Since time immemorial sharks have filled the seas of this great planet and fraternities have been a part of this country’s higher education.
Though the respective presences of sharks and frats have remained constant, how they look and act change with the times. Context is everything and how certain things abide within the context of frats past might no longer vibe with the brotherhoods of today. It is with this in mind that we must regularly stop and ask ourselves… Say it with me now!
IS! IT! FRAT!?
Hazing and fraternity go together like beach going and shark attacks. You know it’s coming sometime. And you don’t know how bad it’s gonna be until it happens. Most people don’t die and just end up with a cool story. And you could make sure it never happens to you if you just didn’t participate. But what’s the fun in that?!
Frat:
Except hazing ISN’T like a shark attack. It can be administered by a responsible active Fraternity membership with the goal of new member unity and a secondary goal of a little extra harmless fun along the way with no real damage and only a net positive. Remember the “Pledge of Allegiance” from the last Fail Friday’s “Things Never Change” post? That’s good clean hazing done right. Then there is the unity/bonding aspect that takes a lot of care and restraint, something 18-22 or so year-old gentlemen don’t have much of when trying to intimidate other young men and impress each other…so for any loose cannon you have, it’s probably good to have a stick in the mud keeping everyone in check behind the scenes.
But when done right in conjunction with the time and experience new members share doing other shit, try as others might to deny it, it brings a group together like nothing else.
Not Frat:
People have BEEN FUCKING KILLED and that doesn’t seem quite worth the risk of joining “your guys’s club,” as some might say it. Getting tortured and murdered. NF. Being a masochist, and murderer in your under-grad years. Giga-geed. Getting your fraternity kicked off campus. ????(this time: Houseless-letterless-honorless Women’s Studies PhD from California Geed)
Conclusion:
Hazing is a tightrope walk with no safety net but you get to decide how wide and well secured that rope is. But in a lot of ways, well executed “hazing” can be an undertaking that it brings active brothers together as well as new members.
So now we come to the moment of truth, and say it with me!
HOW! FRAT! IS IT?!
The Fratometer says…
Firmly Faf. Hazing is frat, both in the good and bad sense of the word, as fuck and nothing can change that. With that said it’s important to realize that “hazing” is a done on a scale and there are simple and non-dangerous ways to go about it that some might not even consider “hazing” and fuck anyone who looks from the outside in and criticizes what you do to keep your people safe and together and your organization from getting kicked off campus.
So consider the end goal when deciding what you’re doing, remember how easy it is to get caught, and what the consequences are. And happy “hazing!”
And, catch us next time for…
IS! IT! FRAT!?
