Wandering through the aisles of Reynolds Theater, appropriating french fries from audience members and joking with present sororities and fraternities all around, judge Mitch Crane managed to weave levity into a grim scare-you-straight presentation on the horrors of hazing Tuesday night.
The event, sponsored by Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and the Interfraternity Council, drew nearly 500 students, primarily new greek members, for whom attendance was mandatory.
"The basic idea is that for the past 10 years, hazing has been a 'bad word' around college campuses--greek life has really taken a hit," said Joseph Kelly, president of Delta Sigma Phi. "We wanted to show that this University is better than hazing."
Crane, a former attorney, high school political science teacher and civil litigation professor--and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon--blamed the poor reputation many individuals have of greek life on biased media coverage and lampoon films like "Animal House" and "Old School."
He described an episode of "Friends," where Rachel runs into current members of her old sorority after marrying Ross on a drunken whim in Las Vegas. The show portrays the sisters as snooty, turning their noses up at Rachel, prompting her to observe, "Man, we really are bitches."
"It had nothing to do with the show, just a little message about being greek," Crane said. "The laugh track was roaring. Every season there's an anti-greek episode.
"Anyone hear about how a fraternity at Penn State University raised $3 million for cancer research last year?" Crane continued. "No? People only hear about the bad things."
Crane pointed out that George W. Bush and Al Gore played down their fraternity membership during the 2000 presidential election, as have several of the Democratic contenders have this year, for fear of alienating voters.
Despite a tripling of the number of undergraduates nationwide in the past half-century, Crane said the total number of greek members has gone down. He then spent a significant amount of time relating tales of hazing-related deaths--such as a University of Washington student who hung himself after Hell Week--at colleges across the country, admonishing that the same could happen at Duke.
"You don't memorize the campus," Crane said of the failing greek image. "You don't memorize the fraternity. You just see that people have died because they were searching for friendship and companionship."
Crane stressed that forcing students to do push-ups or drink excessively against their will hardly shows true commitment, likening the situation to a man asking his fiancee to drink a bottle of vodka to prove her love. He added the "pledging" process only emerged in the wake of World War II, when returning GIs headed for college and decided to try out boot camp maneuvers on new fraternity men.
"Look, you may think hazing is necessary to building a sense of trust," Crane said. "But here's my problem: They didn't tell you they'd do it. So you have one of two options--you can find an organization that does say they do it, or you can change your stated principles."
Crane ended on an optimistic note, saying the values he learned in joining a fraternity have carried him through the toughest moments of his life.
"They're all looking for what you have," he said of the non-greek community. "They just don't think you have it... I am proud of being greek, and I hope you all are."
Audience reactions to the speech ranged considerably.
"It was pretty good," said junior Will Connolly, a member of Sigma Nu and the incoming IFC president. "I hope it has opened some eyes [about hazing dangers]."
Others were less enthused.
"I don't really know how to take it," said freshman Duncan MacKay. "I'm still sort of pondering it."
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