing for war. Young men do not need to go through a series of disgusting and humiliating trials to make friends, find purpose or “become men.”

College offers countless opportunities to further oneself and to have fun while doing it. No new student should endure abuse from supposed friends to have a worthwhile college experience.

Fraternities have undoubtedly produced many admirable people, and many fraternities have proud histories of achievement. The problem is that fraternities no longer live up to the values they profess in their lofty mission statements.

“Brotherhood is an ideal,” said Nuwer. “That ideal has fallen short since 1959. Nobody should be humiliated when joining a group.”

Greek organizations can build community and prepare young people for the world the way that other student organizations do: with respect for their members and without annual fatalities.

It is important to remember that those who commit the abuse are young adults and are merely blindly following the example set by the generations of irresponsible 20-somethings before them.

Nuwer said that until schools and the Greek organizations they empower police themselves, hazing is here to stay.

Unless Greek organizations end the often fatal abuse that their pledges endure, their claims to “brotherhood” are merely hollow lip service.

Michael Furnari is a sophomore broadcast and digital journalism major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at mpfurnar@syr.edu

Published on April 29, 2019 at 10:12 pm