The Horrors Of Hazing

        On Friday, November 2nd, 2012, 19-year old David Bogenberger of Northern Illinois University died after allegedly being forced to drink large quantities of liquor, as part of a fraternity pledge night at the DeKalb, Illinois campus.  As a result, law enforcement officials in DeKalb issued warrants this week for the arrest of twenty-two students at NIU for violating the state's hazing statute. Five of the students face felony charges and, if convicted, could be sentenced to between one and three years in prison.  The other seventeen students are looking at misdemeanors for their connection with Bogenberger's untimely death.  On Tuesday, December 18th, thirteen students turned themselves in to police.  The other nine NIU students, who are accused of the hazing crime, are not yet in custody.

     Law enforcement authorities say that Bogenberger, a freshman - along with other pledges - spent two hours drinking vodka and other alcoholic beverages at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house.  The coroner's report states that Bogenberger's blood-alcohol content was about five times the legal limit for driving.  The autopsy also documented that Bogenberger died of a cardiac arrhythmia with alcohol intoxication as a significant condition contributing to his death.

     Officials at NIU say there are a total of thirty-one students who could face penalties for their involvement in the hazing incident; including everything from reprimand to expulsion to the aforementioned criminal charges.  Meantime, the school has shut down the Pi Kappa Alpha chapter on campus.

     Bogenberger's family wants authorities to "seek accountability for a horrible event."  However, in a statement released by the family, they say, "We have no desire for revenge.  Rather, we hope that some significant change will come from David's death.  Alcohol poisoning claims far too many young, healthy lives.  We must realize that young people can and do die in hazing rituals.  Alcohol-involved hazing and initiation must end."

     Hazing is a terrible tradition that can only lead to tragedy.  More than 1,800 young men and women between 18 and 24 years of age die every year as a result of alcohol and unintended alcohol-related incidents, many of which involve hazing. 

     The act of hazing is observed in many different types of social groups, but is most often associated with college fraternities and sororities.  It is prohibited by law in 44 of 50 states and may involve physical or psychological abuse.  Hazing may also include nudity or sexually oriented activities.

     The first person known to die in a college fraternity initiation was at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York nearly 140 years ago.  According to an article in The New York Times, dated October 14th, 1873, Mortimer M. Leggett was blindfolded and allegedly told to walk along a railroad trestle with other students who were pledging the Kappa Alpha society, when he fell off the trestle and hit the back of his head. 

     Leggett was the son of Mortimer D. Leggett, a major general and hero of the Union Army during the American Civil War.

     I attended college in the mid 1970s and thankfully hazing at my school was not as prevalent as it was at other campuses.  College-aged kids today need to realize that no group is worth joining if they have to participate in any form of hazing.

    Hank Nuwer is a professor at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana.  Professor Nuwer has spent nearly forty years documenting every hazing death in the United States.  Since 1975, Nuwer reportedly says, "There's been a death every particular year."  He found that the one constant in 82 percent of hazing deaths was the drinking of massive amounts of alcohol.  Unfortunately, so-called "binge drinking" is too common a practice at college campuses throughout the United States. 

     We need to put a stop to hazing.  It is synonymous with danger and is simply not logical.  I understand, especially with frat brothers, that hazing is an exercise in bonding, but there are better and much safer ways to bond with a buddy than by drinking huge sums of alcohol, by walking blindfolded along a train trestle or any other act of stupidity that could possibly kill you.

     No parent wants to receive that unthinkable telephone call in the middle of the night that their son or daughter is dead because of hazing at a fraternity or sorority event.  It makes no sense whatsoever for a person to prove himself or herself when the consequences could be the harm or death of another person or yourself.

     Parents, educators and advisers of all kinds can try to communicate and convey to students the hazards and heartaches of hazing.  Journalists, such as myself, can editorialize over and over again - but it's the individual himself or herself who has to be sensible, rational, mature and be a person of sound judgment when deciding whether to be involved in any aspect of hazing.

     If those who call themselves "your friends" - require you - and ultimately pressure you to do something that is dangerous, humiliating, embarrassing or abusive in any way - are they really your friends?  Do you want to be friends with people who treat you in such a hideous way?  There have got to be lines that you won't cross.  There have got to be boundaries that keep you safe from the idiots and morons who want you to perform harsh, cruel and painful acts of hazing on yourself or others.

     I understand that students can find it difficult to resist joining a fraternity, sorority, club or any social group if that's part of the college experience you desire greatly.  But remember one thing before you participate in any hazing activity.  The ultimate price to pay for membership in the organization you want to be associated with...could very well be death... someone else's...or your own.

     And that's The Controversy for today.

     I'm Gary B. Duglin.

Copyright 2012 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.