Profs. say Greek houses need reform
By Stephanie Mc Feeters, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The persistence of hazing at Dartmouth goes against the College’s principle of community and its core values, according to members of the College faculty interviewed by The Dartmouth. Many professors expressed their concern that students are participating in activities that are detrimental to their wellbeing and academic performance. Most professors said they are aware that some form of hazing occurs on campus, and that they have a responsibility to help students effectively combat hazing.
Recent hazing allegations by Andrew Lohse ’12, published in a Jan. 25 opinion column in The Dartmouth, have initiated an important discussion of unhealthy behavior on campus, according to faculty members.
Hazing does not reflect the kind of institution that the College strives to be, according to women and gender studies professor Annabel Martin.
“There is a Grand Canyon chasm between the type of culture that that type of activity symbolizes and what we as Dartmouth faculty would like to see in our students,” Martin said. Any action that singles out students in a humiliating way constitutes hazing, according to religion professor Susan Ackerman ’80. Pledges being forced to carry lunchboxes, dress in costumes or sirens — red hats worn by new members of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity — are still being hazed, she said.
“None of that is specifically harmful or endangering, but I find those unnecessary because they single out people and humiliate them,” Ackerman said. Binge drinking, sexual assault and hazing are interrelated and constitute unhealthy “anti-social behavior,” theater professor Peter Hackett ’75 said.
The recent focus on fraternity hazing distracts from these broader issues, which are more prevalent on campus, anthropology professor Seth Dobson said.
The willingness to undergo hazing can be explained by the bonding experience it creates and effort justification, psychological and brain sciences professor Rick Gibbons said.
Effort justification is the idea that people place a higher value on things they work harder to obtain.
“There are other ways to get people to value membership besides making them suffer,” Gibbons said.
The effects of hazing impact students’ academic performance and the atmosphere on campus, according to women and gender studies professor Michael Bronski. Dartmouth’s reputation as the Ivy League’s “party school” interferes with classroom performance, and it is distracting for students who wear costumes or flair — flashy or unusual items of clothing — to class, he said.
“The frivolousness of it diminishes the classroom,” he said. Martin said that while some professors believe that a student’s personal life is separate from his or her academics, they are actually closely connected.
Professors can help address these problems by using their authority as a tool for advocacy, according to Hackett.
“There needs to be a much stronger response from those of us who are in positions of responsibility on campus because people are getting hurt,” he said.
Professors have an obligation to use their experience at the College to help students feel comfortable speaking publicly about hazing, according to history professor Annelise Orleck.
“We have a responsibility to say that this is not a healthy environment for students, even if students aren’t ready to give it up or come forward,” she said.
The “culture of silence” that surrounds hazing, sexual assault and alcohol and substance abuse on campus is dangerous, art history professor Mary Coffey said in an email to The Dartmouth.
“It concerns me that students don’t feel safe speaking up, or worse, that they ‘circle the wagons’ every time someone blows a whistle and ostracize the whistleblower,” Coffey said.
The argument that hazing is an issue that students can avoid if they are uninterested is incorrect, Hackett said. The impact goes beyond fraternity walls, he said.
The faculty voted unanimously to abolish the Greek system three times in the 1990s to no avail, Bronski said.
Students need to think about why they want to belong to fraternities and sororities, Martin said.
“What needs do they fulfill?” she said. “How can these needs be fulfilled differently, in healthier ways where students aren’t brutalized, harassed and treated so poorly and so disrespectfully?”
Professors suggested various actions that the College community could take to combat hazing.
“I would call on alumni, particularly those of Greek organizations, to put pressure on them to enforce the principles of community that this campus is supposed to be based on,” Orleck said.
Dobson said that the administration should continue its current efforts to mitigate binge drinking. Mentoring and bystander intervention are two ways in which the College can combat binge drinking and hazing, according to Martin.
Several professors suggested that the College only allow co-ed student social groups on campus.
Hackett, who was a member of the College’s last all-male class and experienced the College’s transformation into a coeducational institution, said he is skeptical of the need for single-sex social spaces since the College has been coeducational since 1972.
