On Feb. Oakes, 19, was a freshman at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The evening before he died, he was matched with a "big brother" at Delta Chi. His family alleges that his death was due to hazing, NBC Washington reported. He passed out after drinking, and when friends found him facedown on the couch, half his face was purple, his cousin said.
His father told reporters he is left with a " hole in my heart that will never be sealed. His parents donated his organs "so that others may have a second chance at life.
Their deaths have renewed calls for Greek life reform, but the question remains: Can fraternities exist without hazing? And if not, will the deaths ever stop? VCU prohibits hazing. So does Delta Chi, the fraternity Oakes pledged.
After his death, both the school and the fraternity offered their condolences. Oakes wasn't the first Delta Chi member or pledge to die after being hazed. In , Terry Linn died after he pledged the fraternity's Bloomsburg University chapter in Pennsylvania on "hell night.
His mother said he pledged because he was searching for belonging. At the time, a Bloomsburg University spokesperson said the school needs "to do a better job of educating our students about the dangers of alcohol and their responsibilities. Steven David Judd, the president of his local chapter, died after a night of heavy drinking. Judd's family said in a statement after their son died in that they "hope that Steven's untimely death will be a learning experience for others.
Hazing is documented beyond postsecondary institutions. Fraternity hazing is any activity that takes place in fraternities on college campuses across the U. These hazing activities fall into three categories: intimidation, harassment, and violence. Some examples of fraternity hazing are:. If not recognized, reported, and properly addressed, hazing can become a systemic, self-perpetuating problem. Whips rain down. I stand, soaked, dripping. My butt burns. I feel a welt beneath my ribcage.
I shake. Not cold. I recognize two voices. One, a guy I admired, surprises me with his viciousness. They're all sadists. Silently, I call them every cuss word I know. Did these guys look forward to beating us?
Who invented this crap? Why do they propagate it? Do I want to call this scum "brothers"? I barely hear the next two pledges struggle through the ritual. The last one is Franklin.
He freaks out, crying, screaming, splashing into the water, begging them to stop. They drag him up the bank and drop him next to me. He can't stop sobbing and moaning. They call him names. I stifle a yell and mutter under my breath. Someone pushes me along. I hate leaving Franklin. The hill is next. We scramble up a slippery, muddy slope while they whip us. Some blows hit my thighs and calves. I grunt and fight back tears. We come to the final station.
In front of you is a big log named Gracie. You mount her and screw her hard. I straddle the log, lean forward. The blows begin. I yell "Gracie" as loud as I can to disregard the pain.
My butt throbs. Shifting positions chafes my inner thighs. Fortunately, I'm wearing jeans outside cotton pants, and the denim doesn't tear. I count the blows. They stop. I roll off.
Since , at least 50 college students have died from hazing, with the majority of those deaths related to alcohol. Hazing began as, and still is, a ceremony for welcoming new members into a closed society. Finkel, MD, defines hazing as "committing acts against an individual or forcing an individual into committing an act that creates a risk for harm in order for the individual to be initiated into or affiliated with an organization.
While hazing might seem like a relatively new phenomenon, it actually dates back thousands of years. This may explain why such practices endure in tradition-bound institutions with deep historical roots, such as fraternities and athletic organizations. Of those incidents, a large percentage involved alcohol consumption, sleep deprivation, humiliation, isolation, and sex acts. Ninety-five percent of these cases also went unreported.
One unsettling aspect of hazing is the active involvement of students who might otherwise be considered morally "good.
Jenny Nirh, Ph. One of Nirh's findings concerned the role of tradition at college fraternities. Note that every call is transmitted into an email and then sent to the fraternity or sorority named in the phone call. For more info on how to get involved in campaigns to end hazing, visit Hazing Prevention and StopHazing.
You can stop hazing on college campuses by taking the following actions:. Regardless of the justification, those who undergo hazing often view the event as a demonstration of their high tolerance for psychological and physical pain. A Alfred University study found that over , college students experienced hazing when trying to join a campus sports team.
Among hazed students, over half agreed it was "important to tolerate psychological stress," while one-third believed it was "important to tolerate physical pain. Hazing's original goal was to humiliate new members of organizations as a means of testing their devotion and helping them bond through a shared experience.
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