RE: Hazing Decision
As someone who was an officer with a fraternity chapter at NIU, the Pikes, and the national fraternity, got off really easy in this case.
Not saying this is true with all frats, but the national leadership of my fraternity made a big deal about not hazing and made a concerted effort to root it out and stop it before it began. There's a broad anti-hazing policy in place, for legal and educational purposes, and all members are educated frequently in hazing related matters and the potential consequences of said actions. My guess would be that the NIU Pikes didn't receive this education, if at all.
Those that would discount peer pressure's effect on this case are gravely underestimating the mind of a freshmen fraternity pledge.
First off, they're freshmen. Anyone saying that a 19-year old first-year college student is a "grown-ass man" hasn't been around enough freshmen to know that in most cases, they're not. It's their first year on campus and likely their first time living outside of their parents' house. There's a lot that needs to be learned as a freshmen and in a lot of instances they rely on fellow students, particularly upper classmen to give them guidance.
Second, a fraternity pledge owes his potential membership to those that are already members. The idea of a secret brotherhood, in which only a few are privy to certain secrets of membership, is a powerful motivational and psychological factor in why a lot of people choose to join frats. Their fate as potential fraternity members rests in the hands of those that are around them, and there is a tremendous amount of responsibility on the part of the current members, that goes with this. Pledges don't know the fraternity secrets, don't know what goes on during the pledge process, haven't done this as an active member in which they are privy to what goes on behind the scenes and the reasons these pledge activities are undertaken. They rely on the current members, who they've put their trust in, who need to be educated by the national fraternity on what they should do and what they should not do during said process, to guide them through this.
If you're a college freshmen, away from home for an extended period for the first time, who truly desires to join a secret brotherhood, who has put their trust in those that have gone through this process previously, and you are told that in order to join this brotherhood that you want more than anything at the moment, you need to drink this much booze, more often than not, the pledge is going to do it because he trusts the current members who have done this previously and come out alright on the other end of it.
Lastly, and this is key for me, what in the hell was the significance of consuming that much alcohol in such a short amount of time to the NIU Pike chapter? Was it part of some secret that the fraternity holds dear, or some secret language that can only be understood after consuming a vast quantity of alcohol?
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