Greek life is an important pillar of campus communities for many people, with fraternities and sororities nearly inseparable from the idyllic vision of college culture. Yet every few months, a new controversy involving Greek life captures national attention. Stories of brutal hazing and sexual assault pose the question: Could it be time to end this age-old tradition?
While I haven’t been personally involved, the benefits of joining a Greek organization are not lost on me. Beyond the obvious social upsides and the sense of community it provides, the lifestyle can offer professional advantages by connecting members to alumni networks.
But when compared to the staggering number of Greek life incidents that have resulted in sexual violence, injury and even death, it becomes difficult to see these benefits as anything but unjustifiable.
In fact, in the past few years alone, several cases involving sexual violence have come to light at colleges across the nation, including the University of Washington. More recently, at Cornell University, where an anonymous student alleges she was drugged and raped by seven male students, who are all members of the university’s Chi Phi chapter.
However, when discussing incidents related to Greek life, it’s crucial to note that members themselves face some of the highest risks.
According to a study examining the relationship between sexual assault victimization and sorority membership, a total of 29% of women in sororities reported being sexually assaulted during their college years, a proportion four times higher than non-sorority members. Conversely, men who were members of fraternities were shown to be nearly three times as likely to commit rape as their non-Greek life counterparts.
Hazing has also posed a serious threat to members’ health and safety. Since 2000, more than 100 male freshmen have died because of hazing rituals. This year alone, there have been several notable cases, including at the University of Arizona, where pledges were forced to swallow live goldfish, and at the University of Miami, where two pledges were left with near-fatal injuries after being beaten with paddles.
These incidents aren’t even confined to the schools with the most prominent Greek scenes. In fact, our own CSUN campus had previously been the site of hazing rituals.In July 2014, student Armando Villa died of heat stroke after a mandatory 16-mile initiation hike, showcasing just how widespread these issues have become.
With any flawed system, our first instinct is usually to push for reform, and I’d usually agree with this approach. But where has reform gotten us with Greek life?
When we look at schools that have been sites of these incidents, they weren’t these lawless campuses. In fact, many had taken steps to regulate Greek life activities strictly. Before the Cornell Seven case, the campus banned hard liquor at fraternity events, halved pledging periods to prevent hazing and barred first-semester freshmen from Greek parties.
Numerous regulations and laws exist across the nation, but the assaults and the hazing incidents haven’t slowed, which points to the deeper systemic issues within Greek life.
One of the biggest pillars of the system is the closeness members have with their fraternity/sorority brothers and sisters. But this proximity can give way to a groupthink mentality. In this psychological framework, members see themselves as part of a group, which can suppress their critical thinking and put conformity above moral individuality.
Collective identity can create what psychologists call a diffusion of responsibility, where the crowd makes members feel like they aren’t solely responsible for potential issues. Furthermore, the built-in social hierarchies of Greek chapters play on members’ desires to fit into the larger community, making dissent difficult.
This social pressure to conform and fear of being socially ostracized are why it has become so difficult to regulate proactively. In fact, research indicates that 95% of students who experience hazing do not report it. Of course, not every chapter has the same toxic culture, but the overall structure arguably makes it easier for it to take root.
So, after all the incidents of hazing, sexual assault and death, why is it still a mainstay of college life? The answer might lie in the funding.
Greek life alumni are influential on college campuses; some are faculty members, and others donate significantly to universities. Greek life alumni were found to be 5.4 times more likely to donate to their alma mater than uninvolved graduates. This should raise serious questions about the financial incentives surrounding Greek life. Can universities objectively evaluate whether keeping these institutions is best for students if they benefit so much from them?
It’s hard not to see a potential conflict of interest and feel that student safety is being weighed against financial incentives. Any changes universities have made appear ineffective: more university-provided training videos and meetings, and enforcement that comes only after someone has been hurt, turning it into a regulatory whac-a-mole.
How many more people need to fall victim to hazing and assault before significant change occurs? If universities are serious about fostering community and protecting students, they must be willing to question whether Greek life deserves a place on their campuses at all.
Tradition should never come before student safety.
