Hazing difficult to investigate
Universities have a tough time investigating hazing. Not only do many organizations go to great lengths to maintain privacy, but few individuals are willing to speak out.
By Erin LaMourie
Skiff Staff

The rules are clear when it comes to hazing — it is not allowed at TCU and it is illegal.

But recent and past incidents have shown that hazing has occurred on campus, although nobody knows exactly how often it happens.

Because of the cloak of secrecy surrounding many organizations, TCU and other universities have a difficult time investigating hazing incidents. Few victims will speak out, evidence is often scarce and sometimes it can come down to one person’s word against an entire organization.

“We know it is there but to know how prevalent is hard,” said Norman Pollard, director of the counseling center at Alfred University, in Alfred, N.Y.

Pollard has conducted two national surveys about hazing in high schools and with NCAA athletes. He said a national survey has yet to be conducted on fraternity and sorority hazing because it is difficult to get honest responses.

“It is really difficult and challenging for someone to report that they have been abused or harmed,” he said.

About two or three hazing incidents are reported every semester, said Mike Russel, associate dean of Campus Life.

TCU’s Greek system, which includes 42 percent of undergraduate students according to Campus Life, has had a few hazing acts in past years.

Some of these include:
· The Chi Omega sorority violated hazing policy in the fall of 1995. The Phi Kappa Sigma and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternities, were both suspended from TCU for hazing before 1995.

· TCU suspended the Phi Delta Theta fraternity because of hazing, underage drinking, lax financial management and poor academic performance by new members on April 4, 1996.

· The Kappa Sigma fraternity was kicked out of Tomlinson Hall and suspended indefinitely from the university and national chapter in May. Thirty of the approximately 70 members were expelled from the fraternity.

Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, confirmed all the incidents but said records were not available for incidents beyond eightt years ago.

That’s because the university feels it’s unfair to hold current students accountable for 20-year-old incidents with normal student turnover, said Susan Adams, associate vice chancellor and dean of Campus Life. She says Campus Life will only keep records if a fraternity or sorority repeatedly gets caught for the same offense.

Deterrence
Since the Kappa Sigma fraternity was suspended, hazing is on the decline, said Jeff Chauvin, a former pledge trainer for the Kappa Sigs.

“What happened (to Kappa Sigma) served as an example,” said Chauvin, a junior accounting major. “It has substantially decreased the hazing on campus.”

Hazing is defined by the university as an intentional, knowing or reckless act directed against a student, by one person or a group, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of the student for various purposes of an organization at TCU. Details about what acts constitute hazing are listed in the TCU Student Handbook’s Code of Student Conduct. The policy is modeled after state law.

Chauvin said hazing is defined too broadly, and it comes down to deciding between right and wrong.

Blowing the whistle
State law requires that victims report incidents of hazing, and Campus Life provides a place for them to do that.

Not all hazing occurs within the Greek system. Adams said that both the band fraternity and the business fraternity have been reported in the past, but that nothing became of either investigation.

When incidents do occur in the Greek system, the director of fraternity and sorority affairs is responsible for investigations. Russel is currently taking over responsibilities for the position after Tom Sullivan, former director of fraternity and sorority affairs, left this year to go to Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos.

Many students do not report hazing incidents out of fear of retaliation, Russel said, or because they think it is a rite of passage.

“It is a very insidious phenomenon,” Russel said. “The desire to be part of a group grows so strong that people begin to accept what is happening to them as normal.

“I think those being hazed can become convinced that this is for their own good.”

When hazing is reported, the accused organization is informed and the group’s president is questioned, as are pledges or other members, in some instances.

Russel said Campus Life often has to pick one person’s word against an entire organization, with credibility as its only guide.

“There comes a point if no one will say ‘yes this occurred’ and we have no proof, all we have is someone’s word,” he said. “Because you can’t prove it, it is hard to move forward to the next level of the investigation.”

In the Kappa Sigma incident, Russel said a parent and a neighbor submitted reports in the fall. Initial investigations failed because of a lack of evidence. It was not until early in the spring semester that a student came forward and provided details and names, he said.

Russel said he was alarmed that only one student, of all the pledges and members of Kappa Sigma, was willing to make a report.

Pollard said students do not always grasp the seriousness of hazing and excuse it as “boys will be boys.” He said many students do not even know hazing is illegal.

“A lot of schools try to keep things in-house. But when it is a violation of the state law, they should let the proper authority know,” Pollard said.

Both Campus Life and the fraternity’s national office were involved in the Kappa Sigma investigation. TCU Police were also involved because criminal acts were alleged.

Russel would not give details about specific acts committed.

Kappa Sigma’s national offices, TCU and the fraternity negotiated Kappa Sigma’s punishment of suspension, which, Russel said, reflected the seriousness of the hazing.

On April 23, former Kappa Sigs Kevin Edmondson and James Synowsky turned themselves into police on misdemeanor assault charges related to hazing and were released on bond, said Det. R.A. Gallaway of the Fort Worth Police Department, who was assigned to the case.

The Tarrant County District Attorney’s office has yet to file the case, although it received case information in April.

Chauvin said the investigation process was difficult for the fraternity, which was made an example for all other organizations that may be involved in hazing.

“I’d never wish the hell we went through going through hearings and deliberations on anyone else,” he said. “They did the right thing with us, but is was maybe a little harsh.”

Prevention
Pollard, the Alfred University counselor, said a university can help prevent hazing by keeping students informed and encouraging people to report hazing.

“Hazing has to do with power and control,” Pollard said. “It is an initiation process where someone can prove they are worthy of joining a group.

“In our culture, we don’t know how to initiate people, so students use what they see in the media, which involved alcohol,” Pollard said. “Colleges and administration should show students better team-building and bonding processes that groups can use.”

Many organizations are able to initiate members without resorting to hazing rituals.

Adams said community service activities have become a way for group members to bond without the use of hazing.

Shortening the new member period and giving pledges the right to vote also reduces hazing, she said.

“Any time you have two levels of membership and criteria to be a full-fledged member (in a group), hazing can occur,” Adams said “Pledges and actives need to do positive (activities) together to really bond.”

However, Russel said the university can only go so far to prevent hazing.

“To be more proactive would suggest that we show up unannounced at a pledge activity or a new member education program,” Russel said. “People would object dramatically. I think groups need to have some level of privacy we need to afford them.”

Russel said despite the recent and past incidents, no changes were made to TCU’s approach to investigating reports.

“I think we are doing everything we can do, within reason,” Russel said. “We could hire staff members to go to every organization and watch over them, but that’s not reasonable.

“At some point, we hope the members, and leaders especially, take it upon themselves to be ethical and do the right thing.”

Staff reporter Bill Morrison contributed to this report.
Erin LaMourie