Bronski also said that the division between males and females seems like something out of “Edwardian England.” He said he questioned the relevance of single-sex fraternities, “a club system that started in the 1880s, when men and women were actually separate, and it made perfect sense for women to have their sewing circles and men to have their men’s clubs.”
Given the clear problems of binge drinking, sexual assault and hazing at Dartmouth, it is time for the College to seriously consider eliminating single-sex social spaces, Hackett said.
Ackerman suggested that all Greek houses should have non-exclusive membership.
“I understand that not everyone can be in singing groups because not everyone can sing,” Ackerman said. “There’s no reason we can’t have a rule that [the membership of] all social organizations has to be open to everyone that wants to be in them.”
One obstacle to abolishing the Greek system is that the College’s faculty and students have difficulties envisioning a Dartmouth without fraternities and sororities, according to Bronski. He pointed to Williams College and Grinnell College, both of which successfully eliminated their Greek systems after becoming co-educational.
“We always come to this debate,” Bronski said. “The faculty say get rid of it, the students say, ‘Don’t you dare,’ and the administration says, ‘We’re making it better,’” he said.
Recent recommendations by a Committee on Standards subcommittee to require a student to testify if named as a witness to a hazing incident are admirable, Coffey said.
“I feel that nothing will change on this campus as long as peer pressure prevails in matters of student discipline,” she said.
Although shocked by the graphic nature of Lohse’s allegations, many professors said they were aware that hazing happens on campus.
“I’ve been here 21 years, and I don’t think any of us who have been here that long are surprised,” Orleck said.
Ackerman said that none of the allegations were “unbelieveable” to her.
“It’s hard not to go down the route of questioning the accuser because [the claims] seem so extreme, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen,” Dobson said.
Dobson — who has never been a member of a fraternity and stressed that he had an “outsider’s perspective” — said that in general, he would not find the existence of hazing to be surprising. However, he said that he would be surprised if he found out that students of his were actively involved in hazing.
“If I’m being intellectually lazy and buying into the ‘Animal House’ sort of stereotype, then it wouldn’t surprise me, but if I’m more thoughtful and think about my students then it would,” he said. “It’s such a dehumanizing thing that you have — you’re basically acting like an animal.”
Bronski said he has heard a range of opinions about fraternity and sorority life from students. Most students are positive about their experiences, but there is a clear and distinct minority who do not enjoy it, he said.
Gibbons cautioned that the community should not “overreact” to Lohse’s claims if no evidence has been found that directly points to hazing, he said.
There needs to be proof “other than hearsay or people saying ‘everyone knows,’” he said.
Coffey, who was a member of a sorority at a Big Ten university, is not in favor of the Greek system, she said.
“I have seen firsthand what goes on in these ‘philanthropic’ institutions,” Coffey said. “I know all too well the hypocrisy of their public image and rhetoric, and I don’t believe that the modest social support they offer offsets the exclusivity, abuse and code of secrecy that enables and even encourages all forms of rule-breaking.”
The support resources and efforts by students and the administration to combat binge drinking and hazing on campus are laudable, but they “don’t go far enough,” Hackett said.
“It’s going to take men — this is largely a men’s problem — standing up and saying no when they see anti-social behavior going on, even if they get punched in the nose,” he said.
The Greek system at Dartmouth is rooted in tradition and a sector of alumni and current students see it as the kind of social environment that they would “like to belong to,” Martin said. However, due to Dartmouth’s rural location, it is important that the College devote more resources to creating alternative social and living spaces for students, she said.
Other professors felt that aspects of the Greek system can be valuable to students.
“I’ve always been very critical of knee-jerk reactions against the Greek system because I think there are more positives than negatives to it,” Dobson said. “It’s just that the negatives can be so jarring sometimes that they taint the whole system.”
Gibbons agreed that the Greek system “certainly has a place” at Dartmouth. He added that research assistants who worked for him spoke highly of their fraternities and sororities and portrayed membership as a positive experience.
The administration has an ethical obligation to ensure that students are not ill-treated, Bronski said.
Good grief. Any other stereotypes the faculty would like to throw out there before we delve into their claims? No, okay, let’s start.
