Going through the process of fraternity recruitment and sorority recruitment can be intimidating enough, the idea of “selling yourself” to a group of daunting peers in hopes of social acceptance and life long, unwavering friendship is frightening, then add in the fact that you’re probably a college freshman and have just left home, your pets, your friends and your family, the situation makes me nervous just remembering it.

And yes, hazing does still happen with in the Greek community. Within any culture, traditions will evolve and intensify as the society grows; such is the case with hazing. Hazing started as a way for new members of the Greek organizations to prove their loyalty to the organization they wished to join. With exclusivity of membership, officers in the organizations could request or demand that prospective members prove that they wanted to be apart of the club so badly that they would never tell its secrets, and that they would be an active and contributing member.

Over the years, hazing turned from mere favors (such as delivering requested things on campus, washing member’s cars, baking sweets for members, serenades, etc.) to more intensified requests (buying things for members, doing homework for members, cleaning common rooms of chapter houses, etc.).

Then, eventually, hazing took a dangerous turn when members realized that belittling, embarrassing, and mentally and physically breaking down pledges was an easier way to ensure that only the mentally and physically strongest of the potential new members made it through their recruitment process.

Here is a list of some of the worst hazing cases, viewer discretion is advised:

Be Cool: Potential new members are doused with gallons of ice cold water while powerful fans blew cold air on them until they are completely dry, in some cases the potential new member is naked or has to stand on one foot.

Cleansing/Purification: Potential new members are forced to drink water through a funnel until they almost drown to death from too much water.

Drunk Skinny Dipping: Swimming naked normally in prohibited areas like university fountains or lakes.

Washboard Abs: Female potential new members are sat naked on a washing machine and the sisters circled the fat that jiggled, and the pledges had to lose that weight before they became a sister.

Porn: Female potential new members are sat on newspapers naked and forced to watch porn, the newspapers are then hung afterward in the house with the pledge’s name on it, and circles around any wetness that transferred to the newspaper as a result of watching the porn.

Bobbing: Female potential new members were forced to bob for dildos and bananas in a toilet bowl.

Games of car/truck chicken: Two cars/trucks head towards each other with the objection of crashing head on until one person flinches and steers clear of the other car. If nobody chickens out, a head-on collision occurs.

Maids: House clean ups after parties, or after members choose to make the house dirty for no reason other than having the potential new members clean up their messes.

Pizza: Male potential new members forced to masturbate onto a pizza, the last one to ejaculate was forced to eat the pizza.

Sodomize: Male potential new members are forced to wear fairy wings and sodomized with frozen hot dogs.

Human Purse: Most potential new members (especially male) have to carry around cigarettes, a tin of dip, a bottle opener, $20, and gum at all times, and will commonly be called to be a designated driver at all hours of the morning.

Vomit: Participating in puke slip n’ slides.

Drinking: Potential new members forced to drink a handle of alcohol in the stair closet along with a gallon of water.

Shots: Potential new members forced to drink shots for every time they could not perfectly recite the organizations motto and creed.

Branding: Potential new members forced to endure letter branding. Members take a wire hanger, mold it into the organization’s Greek letters, dip it in fire and burn the molding onto a hidden area of the new member’s skin.

Mental: Potential new members forced to endure mental bashing.

Physical: Potential new members forced to endure physical battery.

Stand Up: Potential new members forced to stand against walls for hours while reciting the organizations creed until every pledge class member could say it perfectly and without hesitation.

Liver & Oil: Potential new members forced to swallow raw cow’s liver pieces dipped in oil.

Puzzled: Potential new members had to put together a 5,000 piece puzzle of the organization’s colors in the dark with nothing but a strobe light in the basement of the organization’s house.

Frosty: Potential new members taken into snow in bathing suits and told to make snowmen that looked like members.

Snow Angels: Potential new members taken into snow in bathing suits and told to make snow angels for every member of the organization and decorate the snow angels to fit the member’s personality.

Tied to a Tree: Potential new members tied to trees with duct tape and/or plastic wrap naked.

Duck Walk: Potential new members were lathered with a sticky substance and stuck with feathers and told to quack around as amusement for the members.

Breakfast of Champions: Potential new members were only allowed to eat cereal with whiskey or scotch instead of milk for a weekend.

Garbage Men: Potential new members were put into trashcans filled with the organization house’s trash and rolled down a nearby hill.

Zzzs: Sleep deprivation

There is also the gray field of team building activities that border the realm of hazing. Often times officers will send groups of new members on bonding experiences; simple things like completing ropes courses and professionally directed programs are not considered hazing, but dropping five guys in the middle of a corn field without cell phones, keys or money and telling them to come back together to the university three hours away is considered hazing, even if members are willing and able to bond together to problem solve the arisen scenario of abandonment.

If you are a victim of hazing or want to anonymously report a case please call 1-888-NOT-HAZE (1-888-668-4293), the anti-hazing organization lead by Kappa Alpha Order.

Feel free to leave any additional events that you’re familiar with here in the comments.

This guest post provided by a source who has requested anonymity as they expose one of the most secretive parts of Greek collegiate lifestyle.

Summary Reviewer EDUInReview.com Review Date 2010-07-29 Reviewed Item 27 Frightening and Disgusting Fraternity and Sorority Hazing Tactics Author Rating 5

Posted on July 29th, 2010 by Guest

Tags: fraternity, Greek Life, hazing, sorority

Posted in Greek Life | 18 Comments »