After a particularly deadly year at colleges and universities, a hazing expert said today schools like LSU face a difficult task in solving the deeply-ingrained problems surrounding Greek life without a proven set of best practices.
LSU is currently attempting to reckon with the second high-profile alcohol-related hazing death in the past two decades at the school, with a task force on Greek life set to report its recommendations in January. That task force came after Maxwell Gruver, an LSU freshman pledging Phi Delta Theta, died following an alleged hazing ritual where he was forced to drink heavily.
Walter Kimbrough, Dillard University president and a national expert on hazing who spoke at the Press Club of Baton Rouge today, called 2017 a “crazy” year for hazing deaths. He points to five deaths at fraternities this year: LSU, Texas State University, Florida State University, Penn State University and State University College at Oneonta, though police said the Oneonta death was not being investigated as a hazing incident.
LSU has done “all the right things so far,” Kimbrough said of the university’s response to Gruver’s death. The problem is that there aren’t agreed-upon methods for stemming the phenomenon of hazing. And even some of the steps LSU did take—like temporarily suspending some Greek activities—didn’t work, as students broke the rules anyway.
“It’s not simple. You’re talking about changing a culture that’s 600 years old,” Kimbrough said. “The first step is to get everybody to realize there’s a problem. This is a campus that has had two high-profile deaths in 20 years. That’s a problem.”
While hazing and related deaths have endured despite countless attempts to stem the practice, there are steps to be taken, Kimbrough said. For one, education on hazing should start earlier, in middle school or high school, where students are often first introduced to hazing. He also suggested eliminating hazing charges and bringing traditional charges against those involved with such deaths.
Kimbrough, who has served as an expert witness in 18 hazing-related cases, says it is unlikely large southern schools like LSU would shut down fraternities altogether. Greek life is a big part of the culture, and donors at schools that have tried to ban fraternities have threatened to withhold financial support. Plus, he says groups that are unaffiliated with colleges have popped up with even fewer rules or restrictions on them.
“I think they’ve done the basics,” he said. “We’re all in a situation where we’re trying to determine where do we go next.”
—Sam Karlin