Professor Coffey’s complaint that students are circling the wagons and ostracizing whistleblowers may be true historically but given that current campus discussion is based on Andrew Lohse’s colum, it is unfair and untrue to accuse students of ostracizing him for being a whistleblower. He has been ostracized for the actions that led the College to suspend him and led to his pleading no contest to criminal charges. I would have thought Professor Coffey would applaud students for not supporting Lohse’s unlawful behavior.
Susan Ackerman’s argument that the Greek system should be non-exclusive is absurd. Even the coed houses that so many professors think should be the norm are exclusive. Alpha Theta, Tabard, and Phi Tau generally don’t wield their exclusivity in discriminatory or petty ways-they use their exclusivity to not take in people who are poor fits for house culture, who are known to be mean to members, who are known to be involved in the sort of binge drinking/sexual assault culture, etc. Exclusivity in that sense can be a positive for having a healthy environment inside the houses. The one non-exclusive coed society, Amarna? Not doing very well membershipwise the last I heard. I have friends who were in Amarna, I went to many wine and cheeses, it was a nice environment, so, Amarna members and alums, I’m not knocking you, but it’s not the environment most people on campus are seeking.
Professor Hackett makes the hackneyed (and tenuous) argument that hazing is “largely a men’s problem”. Um, no? Sororities have their rituals too, which, according to rumors, can be viewed as hazing if one takes the broadest view possible as some professors in this article propose (like sirens equaling hazing). He also argues that hazing, bingedrinking, and sexual assaults are linked. Once again, um, no, not so much. Binge drinking and sexual assaults, yes, binge drinking and hazing, perhaps at some houses, hazing and sexual assaults? No. Clearly Professor Hackett needs someone to show him Sesame Street’s one of these things is not like the other one.
Professor Bronski mkes the irrelevant argument that most students are positive about the Greek system but there’s a clear and distinct minority that do not enjoy it. Okay…? Most students are very positive about Dartmouth College but there’s a clear and distinct minority that do not enjoy it or like it. Is that an argument for disbanding the College?
Bronski argues that separate men and women’s spaces are an anachronism, and he and other professors seem to believe that coed spaces would magically solve the problem. As far as I know, the coed houses don’t haze, but that’s not a matter of gender, that’s a matter of the house cultures (that opening up the houses to everyone as per Ackerman’s suggestion would destroy).
By Anon on Feb 1 | 6:50 am
In winter 2010, the IFC held an event that was open to the entire Dartmouth campus. Every tenure-track faculty member was sent an invitation. Only one professor bothered to show. Before the faculty crusades against the Greek system again, profs should get off their high horse and set foot in a Greek house and actually try to understand what the Greek community is like.
For The D, were you even trying for this article to be balanced? There are supporters of the Greek system within the faculty-did you even try to seek them out? How about starting with the faculty advisers for each house, as they all have?
By Dartmouth’11 on Feb 1 | 10:26 am
I don’t think the “philanthropic” jab is warranted. These are social organizations that, while doing a modest amount of charitable work now and then, do not pitch themselves as anything other than social organizations.
By Anonymous on Feb 1 | 11:04 am
I was actually referring to sexual assault when I said it is “largely a men’s problem.” Statistics indicate that the overwhelming majority of victims of sexual violence are women and the perpetrators men. Our own administration has said that alcohol is involved in 100% of sexual assault cases on campus. Research on hazing states that it almost always involves the humiliation of pledges and that it is often sexual in nature. I have never read of a hazing incident in which alcohol was not involved. As for the Greek system, I think it is reasonable to ask what, if any, are the benefits of single-sex social spaces on a coeducational campus in the 21st century? For more information on this topic you should read “The Macho Paradox” by Jackson Katz, one of the nations' leading authorities on sexual violence and the culture that permits it. As for this culture in the campus community specifically , you unfortunately need look no further than Rauner Library and the collection on the history of coeducation at Dartmouth."
