Some college students are literally dying to join national and local Greek letter societies. Increasingly, fraternities, sororities and their members are being held accountable for hazing-related injuries and fatalities in civil and criminal courts.
Laws are powerful deterrents and strengthen the hands of college administrators.
Through their efforts, Stevens and other anti-hazing advocates can take credit for criminalizing dangerous and abusive rites of passage in 41 states, and for public education campaigns that have spurred civil juries to award substantial compensation to victims. The university also banished the chapter from campus for 10 years. The fraternity was also banned from the College Park, Md., campus for five years. Last year, criminal charges were filed against the MIT chapter of Phi Gamma Delta after freshman Scott Krueger died of alcohol poisoning following a drinking marathon. The charges were dismissed because the chapter permanently disbanded, but MIT yanked the diploma of the fraternity member who had purchased the alcohol.