I know that this story is gruesome, hard to hear and ultimately painful to listen to. But that’s the issue, there’s a stigma around fraternities that ‘boys will be boys’ and that this type of tragedy is bound to happen to at least one out of the thousands of men that enter a fraternity. Especially as college students, we are so used to hearing sirens go off around the weekend that we become numb to the issue at hand. People are in denial about hazing and binge drinking and excessive drug use that they naturally want to overt their gaze instead of dealing with it, which only perpetuates the problem. If we start to actually recognize the ramifications that come with being apart of a culture that this is normal in we can turn things around for the better, and maybe even save someone’s life.
Timothy Piazza’s story is heart wrenchingly impactful, but what we fail to realize is that it’s just one of many. Every semester fraternities across the nation gather a group of hopeful young pledges anxious to become apart of an organization greater than themselves. Each …show more content…
When asked about why he wanted to join a fraternity he explained to me, “I was looking to find a community within the school. Having known people who had found their lifelong friends within there fraternities, I wanted just the same,” (personal interview, Why go Greek?). Christopher was fully aware of the stigmas associated with the rushing a fraternity and he expected some kind of hazing rituals to commence once he joined. He shared that he was made to take a hike with his fellow pledges, while intoxicated, and asked to jump off steep ledges to prove their commitment to the fraternity. If the older brothers had done it, why shouldn’t the new pledges? Some even injured themselves doing this, but to most of them, these decisions were all worthwhile if it granted them
Timothy Piazza’s story is heart wrenchingly impactful, but what we fail to realize is that it’s just one of many. Every semester fraternities across the nation gather a group of hopeful young pledges anxious to become apart of an organization greater than themselves. Each …show more content…
When asked about why he wanted to join a fraternity he explained to me, “I was looking to find a community within the school. Having known people who had found their lifelong friends within there fraternities, I wanted just the same,” (personal interview, Why go Greek?). Christopher was fully aware of the stigmas associated with the rushing a fraternity and he expected some kind of hazing rituals to commence once he joined. He shared that he was made to take a hike with his fellow pledges, while intoxicated, and asked to jump off steep ledges to prove their commitment to the fraternity. If the older brothers had done it, why shouldn’t the new pledges? Some even injured themselves doing this, but to most of them, these decisions were all worthwhile if it granted them