Posted on 12/16/2017 6:29:10 AM PST by Oak Leafer
Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET
A grand jury tasked with investigating broad issues of hazing at Penn State has issued a blistering report asserting that leaders at the university were well aware of pervasive misbehavior in the Greek system and failed to take action.
Penn State, responding in court, said that the university has "shown an unwavering commitment to promoting safety and accountability" and that alcohol abuse at college is a "national problem," not a university-specific one.
The report, made public by the Centre County, Pa., District Attorney's Office, was released after the death of 19-year-old fraternity pledge Timothy Piazza earlier this year. It includes numerous descriptions of fraternity practices that violate the law, campus policy or basic safety principles. Numerous allegations of sexual assault were detailed.
Hazing is "rampant and pervasive" and includes "sadistic" rituals that "surge to unfathomabl[e] peaks of depravity," the report says. Penn State fraternities require excessive drinking to the point of being life-threatening or demand that pledges exercise to the point of exhaustion on floors covered in vomit, bleach or broken glass, according to the report. Some hazing rituals allegedly involved pledges being forced to drink concoctions designed to make them ill or required pledges to kill and skin animals.
Efforts to deter dangerous activities, through the criminal system or through the school, have "clearly failed," the report found.
Penn State administrators were "remarkably undisturbed" by complaints about excessive and dangerous alcohol abuse at fraternities, the report says, and "it was only a matter of time before a death would occur during a hazing event."
Powerful alumni with ties to the Greek system, many of whom were substantial financial supporters of the university, helped push against any actions that would change the culture on campus.
The jury, initially tasked with investigating a single deadly incident, "determined it would be failing its duty to the Commonwealth as a whole if it did not report to the public" what it learned about hazing dangers in general.
"Whatever values Greek life previously held dear, the Greek life the Grand Jury saw focuses mainly on excessive drinking and social debauchery," the report states...
Sounds like the Greek system ahsn’t changed much in the fifty-plus years since I was in it.
‘leaders at the university were well aware of pervasive misbehavior in the Greek system and failed to take action.’
meh...the football team’s been hot lately; is there anything else to consider...
One of the reasons I avoided the frats when I was there 45 years ago.
A few years later, I had a streak of luck that put me into the top 10% of my college and a casual acquaintance tried to get me into his frat. I politely informed him that I was definitely not the kind of material they were looking for, then he replied that I could still help them get their GPA up. At that point I felt a bit like repeating the family propensity for knocking someone from the Greek system on their ass.
How else are they supposed to mold future politicians? :)
Congress is on a Greco-Roman system...
It another leftist, bureaucratic, statist attack on groups they do not control
Can’t have millions of men and women, organizing themselves in any way outside the control of the nanny-state, can we?
Or the judiciary.
Hazing is “rampant and pervasive” and includes “sadistic” rituals that “surge to unfathomabl[e] peaks of depravity,” the report says. Penn State fraternities require excessive drinking to the point of being life-threatening or demand that pledges exercise to the point of exhaustion on floors covered in vomit, bleach or broken glass, according to the report. Some hazing rituals allegedly involved pledges being forced to drink concoctions designed to make them ill or required pledges to kill and skin animals.
All of which these pledges did willingly and voluntarily. All you have to do is say, “To hell with this, I’m out”.
Whatever floats your boat... but we have that kind of shiite going on in the military too, including prostitution rings, extortion, dug and alcohol abuse, etc... It’s not something an officer is supposed to appreciate...
I’m still a gentleman.... but If you want to behave like an animal, guys like me will treat you like one... natural law overrides your hedonist philosophy...
I have a grandson in a frat at Penn State-——he’s doing just fine and LOVES the school.
.
Yet, you cannot have a gun on campus, but you can do that... I love your priorities.
I’ll bet he misses Sandusky.
First of, the military is not a college frat. Two completely different things
Second, they have cherry-picked an extreme case to slam the entire Greek system. There are millions of fraternity members and the cases of abuse are very rare. Many fraternities/sororities are service oriented.
Finally, so you ban frats or put them under the thumb of the DOE and college administrators. Young men are just going to stop drinking then?
I don’t agree with that kind of nonsense. Not a fan of the Greek “culture” and all that comes with it, especially living in a college town. But these individuals make the choice to pledge, no one is forcing them to do this. There were some things that I went through in the Army, that were not all that far removed from this, but that was a different time.
“including prostitution rings, extortion, drug and alcohol abuse”
A warrior is allowed to drink, and anybody who doesn’t think so can kiss my military ass.
We always need guys like you to keep the shitters clean and mop the floors... it’s o.k. corporal...
We don’t need people like you for anything, pussy.
And trying to pull rank on an Internet site? What a weasel.
Fragging was invented for “officers” like you. If you are one, which I doubt.
I’m not an officer anymore, but I’m still a gentleman...
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