By Peter Hackett on Feb 1 | 12:01 pm
Hypocrisy of public image and rhetoric? Sure, Professor, I’ll play in your ballpark. Let’s look at reports of what the College endowment holds shares of according to the March 2011 and January 2010 reports of the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility.
Dartmouth holds (or as late as January 2010, held) shares in the innocuously named Altria Group. Perhaps you know it better by it’s previous name, PHILLIP MORRIS. Where’s the authority of the College to lecture about the dangers of binge drinking when the endowment is invested in a tobacco and wine company?
How much effort does Dartmouth make in getting students to be more environmentally friendly? The seemingly perennial competitons to see which dorm can reduce power consumption the most? Pushes for recycling? Handing out water bottles so folks stop buying disposable water bottles? And yet the college endowment holds shares in Chevron Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, Hess, Occidental Petroleum, and Valero Energy, among others.
Large banks drove the American economy off a cliff due to irresponsible practices and criminal practices. And hey, would you look at that, Dartmouth’s endowment owns shares of Bank of America, BB&T, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.
Dartmouth preaches tolerance towards others and puts a lot of effort into it. Puts a lot of manpower and money into OPAL, has S&S work overtime to track down intolerant vandals, etc. How nice to see that the College endowment owns shares of Lowe’s Companies, who was so quick to cave in to Islamophobia.
When it comes to a company that is antithetical to any conception of social investing, how about the College endowment’s holding of HALIBURTON? ‘Nuff said.
Lastly, no wonder the College and the College’s unions have had some tensions over budget cuts. (Students Standing with Staff and all that.) Wal-Mart? Really, College endowment? Wal-Mart? As in the Union-busting, fighting up to Supreme Court to discriminate against women in pay them less than men and promote them to management less than men, Wal-Mart? And you still crow about investor responsibility?
Sounds like the College has some ‘splaining to do when it comes to highfalutin rhetoric and public image versus reality. We are proud of being the College of Dr. Koop but are invested in one of the tobacco companies he has spent his life fighting? Talk about hypocrisy of public image, Professor!
By Anon ‘05 on Feb 1 | 12:33 pm
Prof. Hackett, surely you must have taught classes where students have worn attire the college views as “hazing” mentioned in the article (such as sirens of flair)? If so, your claim that you have never encountered an instance of hazing that doesn’t involve alcohol either stands to debase your whole argument or to put your opinions in disagreement with the administration and state law that these clothing requirements are indeed “hazing”. As a current upperclassman and a member of a thriving fraternity, I can assure you that — probably much to the wider public’s surprise — most of our activities which the college views as “hazing” are conducted without using or abusing alcohol on either part of the brothers or pledges. While I’m not trying to argue that these activities are wholly positive, I’m merely gently disagreeing with your claim that hazing has any significant correlation with sexual assault on this campus.
By Anonymous on Feb 1 | 1:16 pm
to anon’s comment about co-eds not hazing because of culture instead of because of the gender mix:
no, it is absolutely because of the presence of both genders. The kind of hazing we’re talking about happening at other fraternities often involves beating people, making them come into contact with bodily fluids, nakedness, etc. When your pledge class is co-ed, you absolutely cannot possibly do much of the traditional hazing without it turning into an incredibly more-uncomfortable situation than it would otherwise already be. A lot of traditional hazing would be considered sexual assault if men were doing it to women or vice versa.
So, a co-ed environment, in and of itself, definitely cuts down on hazing. Don’t assume things about it unless you’ve experienced it yourself.
By coed member ‘11 on Feb 1 | 1:25 pm
this is a stupid article
By anon on Feb 1 | 1:58 pm
I remember reading an article in the D over the summer about a fraternity raising $50,000 for cancer research. Perhaps the members of you Greek organization and college were inept when it came time to give back to the community Professor Coffey, unlike many of our own students and Greek community members.
By Anonymous on Feb 1 | 3:39 pm
Professor Hackett,
I can readily cite plenty of research that contradicts your assertions.
