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Stefano is a freshman at a small college called Hinchley University. Although Hinchley doesn鈥檛 recognize Greek life, there are plenty of nationally recognized fraternities and sororities off campus.

 

Even before Stefano applied to college, he knew he wanted to rush a fraternity. His father was in a fraternity and always told Stefano that he gained valuable life lessons out of his experience that shaped who he became as an individual. When Stefano gets to Hinchley, however, he is disappointed that his father鈥檚 fraternity doesn鈥檛 have a chapter at his school. He forgets about rushing a fraternity until winter quarter comes around and fraternities host rush week.

 

Stefano decides to attend rush week to see if he can find an organization that fits his mold. He鈥檚 looking for fraternity brothers who care about academics as much as socializing and who walk the talk supporting worthwhile philanthropies. At the end of rush, Stefano thinks he鈥檚 found just what he wants in a fraternity called 鈥淎lpha Iota.鈥�

 

Alpha Iota extends Stefano a bid and he accepts. Soon, however, Stefano finds some of his fraternity brothers are not the kind of guys he really wants to hang around with. While a lot of the members are great, several others both publically and privately show disrespect towards other fraternities and all women on and off campus. In addition, there is hostility between the brothers themselves that Stefano didn鈥檛 see during rush. He soon finds out it may be from hazing the pledges are forced to undertake.

 

Only a couple days into his pledge period, on a Monday night, Stefano is locked in a dark basement with his pledge brothers. First, they are instructed to finish a keg of beer amongst the 25 pledges. After this, they are forced to stay awake all night, still locked in the basement, by blasting music and active brothers going around slapping pledges awake who fall asleep.

 

Stefano finds himself torn. He鈥檇 like to belong to a fraternity so that he has a good social network on campus. But should he continue to go through the pledge period to join this exclusive club, even though he doesn鈥檛 respect some of the members and he doesn鈥檛 feel comfortable with the hazing?

 

Do you believe the desire to be in a Greek organization鈥攅ven one that hazes鈥攕hould outweigh a college student鈥檚 moral conscience? If you were forced to do something you didn鈥檛 want to do to join an exclusive organization, would you do it? Or would you walk away, knowing that dropping out will affect your social life at college? If you are involved with Greek life, is there something the organization could do that would make you reevaluate your allegiance? If so, what?

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Donald Harrison available under a Creative Commons license.