Posted on 05/08/2008 7:52:24 AM PDT by Abathar
NEW ORLEANS -- Ten members of Tulane's Eta chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were in jail Wednesday, charged with aggravated battery from hazing incidents.
At least 10 pledges to the fraternity were burned during hazing incidents according to an attorney for one of the pledges.
Attorney Frank D'Amico Jr., who represents one of the pledges, said more than 10 men were burned. He said at least two pledges were severely burned and reported the attack to police. D'Amico said his client suffered second- and third-degree burns.
New Orleans police said the incidents took place April 25 and 26.
According to police, the pledges were burned with hot water, cayenne pepper, potatoes and vinegar.
Meanwhile, Tulane University confirmed that the Eta chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, also known as Pikes, has been suspended from campus.
According to a statement from the university, it is investigating an incident involving the fraternity which might have violated Tulane's zero-tolerance policy toward hazing.
The university said it is also cooperating with the ongoing NOPD investigation.
When Crawfish boils go bad.........
Whatever happened to the days when initiation was to get the guys drunk, naked, and drop them off in front of a local Gay bar?
My family doctor, who passed away a few years back, told me that his medical school frat initiation involved the use of an “electric” needle being placed on areas of a nude body in an operating suite. The rite of passage was ended after a spark ignited an ether container and the ensuing fire burned one of the initiates.
Geez. Ya think?
Almost as bad as Abu Ghraib!
Two good friends of mine pledged freshmen year and their personalities TOTALLY changed. In their eyes, if you weren’t in a frat, you were not worth their time to even engage in a conversation. Sad really. And they even paid to get brainwashed like that.
After their pledge year(freshmen usually), they generally return to a more normal personality. One of the two even apologized for the way he acted towards me after pledging. The other, however, remained a total ass. I ran into him, when he was with a bunch of his frat brothers, one time. He was pleasant to my face, but after I kept on walking, I heard him say to his friends that he couldn’t believe he was friends with such a loser at one time.
I was asked to pledge several fraternities my sophomore year, and I refused based on the personality alterations that seem to be required to pledge.
I know I’ll be blasted by fraternity members here, but it’s my personal observations. Sorry if you can’t respect that.
I would question whether any of these guys were smart enough to even be in college.
University of Phoenix just keeps looking better everyday.
“I know I’ll be blasted by fraternity members here, but it’s my personal observations. Sorry if you can’t respect that.”
Not from me. You made the right choice.
LOL.
I graduated from high school in 1976. I had a built in reason for not pledging - bicentennial of our independence. Most of the frat boys out looking for freshman pledges did not get the reference. Only the rush guy from the stoner frat got it. I didn’t pledge there either, just went to their parties. Theirs and every other frat’s party (except the delts, they were the swimmers and didn’t allow non members into their parties - was the only way they were gonna get, uh, the affections of the drunken lovelies).
In too many frats it’s just another case of Boys Gone Wild. Get drunk, do stupid things, sleep with college aged girls and act like an immature ass. I get that it’s a part of life and it can be a lot of fun but character isn’t on the radar far too often.
Indeed!! Institutions of higher learning? Give me a break! These people have just too damned much time on their hands and they spend it thinking stupid thoughts.
There is something sick and demented about anyone who gets a kick out of humiliating and inflicting pain upon another. Always has been and always will be.
If fraternities and sororities can’t conduct themselves in a half civil manner, they should simply be banned once and for all, and stop all these second chances. We only hear about the worst cases of fraternity fools such as these.
Never understood the appeal of a fraternity.
"When I was a college student in the mid to late '60's in California, the un-coolest thing you could do was to join a fraternity. At the time, fraternities were the campus joke and it was the fraternity members who were considered losers because they had to buy their friends and they dressed like 1957 when it was 1969. They also took pride in their alcoholic lifestyles while all the rest of the students were getting stoned on pot.
Of course, some of the frat boys were closet potheads too. Many campus pot dealers were members of fraternities (the Teaks or the TKE fraternity had members who were drug dealers on our campus in the late '60's.)And they were the most "jock" frathouse on campus! Go figure.
Drinking during init (1 week long) by pledges was absolutely verbotten during my stint. Occasionally one might need medical attention but that was do to being out of shape and not being able to keep up with the physical endurance necessary.
It’s unfortunate that these people give Fraternities a bad name and/or image. In high school, I was excessively shy and introverted. In my second year of college, I pledged Pi Kappa Alpha and was later initiated.
My pledgeship went entirely without incident and, in fact, included requirements for weekly study time. When my grades began to suffer, my brothers were there to tutor and provide support. Prior to pledging, I was doing good to hold a 2.0 GPA. After, my GPA rose to 3.25 (not great but a significant improvement).
I have to say that, without the Pikes, I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today in terms of confidence, business success, leadership ability and family. Suffice to say that I grew beyond that shy introvert that I used to be.
I met my wife at a Fraternity function. Nearly 18 years and a set of twin daughters later, we’re still together and going strong.
So, don’t judge the Fraternity, as an organization, too harshly as it certainly neither condones nor tolerates such activities. Yes, events such as these are inexcusable and not to be tolerated. The individuals involved need to be held accountable. There’s no room for this sort of behavior in any society. I just wanted to show an example where a Fraternity, coincidentally the one in question, did a great deal of good.
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