This is not the 50s. Sexual assault is not, and never has been, a one way offense. There are a tremendous number of female sexual aggressors out there, and their offenses go massively underreported by men. Increasing national research seems to indicate this is more of 60/40 to 50/50 scenario rather than the 99/1 fantasy you cling to. The standard case in which a woman willingly has sex but is too intoxicated to give consent goes both ways. In that sense it is possible for two people to be mutually guilty of raping each other. It happens all the time. There is no moment in this world where I will defend the sexual assault of a woman, but if we are going to argue for equality then it has ramifications in the long overdue defense of men too.
As to hazing, your experience seems to be reading sensationalized articles rather than the actual investigation reports, and certainly rather than actual first hand knowledge. Most of what is classified as hazing does not involve alcohol. Your statement on that point makes no more sense than saying all peer pressure by middle school girls involves alcohol. The two things are completely unrelated on every possible level. There are a few isolated incidents across the country in which people are pressured to drink alcohol, but that is very far from the majority, and is certainly not all of hazing.
For your information, the vast majority of what is classified and prosecuted as hazing does not involve alcohol, nor does it involve disgusting or humiliating conduct. The vast majority of hazing is negative reinforcement of unacceptable behavior through things like simple calisthenics. There tend to be a few things that may seem outwardly humiliating, but are in actuality equally funny to both “victim” and “perpetrator.” Is being the target of a joke that you and everyone else thinks is funny really hazing in your mind? The baseless libelous ridiculous disgusting insanity described by this convicted criminal lashing out in vengeance against those who held him to a standard of conduct are not things that actually occur in the real world.
As for the Greek system and their single-sex nature, I have two points to make on this.
First, neither you nor Dartmouth get a choice in this. They are protected by the Constitution of the United States, many federal laws, and extensive case law. If you don’t like it, that’s tough. You can either accept it, or you can set the flag afire on your way out of my country. In the meantime, if you don’t mind, the rest of us will support and defend the central basis of this country and our society.
Second, I understand that you’re heart is in the right place. You don’t want opportunities denied to either gender. What you don’t understand is that in a co-ed only world you actually deny opportunity to both genders. Our whole world is co-ed. Where in that world does a man go to explore and self-actualize as a man, or a woman as a woman? As an educator, you know that men and women learn differently. You know that the self-actualization process is dramatically different based on our chemical wiring. By denying them a sanctum where they can learn about themselves and pursue the pinnacle of their own enlightenment as an individual, you decimate the highest purpose of a university. As a learned professor, it may be hard for you to accept, but the life changing value of their experience in these organizations is more important than anything they will learn in your class.
While I respect your position and your opinion, you are not knowledgeable on any of these subjects. Please focus your attention on delivering the best quality academic education you can in your classroom. I know that we as a community will all benefit from your renewed focus.
By Jackson on Feb 1 | 4:49 pm
For a study that suggests otherwise, I refer you to “Hazing in View: College Students at Risk” by he University of Maine College of Education and Human Development.
By Peter Hackett on Feb 1 | 4:54 pm
Jackson – Are you the one who puts the semen into the kiddie pool?
By Dick 08 on Feb 1 | 5:24 pm
The comments from Jackson border on the absurd. He says he can cite lots of research to refute Professor Hackett, but proceeds to voice only subjective feelings and biases. Second, fraternities are not protected, under the Constitution, for allowing abusive hazing and protecting rapists and encouraging environments which are degrading of women or dangerous to their well being. They can be eliminated on legal grounds which would not need to be inclusive of the foregoing.
Also, because both parties are inebriated, does not excuse the legal ramifications of rape, and it never has. Hanover Police will be glad to enforce this point.
Male sanctums are fine, but, if you learn more from them than a great teacher, you are really in the wrong place!
You say that sexual abuse is different now than the 50s. You are right, it was never excused as trivial as you make it. Nor, was it ever characterized in the following manner: “sexual assault is not, and never has been, a one way offense”.
Rape is a felony; and I would suggest that the perpetrators know what they are doing, and always have, whether in the 50s or today.
By Anonymous on Feb 1 | 5:27 pm
As with most issues, there are many credible opposing studies approaching the issues from different perspectives and rendering different results. While I can cite a few from memory, I don’t think it appropriate to enter a game of who has the better study with someone more than capable of accessing the data for himself. When you find yourself espousing an extreme position, it is often valuable to study the opposition research. I’ll leave you to do that for yourself.
