Editorial: Hazing gone wrong

Early Monday morning, Chapel Hill police found six freshmen, all Sigma Nu pledges, walking along Old Erwin Road. The students said they had been dropped off several miles from Duke's campus and were expected to make their way back; two were so inebriated that they were taken to the emergency room for treatment. All evidence suggests that this was the result of hazing.

In the wake of this incident, Sigma Nu has been placed on "interim suspension," which prohibits the living group from holding any meetings or gatherings, an appropriate immediate step for administrators to take. As the University investigates the exact circumstances of the event, the fraternity should remain on suspension. If Monday's events do in fact turn out to be hazing, Sigma Nu should be punished accordingly. Lives were endangered Monday, and the University should not be lenient when dealing with the fraternity.

Hazing like this takes place regularly with fraternities, and the only way in which this event is unique that the administration found out about it. Whenever the University is made aware of hazing, it has a duty to act against it and to discipline the offenders.

Some may argue that these actions against Sigma Nu are yet another instance of University administration trying to eliminate the greek scene on campus. Although the administration probably does wish to eliminate the greeks, punishing hazing does not necessarily promote the elimination of selective living groups. In fact, selective living groups - despite such violations of University policy - are a vital part of the undergraduate community.

They provide a social outlet that other programming bodies, such as the Duke University Union and Campus Council, cannot provide, and they offer the large percentage of students who are members in them and many who are not a cohesive and enjoyable social experience. The way residential and social life on campus is currently designed, selective living groups are the only organizations in a position to throw large-scale parties and similar events and until that changes, Duke needs to maintain these living groups.

Moreover, although this incident is clearly hazing, if the University truly wants to promote safety in the rush process it should change its hazing rules to something more reasonable and realistic. Currently, all sorts of innocuous behaviors are classified as hazing. If the hazing policy only encompassed dangerous activities, the groups would be more likely to avoid these dangerous activities and engage in the safer types of hazing.

Nevertheless, Sigma Nu's behavior, if it is found guilty, is clearly an instance of hazing that the University should punish. It is unacceptable for a fraternity to risk the lives of its pledges in this manner, and the University should act swiftly and with determination to prevent this from occurring in the future.