From being assaulted using knives, pens and household tools, to being forced to consume deadly amounts of controlled substances, to being locked in a room with excrement, here are the worst, most brutal college hazing rituals reported from all around the United States.

Screamed by a Sharpie Marker



No, this isn’t the kind of “Sharpie Game” you see in most schools that really just means getting marked on by a Sharpie (a permanent marker) unexpectedly. This is actual, penetration, using a Sharpie.

In 2002, seven football players from Methodist College in North Carolina were arrested on hazing charges for restraining a freshman, stripping him of his underwear, writing all over his butt and smacking it numerous times. The worst part is that to “seal the deal”, as it were, the player with the most ironic position-name, Antonio Wilkerson (wide receiver for the team) assaulted the freshman athlete with a Sharpie marker after everything had been said and done. He, along with the other Methodist players involved, were suspended after their November 14 arrests and did not partake in the team’s final game, unfortunately because getting benched, or even sitting down, was probably the last thing on the victim’s mind. (full story)

Cocaine or Dildo: Your Choice



Sororities are just cruel, if not infinitely moreso, than Fraternities. Looking at this list, it’s apparent that the women in Sororities are more interested in emotional and social humiliation than the males. Males tend to angle towards the physical feats of strength or disgustingness. Both (freely) exercise public humiliation, but the levels of both differ and definitely run deeper in female circles.

The Hazing Prevention Center, one of the leading non-profit organizations working to eradicate hazing, receives hundred of emails from traumatized victims of sorority and fraternity hazing. One e-mail was from a girl who reported that she had to either use a dildo in front of all her “sisters” or take a hit of cocaine.

So it’s either your morals… or your morals? Or your common sense vs… your common sense? It’s a toss-up, but an elicit drug that can cause permanent brain damage and is HIGHLY illegal, social, public humiliation? Which would you choose? (full story)

Boiling Hot Water On Back



At Tulane University, pledges for Pi Alpha Kappa were put under boiling water for the most physically enduring pain they’d ever had. Fraternity brothers used boiling water containing pepper spray and a “crab boil” seasoning mixture containing cayenne pepper to pour over their victim’s backs. Oddly enough, the ones who screamed didn’t get burned as badly, but those who held it in got the worst of it. As the evening went on the water get hotter and the burns get deeper.

One pledge suffered second and third degree burns to his back, chest, buttocks and genitals and was subjected to twice-daily burn treatments by doctor’s orders. He was also not able to take his exams or travel that semester. 10 of the “brothers” faced charges of aggravated second-degree battery, so needless to say, justice was served as they seemed to end up in some pretty hot water. (full story)

Boob Ranking



In a story run by ABC News, author and researcher Alexandra Robbins reported that the worst kind of emotional hazing she saw in sororities was “boob ranking.” In this procedure, the sisters forced pledges to strip off their shirts and bras in a cold room, and then line up in order of breast size.This is mostly because what this did was reinforce insecurities that the girls were probably already saying to themselves.The older “sisters” would then make fun of them and play mental games with their vulnerable and helpless victims. (full story)

The Elephant Walk



Vermont passed an anti-hazing law in 1999 due to an incident at University of Vermont where members of the hockey team forced freshman players to drink warm beer until they vomited and perform something called an “Elephant Walk”, which is horrible, if forced upon someone.

ELEPHANT WALK: Definition



According to the Urban Dictionary, there are many forms of the “Elephant Walk”.



1) A group of males walks in a straight line, each person putting one thumb in their mouth and the other thumb inside the anus of the male in front of them.



2) A group of males walks in a straight line holding onto the (erect) ‘enis of the males behind and in front of them.



3) A group of males walks in a straight line holding onto the (erect) ‘enis of the males in behind them while putting one thumb into the anus of the males in front of them.

Any of these iterations does NOT sound like an effective mode of transportation, or a fun way to spend any afternoon. (full story)

Paddling (It’s Worse Than It Sounds)



Paddling is what some may think a classic. Though it’s what is most commonly associated with the ancient tradition of hazing. Paddling sounds funny, but is still one of the worst. In fact, many have gone to the hospital with severe bodily injuries due to the violent act. This infliction of harm upon each other is often meant to strengthen the bonds between the victim and group (don’t ask how that works), but often it’s just plain harm. One girl reported to The Star-Ledger that she was told the beatings would “humble” her and build love and trust between the sorority sisters. However, after seven nights of beatings and being struck a total of 201 times, the pledge went to the hospital because she was no longer able to sit due to the blood clots and welts all over her buttocks.

Another paddling incident that resulted in the victim in a hospital took place in 2007. Two Florida A&M fraternity brothers were given two years in prison for paddling a pledge with wooden canes. One of the Kappa Alpha Psi members was paddling the pledge while the other member was an encourager (in the grimmest sense), urging the pledge to take the paddling and reviving him when he passed out. Aw, what a good brother. (full story)

Water Overdoses



When somebody goes to college and dies from a WATER overdose, you know they’ve really missed out on the whole college experience. This is exactly what happens at a fraternity hazing ritual at the State University of New York. In March 2003, Walter Dean Jennings III was pledging Psi Epsilon Chi when he was forced to drink numerous pitchers of water, often to the point of vomiting. He ended up drinking so much that his brain swelled and he died from water intoxication. That’s right, there’s such a thing. 21 students were punished by the university and 13 were charged with crimes that included criminally negligent homicide.

Another incident of water intoxication took place in 2005 at California State University Chico (the classiest of the CSUs). Matthew Carrington and a friend were pledging the Chi Tau fraternity when they were doused with gallons of cold water and powerful fans blew cold air on them. If that wasn’t enough, they were forced to do calisthenics while standing on one foot and drink several gallons of cold water. As any normal human being would do under such extreme conditions, Carrington collapsed. He unsurprisingly had hypothermia and brain swelling from water intoxication, and died two hours later. Oh, and this was during the Winter semester. (full story)

All the Alcohol You Can or CAN’T Take in 90 Minutes



Adam Marszal and Russell Taylor, two former students at California Polytechnic State University, were sentenced to jail after hazing a freshman who died of alcohol poisoning while pledging Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The boy, 18, died after drinking large amounts of alcohol in 90 minutes. There was no afterparty. The boy, at his time of death, had a Blood Alcohol Level of .44. Just to put it into perspective, that is more than 5 times the legal limit for driving and actually exceeds the levels of the effects of surgical anesthesia. (full story)

Public Body-Critiquing Assembly



Another humiliating case reported by Alexandra Robbins was a woman who was forced to stand on a bench in front of an entire fraternity, completely exposed. When she got up onto the bench, the fraternity would give public critiques by yelling out the parts of her body that needed “work”. After talking to one of the women that endured this type of scrutiny and humiliation just to become a part of some social group, she said, “This happened in the ’90s and almost a decade later she still had emotional scars.”

Trivia Questions: Choose Your Object



Alexandra Robbins, author of the book “Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities”, spent a year undercover and witnessed one incident where the pledge class had to answer trivia questions and drink straight vodka when they got the question wrong. Not too bad, right? Just a normal, run-of-the-mill drinking game (involving minors), right? If they got enough wrong, though, they were presented with a Sharpie (what is it with these things), a knife, a hammer and a dildo, with the threat that one of those objects would violate them.

