Huber 1

Katherine Huber

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 2

27 Sept. 2018

Ferocious Fraternities: Hazing and Misogyny Caused by Fraternity Actions

Fraternities across the country have been in the hot seat lately, and rightfully so. Many

fraternities have multiple rape cases and hazing-related incidents. Hazing is the imposition of

strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and

initiation(Biemiller). Recently, fraternities have promoted bullying and misogyny, resulting in

rape cases against women in college. There have been three hazing deaths that have only been

looked over quickly and there have been multiple rape cases that no one has done anything

about. In the past two years, fraternities have had deaths due to hazing, multiple rape and

sexual assaults, yet the presidents and leaders of these colleges and fraternities are only now

looking into these problems.

Although fraternities may seem fun, there have been a lot of deaths due to students

hazing. In the year 2017, three fraternity pledges were killed due to hazing related incidents.

Tim Piazza died due to an intoxication of alcohol and then fell down a fleet of stairs in a

fraternity house in February 2017. Piazza was only 19 when he was walking around drunk in the

fraternity house right before he fell down those stairs. None of his “brothers” called for help

until hours later (Brown). Andrew Coffey was only 20 years old when he died in November at a

“big brother night” party that the committee had organized. Coffey drank a bottle of Wild
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Turkey 101 Bourbon bought by his “brothers.” He died because his fellow “brothers” told

Coffey to participate in the hazing ritual. Maxwell Gruver was announced dead at a hospital in

mid-September following an initiation called “Bible Study.” In “Bible Study,” pledges were

ordered to drink repeatedly to become a fraternity member. After drinking so much, Gruver

had passed out but never woke up, so his “brothers” finally called for help but after multiple

hours of drinking (Biemiller). These parties that include hazing have ruin families, friends, and

other people’s lives. Hazing has left a huge impact and will be forever reminded by those family

members. As can be seen, fraternities are not as fun as they seem. In fact, there are hazing

incidents that have led to three deaths and will lead to more if presidents and leaders don’t

look at how serious this problem is.

At the same time, fraternities are also raping and sexually assaulting young women

because they think it is okay and acceptable to do. Women have been abused, sexually

assaulted, and harassed by fraternities across the United Sates, and no news feeds or networks

are talking about it (Rekic). Men in fraternities are down-sizing women and making them seem

as little as possible. They are treating women like whores and sluts even though they do not

possess such ruthless names. It is more likely that a woman will be sexually abused in a college

fraternity, then in a regular college dorm (Martin, Yancey and Hummer). Fraternities have

parties, and those parties are used for sexually assaulting women where they have no power

and can’t do anything but stay and be quiet. The men in these fraternities are using women and

mistreating them. Fraternity leaders are saying “boys will be boys,” and don’t take the rapes

serious or decide to investigate them. The leaders and captains say the rapes are just jokes and
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laughs to have with other classmates and fellow friends. Given these points, rapes and sexual

assaults are another horror of college fraternities.

As hazing-related incidents and rapes continue, leaders and presidents are only now

looking at these problems. In April 2018, three presidents talked about trying to change the

way fraternities are treating their pledges and women (Brown). These presidents were

discussing the incidents that they have been made aware of but haven’t been able to do

anything about. They believe that it is now time to change the way fraternities are treating the

other pledges and many women. The trio was pleased to see that multiple administrators felt

the same as they did. Since the deaths of Tim Piazza, Andrew Coffey, and Maxwell Gruver,

multiple administrators have had lots of thought and decided that something does need to be

done. Hazing in Pennsylvania is now illegal, and prosecutors have filed many alcohol-related

charges against multiple “brothers” in college fraternities (Biemiller). In Chicago, hazing is

frowned upon and people are trying to make it illegal as well. There are multiple states that

want hazing to be illegal, but the state officers cannot get this to take place because not

everyone thinks hazing is a problem. As has been noted, the presidents are only now taking

these issues to hand when they should have noticed these problems a long time ago.

All in all, fraternities have had deaths because of hazing and multiple rape cases, yet the

administrators and presidents are only now looking into these problems. Three students-of

which were all young and smart-died due to hazing-related incidents. Tim Piazza,19, drank too

much and fell down a flight of stairs, Andrew Coffey, 20, was at a “big brother night” party, and

was given Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon by the committee and drank himself to death, and Maxwell

Gruver, 18, was in “Bible Study,” where he was forced to drink and then consumed to much
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which lead him to death as well. Women are being raped each night at fraternity parties and

there is nothing being done. These poor women are being shamed as sluts and whores when

there is no choice but for them to sit there and “take it.” Presidents and administrators are now

seeing what fraternities are really doing. They haven’t done anything until the year of 2017.

After all the deaths, assaults, and rapes, the councils are only now seeing what should be done.

Presidents are getting together to discuss what should be done and how to handle these

situations. Fraternities across the United States may seem fun at first, but when a woman gets

raped or a man gets killed because he wanted to be in a fraternity, it gets serious and

dangerous. In conclusion, fraternities are brutally hurting people and these presidents are only

now doing something when action should have been taken many years ago; maybe those three

students would still be alive if college administrators would have done something sooner.
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Works Cited

Biemiller, Lawrence. "Spotlight on Hazing." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9 Mar. 2018, p.
B27+. Academic OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532528274/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=AONE&xid=ca5
b8e83. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

Brown, Sarah. "Their Students Died at Frat Parties. Now These Presidents Are Demanding Real
Change." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 Aug. 2018, p. A18+. Academic OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A553116494/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=AONE&xid=bfe
c3904. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

Martin, Patricia Yancey, and Robert A. Hummer. “Fraternities And Rape On Campus.” Gender &
Society, vol. 3, no. 4, 1 Dec. 1989, pp. 457–473., doi:10.1177/089124389003004004.

Rekic, Denis. “Why Fraternities Promote Misogyny and Should Be Removed.” The Northern
Times, 25 Jan. 2018, thenortherntimes.net/1467/opinion/why-fraternities-promote-
misogyny-and-should-be-removed/.