cleaning house

I'm a member of one of the fraternities that has been shut down and know from experience that a lot of guys have had nothing to do with our houses getting punished. Mediocrity has gotten the upper-hand in my and other houses. Maturity and reason has often been flushed down the crapper. We've lowered standards in recruiting and focused more on the social party aspect. Some of us have tried - maybe not hard enough - to curb the ignoring of rules. Too many chapter meetings focus on how to get around the rules, how to get around audits, how to get the chicks to come to our house, etc. I'm really sad having to move out...it's something I didn't anticipate. And I'm p#s#ed and saying "I told you so". Guys, it can happen to you and your house, too. Grow a pair and get things right before our whole Greek system is on the ropes and our alumni cut off the funding.

KA, DU, SigEp, SigPi, SAE shut down...A lawsuit against Mizzou KA...lawsuits against individual Mizzou SigEp members...Mizzou Farmhouse activities being investigated by the police department...and at Penn State and LSU - criminal charges against fraternities and individual fraternity members for alcohol-related hazing deaths: many of us, maybe even a majority of us, are quite aware of these facts. So why in the hell do we just continue with business as usual? Do we honestly think our individual houses are immune and so smooth and smart that we won't get caught? C'mon! That's just so much BS! Every last one of us is vulnerable and we're toast if we don't start taking things seriously. My fraternity has some pretty awesome founding principles, and I bet yours does, too. It's time to let them start guiding and leading us!

Missouri law defines hazing as any activity that endangers the physical or mental health of a student or is a crime that's required for membership. It's a misdemeanor offense, unless the act creates a substantial risk to the life of the student or prospective member, and then it's a felony. It seems that mature college men would be turned off by the thought of organizationally endangering the physical or mental health or risking the life of someone. How in tf can we morally and ethically justify that? And don't give me the old effing BS that it's "tradition" and that because we may have been hazed it's okay to do it to others. Yeah, most of us were hazed, but that is no justification for disregarding and ignoring moral and ethical decency and responsibility. We've asked for, and warranted, the sanctions and punishment that are being meted out to us.