Everyone has got their hand in trying to solve the problem of hazing. The 70th Texas Legislature enacted a hazing law in 1987 that subjects organizations or individuals to fines or being charged with criminal offenses. This obviously has not been a solution to the problem, but it did bring to light emotionally and physically damaging actions which had previously been viewed as tradition.
The University has also implemented its own conduct code on hazing, which is almost identical to state law except that it bears no legal penalties (which universities don't have authority to enforce anyway). UT officials have taken action on these policies in the recent past by suspending Greek organizations such as Lambda Phi Epsilon and Sigma Chi following tragic member deaths linked to hazing. Still, the problem persists.
As of Tuesday, UT officials are trying a new approach: mutual agreement. They've concluded what UT President Bill Powers described last fall as a "very active investigation" into the 2006 falling death of Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge Tyler Cross, and out of that investigation and collaboration with SAE has emerged a list of guidelines that the fraternity has agreed to follow; regulation of party hours, random house visits by law enforcement and university officials and monitored dispersion of alcohol at social events are a few measures on the list. For the next five years, at least, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is essentially grounded.
But grounding an organization doesn't come close to exploring or addressing hazing as an institutionalized concern. When asked if any ideas concerning the root cause of hazing in Greek organizations came out of UT's "very active investigation," UT Vice President for Student Affairs Juan Gonzales said, "I wish I did know the root cause, but what I do know is that we have to work together to solve problem." But in working with SAE, UT has outlined no consequences for failure to comply with its "agreement," and Gonzalez said that it would be "erroneous" to contemplate penalties before misconduct takes place. Even penalties in the state law, which include fines or jail time, have not been followed.
Sororities and fraternities don't need ambiguously enforced conduct and penal codes, as they already possess loyalty and unity strong enough to combat the problem, and previous attempts to intervene - SAE is on strike two - have proven unsuccessful. Universities and state governments can try all day to interfere with the strongly established traditions and values of Greek organizations, but real change will only come from within.
Greek life provides solutions to some of the biggest challenges students face in their transitions to college: housing, friends, identity, things to do on the weekends. Like most campus organizations, fraternities are a friendly haven of solidarity and brotherhood in our schizophrenic society of social survival. But their selective nature has a tendency to create a competitive internal hierarchy - a potentially dangerous cocktail when mixed with a liberal dose of underage drinking.
We appreciate UT and SAE's attempt to address the issue cooperatively, but SAE members will be better off effecting change independently by sharing their experiences of this tragic loss with the rest of the Greek community. The death of a brother is infinitely more powerful than any code of conduct.
Greek life is a network of both written and unwritten guidelines, which are stronger than those of UT or the Texas Legislature. And for years the structure provided by these brother and sisterhoods have guided many the impetuous youth into adulthood. Motivated by pride, unity and solidarity, the rules by which sororities and fraternities are based should be - and very much are - out of officials' hands.
The pressure to solve the problem of hazing should be on our Greek organizations, especially SAE (and Sigma Chi if it is successful in its attempt to get reinstated). Fraternities have garnered the attention of a concerned UT community, and we hope they use this opportunity to evaluate and reapply the values and traditions that have successfully guided them for so many years.
- CH
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