From a personal perspective, having represented both sides in various hazing and alcohol liability situations, having been general counsel for a fraternity, as well obviously a member and advisor at various times to such organizations, I think I have quite a good understanding of the good, bad, and ugly of exactly what does and does not go on throughout the country.
I absolutely do not trivialize any form of sexual assault under any circumstances. To Dick who misunderstood my quote, my position is that there are instances of rape from all sides, not that a rape victim is in some way culpable. It is absurd to present it as a male-on-female-only problem. Sexual assault is never okay under any circumstances and should always be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I believe it is an incredibly rare and highly unacceptable circumstance that any Greek org would protect a rapist. If they are charged, the organization suspends them at minimum. If they are not charged, the organization gives them a fair trial internally. If sufficient evidence exists, they are in every instance expelled and the lawyer decides how cooperative the org will be with police. Where fraternities get a bad reputation is when unsupported accusations are made and there is not evidence to take action. From the outside, all people see are accusations, no action, and an org trying to defend itself against negative PR. Just like the legal system, we’re not going to railroad anyone without at the very least a preponderance of circumstantial evidence. I can assure you we do take such accusations incredibly seriously. No one is ever protected. It would be even more offensive to us as members and alumni to protect a rapist than it would be to the public. We do not waiver on this.
Sexual assault happens at a high rate on all college campuses, and is heavily underreported. There is no particular association to gender-specific spaces other than the litigious attraction of their multimillion dollar insurance policies. Sexual assault has more to do with the high presence of alcohol or drugs and a lack of supervision. If you put those factors in any type of space, including co-ed, there absolutely will be sexual assaults, hazing, and other abuses. It has very little to do with the organizations or the spaces themselves. Smart management of those spaces/people is the way to address it. Dissolution of the space or organization just transfers the problem to another less visible location.
The school can disassociate itself from recognized student organizations. What does that accomplish? It cannot prevent their existence. A Greek system of single-gender organizations will exist regardless of any action the school takes. They actually thrive without the burden of heavy regulation, though such a situation poses an extremely high risk. Their right to freedom of association and their single gender nature is protected. If you don’t like that, feel free to advocate to congress for a constitutional amendment. I’m sure that’ll happen right around the same time as the re-installation of prohibition. The question is not if these groups will exist, they absolutely will. The question is to what degree the school will shield themselves from liability (disassociation being the extreme) versus take an active role in regulating behavior. This school has chosen a middle ground. Any movement on that spectrum is a very complicated legal proposition for any institution. With all respect, nothing being said in any part of the discussions happening here will move that risk management position a single millimeter in either direction.
Dick, as far as your sanctum versus teach comment. It really isn’t a competition, but you spend what 3hrs a week give or take for how many days a year with an individual teacher? That teacher has how many students in their class? Versus you spend tens of thousands of hours with a fraternity. The teacher is bound to a curriculum meant to deliver mastery of a finite subject. They do not deliver repeated moments of the transcendental sublime of total self-actualization to each and every individual on cue while lecturing on bio-chem or even philosophy. They deliver an academic education, which has great value, but it doesn’t ultimately change who you really are inside. At least not in huge leaps. In a more practical sense, I got a business degree and an MBA both from exceptional schools, but the business skills and interpersonal leadership I learned running a fraternity were more valuable than the theory I absorbed in a classroom. It’s difficult to express the real value of these organizations, particularly to academia, but I would say it is just short of my religion and more valuable to me than all of my degrees. I know that’s difficult to understand from the outside looking in and assuming these are just college clubs. It’s not something I can explain to someone that hasn’t been part of it.
By Jackson on Feb 2 | 2:13 am
Jackson – I’ll take that as a “yes”.
By Dick 08 on Feb 2 | 8:45 am
Jackson,
You mentioned that smart management is the way to address sexual assualt, hazing, and other abuses. Can we discuss this? What does this look like? How can this be implemented campus-wide at Dartmouth?
By Alum on Feb 6 | 3:00 am