THE GREEK LIFE: HAZED And Confused

Confessions from an ex-pledge For one former fraternity member, the rite of passage from pledging to brotherhood paralleled a road to absolute hell. The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said rather than extending a warm welcome into the Greek system, his initiation process sent him running in the direction of an alternate form of social life. "Pledging is the dumbest thing I have ever done in my whole life," said the student. "It was a complete annoyance and mental torture. I'd rather pay my college loans three-fold than pledge a frat." The individual said that he completed the pledge process and deactivated only after being inducted into the house because he did not feel comfortable with quitting midstream. "I finished because I had already put in so much time, but I would never do it again," he said. He cited two chief gripes with the pledge process, the first concerning time commitment and the second focusing on a less-than-true projection of self. The student said that the hours required to complete the pledge process were excessive, and transformed his existence from healthy student to exhausted delinquent. He said that this transformation affected his everyday well being in addition to his academic and social standing. "They get to make you get bad grades and lose your friends," he said. "You don't have time for sleep, you don't have time for mental health, you don't have time for anything. Everything becomes secondary. "I was tired. I had headaches. I was sick the whole time," he added. "I didn't make it to class. I never had C's my whole life, and I had two my freshman year." Interfraternity Council President Hayden Horowitz said the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs asks that houses conclude the pledge process by spring break, although he said this policy does not exist as a formal mandate. "The idea is to lessen the time commitment so people can pay more attention to their studies," Horowitz said. The individual said, though, that he felt pressure to contribute to a display of false faces and put-on attitudes that made for simulated friendships. "You hang out with people you don't know and you don't like, but you have to pretend you like them all the time," he said. "Once you're a brother, you can do anything you want to do. But getting there, you have to take a lot of shit from people you don't respect," he continued. Stories of bizarre sexual exploits and forced consumption of inedible items to the contrary, the student did say that what goes on behind the doors of pledging has been sensationalized to the point of falsity. "They don't really do anything that bad; they're just annoying," he said. "It's not even a cool embarrassment -- it's just stupid. "I guess those ridiculous incidents with masturbation and pizza exist, but not at Penn," he added. "They just use those as scare tactics." He said that he thought the problems of pledging rest more with the all-around attitudes of those in charge, and alluded to prejudice within the system. "It's a lot of male-bonding. As for Penn being a house of PC-ness, fraternities influence you in the complete opposite way," he said. "In general, they have really bad attitudes towards everything that isn't them." But the student did not entirely disqualify the myths behind pledging. And, although he refused to offer any specifics as to his rite of passage, he did make mention of several things that were used to help him along his way. "I can say prune juice, onions, boxer shorts, flat beer, underwear with little pale, goose-pimply freshmen -- just complete and utter defacement of your own self," he said. The student conceded that his experience is by no means universal, and that some people find pledging a positive endeavor. "For some people it's a good thing," he said. "I wouldn't say that the whole thing is bad and bad for everyone." College senior and Sigma Alpha Mu brother Douglas Gavin agreed, offering a much different perspective on pledging. "It was fun. It was very positive," Gavin said. "I think you learn a lot about yourself, the experiences are oriented towards building cohesion and building friendships." Sigma Nu brother Jeffrey Smith also described pledging as a valuable experience, and attributed this partly to the fact that his fraternity observes the anti-hazing guidelines. "I thought it was a positive event because I got to make some good friends," said the Wharton sophomore. "It was a chance for me to get to know everyone. "Our frat was started on the basis of non-hazing, so our process is not a hard process," he added. "Our fraternity is strictly non-hazing, and we do follow that."

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