Hazing - History of Extreme Hazing Incidents

History of Extreme Hazing Incidents

Throughout history, hazing has resulted in several deaths and serious injuries. The following is a chronological list of incidents where "hazing" crossed the line of what was socially acceptable and was deemed a criminal act, and the law enacted to combat such acts.

• 1626: Francisco de Quevedo includes a scene of students hazing one another in his picaresque novel El Buscón.

• 1684: Cambridge, MA, a Harvard Student, Joseph Webb, was expelled for hazing.

• 1873: a New York Times article read "West Point.; "Hazing" at the Academy – An Evil That Should be Entirely Rooted Out"

• 1975: Rupa Rathnaseeli, a 22 year old female student of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka became paralyzed as a result of jumping from the second floor of the hostel "Ramanathan Hall" to escape the physical ragging carried out by her seniors. It was reported that she was about to have a candle inserted in her vagina just before she had jumped out of the hostel building. She committed suicide in 1997

• 1978: Alfred University in western New York, student Chuck Stenzel died in a fraternity hazing incident from aspirated vomit while passed out following an evening of drinking at Klan Alpine fraternity, now defunct. He had been transported to the frat house in a car trunk along with two other pledges. Alfred University has since completely abolished fraternities and sororities. After Chuck's death, his mother, Eileen Stevens, formed C.H.U.C.K., the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings.

• 1993-2007: in Indonesia, 35 people died as a result of hazing initiation rites in the Institute of Public Service (IPDN). The latest was in April 2007 when Cliff Muntu died after being beaten by the seniors.

• 1997: Selvanayagam Varapragash – a first-year engineering student at University of Peradeniya was murdered on the campus due to hazing. He was subjected to sadistic ragging and in the post-mortem a large quantity of tooth paste was found in his rectum.

• 2005: Matthew Carrington was killed at California's Chico State University on February 2, 2005. As a result, a number of colleges and parents, sorority and fraternity members are taking steps to bring an end to criminal hazing practices. Colleges and fraternities have also faced civil liability in actions brought for injuries and deaths caused by fraternity hazing. Hazing is considered a felony in several U.S. states, and anti-hazing legislation has been proposed in other states. SB 1454, or Matt's Law, was developed in Carrington's memory, and a bill was put into law to eliminate hazing in California.

• 2004: In Sandwich, MA two Sandwich High School (Massachusetts) football players faced felony charges after a freshman teammate lost his spleen in a hazing ritual. Apparently, a junior on the football team grabbed Garrett’s ankles, lifted him in the air, and then threw him on the ground at the beginning of a practice before the coaches had arrived in what was described as a “freshman beat-down.” The result was a ruptured spleen; the surgeons characterized the force of his hitting the ground as similar to that of a car accident. Due to the injury, the freshman will now require routine immunizations and regular antibiotics to combat the bacteria normally filtered by the spleen for the rest of his life.

• 2005: in Russia, the victim of a high-profile hazing attack, Andrei Sychyov required the amputation of his legs and genitalia after he was forced to squat for three hours whilst being beaten and tortured by a group on New Year's Eve, 2005. The brutal attack on Sychyov, and its horrific consequences highlighted the widespread problem of dedovshchina – or hazing – in the Russian armed forces.

• 2007: in Lawrenceville, NJ, Rider University, the Trenton Times reported in April that one fraternity pledge died and another was hospitalized with alcohol poisoning, during what the judge called, "knowingly or recklessly organized, promoted, facilitated or engaged in conduct which resulted in serious bodily injury". Five people were charged including two university administrators.

• 2007: in Japan, on June 26 at the Tokisukaze stable, 17 year old Sumo wrestler Takashi Saito was beaten to death by his fellow rikishi with a beer bottle and metal baseball bat at the direction of his trainer, Junichi Yamamoto. Though originally reported as a heart failure, Satio's father demanded an autopsy, which uncovered evidence of the beating. Both Yamamoto and the other rikishi were charged with manslaughter.

• 2011: in Andover, MA, two Andover High School basketball players were expelled and five were suspended for pressuring underclassmen to play "wet biscuit," where the loser was forced to eat a semen-soaked cookie."

• 2011: in Florida, thirteen students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University attacked 23 year old, drum major Robert Champion on a bus after a marching band performance, beating him to death. Since the 2011 death, a series of reports of abuse and hazing within the band have been documented. In May of 2012, 2 faculty members resigned in connection with a hazing investigation and 13 people were charged with felony or misdemeanor hazing crimes. Eleven of those individuals face one count of third-degree felony hazing resulting in death, which is punishable by up to six years in prison. The FAMU incident prompted Florida Governor Rick Scott to order all state universities to examine their hazing and harassment policies in December. Scott also asked all university presidents to remind their students, faculty and staff "how detrimental hazing can be."

• 2012: in Florida, at the University of Florida; 9 students of a fraternity were accused of "striking the pledges with paddles and/or striking with hands and/or requiring the performance of calisthenics" on January 22, 2012. If convicted, these men could be sentenced to one year in prison and be forced to pay as much as a $1,000 fine.

• 2012: in La Puente, California, at La Puente High School; 3 teens charged with sexually hazing high school soccer players. 4 victims of ritual known as the "pole tradition", involving sexual battery and sodomy using a long pole with a sharp end.

There is anti-hazing legislation in several countries, e.g. in France (the French term is bizutage) imposing a punishment up to six months in prison or 7,500 €.

In the Philippines, hazing accompanied by any forms of temporary or permanent physical injuries (from light injuries to injuries resulting to death), sexual abuse (in any form) or any acts that lead to mental incapacity are punishable by law. Penalties vary depending on how serious the offense is.

In India, ragging (as hazing is called there) is legally banned. However, implementation of the law remains problematic because victims rarely speak out. Recently, the Supreme Court of India directed the police to register criminal cases against those accused of ragging. State governments have also been instructed to take a tougher stance on ragging.