Gay hazing
A Fraternity Brother Speaks Out
By: Colin Schlank
I cannot tally how many times I have asked the tracking question amidst the past four years of my life; what can I do to stop hazing? This single question has left me confused, mad, disillusioned, and ultimately inspired to make a difference in the world. I hope that by sharing with you my story, you too will be inspired to make an impact in your community.
My name is Colin, and I am currently a graduate student at the University of Connecticut. I am studying secondary teaching and history and am extremely excited for my future after college. Four years ago, during the spring semester of my freshman year at UConn, I made the judgment to pledge a well-known fraternity. Like most other students who choose to join a Greek company, I was seeking to meet new people and enrich my college exposure. Though my fraternity life has had many lofty and low points, I am forever grateful that I made the preference to join.
I began to notice hazing practices within my fraternity on the very first night I became a part of it. On that late hours, brothers from the chapter gathered my pledge class in the parking lot of our on-campus ho
On a cold, stormy September night in 2018, my 14 fraternity pledge brothers and I received this ambiguous text from one of our pledge masters:
“Tonight’s education meeting is canceled. At 11pm, you will all load into three of your cars and drive to the destination I send you. Deliver a first aid kit, five jugs of rain, three shovels, and a triangular-shaped candle. Dress in all black.”
My mind raced with questions. What could this mean?
An hour later, my palms choked the steering wheel of my Ford pickup truck as I drove from our fraternity house at the University of Southern California toward an unnamed deal with in Manhattan Beach. In the car with me were four of my pledge brothers.
“It’s got to be beach-related,” said a brother from the assist seat, his voice barely audible over the rain pounding on my windshield.
“Maybe it’s a residence party,” another suggested.
“It’s definitely not a house party,” the one in the passenger seat countered. “We’re getting hazed tonight, boys!”
A knot of anxiety tightened in my stomach. This moment, shrouded in uncertainty, mirrored the complex feelings I’d been wrestling with since joining the fraternity three weeks earlier. As t
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