Im a freshmen student, and just got initated to my sorority maybe 4 weeks ago. My sorority has a strictly enforced no-hazing policy, so i never went thru anything quite like the comment about the magic marker... i DID however hear TONS of stories about hazing...which i absolutley HAFTA share with you guys...okay...these are just some stories about hazing from the sororities on my campus... (Disclaimer: some content IS alittle graphic and sexual in nature)
- lining pledges up in their bathingsuits our underware, infront of frat brothers armed with sharpies, blindfolding the pledges, and having the frat brothers circle everything that was wrong with the pledge's body...and making them "work on it".
- Sisters forcing their pledges to sit in their underware on running or washer or dryer, and circling any jiggling parts on their body with a sharpie, and making them "work on it".
- Sisters forcing pledges to snort cocaine off of a bathroom floor (i was suprised about the extreme use of this drug in some -not all- of the sororities on campus)
- Being forced to drink and eat disgusting concoctions of god knows what until the pledge THROWS UP.
- eating dog food
- within the first week of pledging, i heard a pledge down the hall talking about how her and her pledgesisters were forced to stand on the sidewalk in ur underware, with NO bra (allowed to cover ur breasts with ur hands.)
- some pledges are required to line up in "pledge class order" (alphabetical order), and lick ur pledge-mom's nipples.(a pledge-mom is the person in charge of teaching the pledges the history of their sorority, and preparing them to be sisters.)
- My current boyfriend went to college down south (hazing is SO MUCH worse down south), and he dated a girl who was pledging a sorority.....(Side Note: you get a bid, then pledge for many weeks/months, then get a "Big" sister ; someone whos suppost to literally BE your big sister figure in the sorority -called a big-, then get initiated.) WELL, the pledges were ACTUALLY forced to preform oral sex on their Bigs.yeah, that one shocked me too. and i didnt believe that stuff that twisted actually happened, until we were having a pledge class sleepover, and we were all talking about hazing stories we've heard about (remember, my sorority doesnt haze, so we had ALOT of fun bashing the ones that do haze.), and our chapter president, also my Big, confirmed it...She was at a national conference 2 years ago, and actually heard about it from another chapters president!!!
- This ones pretty bad too... This one sorority on campus, (known for being the "slutty sorority") ACTUALLY makes their pledges sit on the floor, on NEWSPAPER with NO underware on, and makes them all watch a porn video until EVERY pledge has gotten the newspaper wet...if you know what i mean. and none of the pledges are allowed to leave until all the girls get it done. AND furthurmore, the last pledge to get the newspaper wet gets hazed the worst.
- some Fraternities hazing involves ALOT of physical violence...like brutal beetings, elephant walks, and golden showers (use ur imagination). Sororities usually turn to mental abuse instead of physical abuse.
Now, i must note that NOT ALL SORORITIES OR FRATERNITIES HAZE!myine honestly doesnt.But also note, that if you are going through rush (the process where you meet all of the sororities, and narrow down your choices as to which ones you would accept a big from), you can actually ask them upfront "Do you's haze?", and i guarentee you they will SAY NO. but they arent always telling the truth... i know this for fact, because i was seriously considering pledging this one sorority (not the one i ended up joining), we'll call it Theta Beta, at my school. and they told me they didnt haze at all.WELL, it turns out that they most definitly do haze... they're one of the worst ones for hazing on campus.)...and you'd never expect it bc they seem like decent people. ha.*I found out that they haze by talking to my one guy friend who is in a fraternity.!!!!!!******That is my advice. Ask around campus, find out their rep for hazing from someone
OTHER then the sisters... because they wont always tell you the truth.
NOW, why would someone remain in a sorority or fraternity that hazes them so badly?This is what i came up with...-Pledging, even without hazing, is exhausting. you hafta take Pledge Class, which requires you to learn the ENTIRE history of your sorority... its rediculous. i actually studied more for pledgeclass then i did for my regular classes. yeah. its redic.The hazing usually gets worse at the semester goes on. SO, pledges will stick with pledging throughout the brutal hazing because they honestly put SO MUCH time and effort into it to just give up. and when i say time and effort, i mean say GOODBYE to your outside life for 12+ weeks. theres just NO time between mandatory study hours ( ours were 3 hrs a day, M-W.), mixers, studying for pledge class, and balancing your regular classes. It becomes your life. if i didnt join my sorority, id have a rediculous ammount of free time on my hands. idk what i would do. lol
So thats my lil 411 on hazing.Like i said before, i am in a sorority (ours doesnt haze).... I want to note that joining a sorority was a really great expierence for me. Being a freshmen in college, having 34 instant reguardless friends, it helps with the adjustment to college life...they're like personal mentors. like, well, sisters.
Also, greeks have the best parties. just watch your drinks, esp. around frat boys... and yeah, i know this from a personal roofie-ing expierence that happened to me at my sororities favorite frat house.... but thats another story. but in summary, NEVER take anything prepared under the bar, or any shots that have colored dye in them (they put food dye in the clear liquor shots to hide the roofie. My best friend learned this one the hard way =(. ) and NEVER take a drink from a random guy your dancing with...esp. if he hand delivers it to you, and you dont see him prepare it (thats what happened to me.)Rape is terribly common in college. Dont be fooled, dont be victimized, dont trust ANYONE.
***i hope i didnt suade any potential greeks out there from becoming part of the greek community (i know i certainly didnt do a good job of making greek life sound appealing)...but that wasent my intention. (Going greek was one of the best independent decisions i've ever made.)My intention was to inform potential greeks out there to be ON THEIR TOES about whats going on, and to hopefully prevent someone from being hurt mentally, emotionally, or physically.
Best wishes, keep youself informed.
