I was so excited when I first decided to pledge a sorority in the spring of 2006. I had done a great deal of research into each of the three organizations that were present on my campus. I was positive that I had made the correct decision. I was ecstatic when I received a bid from my top choice and then became one of their pledge sisters.

However, soon my pledging experience changed and the sisters of the sorority became unfriendly and verbally abusive. The sisters told us that it was tradition and that nothing would change. My ten pledge sisters and I dealt with being blindfolded, yelled at, lied to, harassed, and I even suffered physical pain due to their irresponsibility. I made it through all of it though and after attending my first national convention decided I wanted things to change. I refused to participate in any hazing events for the next pledge class and eventually disaffiliated from my chapter.

It wasn’t until almost a year later that I got the strength and courage to contact my national officers, who not only told me they were proud of my courage but were also kind enough to remove my disaffiliated status and make me an alumni sister. I am proud to say now that I am an alumni sister of Theta Phi Alpha.

Hazing may be tradition, but traditions can change. Stand up for yourself and don't just go along with it. Contact your national officers or your Greek Advisor who will be able to help guide you through the situation. If you do not put your foot down to stop hazing others will continue to have to go through the same "traditions." It sounds cliche, but JUST SAY NO!

Hazing persists because of the mindset that hazing is tradition. People don't understand that everyone is different and even if hazing isn't physically harmful to many it may still be emotionally harmful.

Hazing is harmful in more ways than people can imagine. Hazing does more than leave bruises, or emotional wounds that may never be healed. Hazing can ruin people's friendships as well as people's lives. It will be two years since I left my chapter this November and I'm still afraid to walk on my campus alone.

My organization nationally is very openly against hazing. They made it known at convention that we could trust them and lean on them. That is what sisters are for.

Coming to Terms Years Later

I really wanted to join a sorority when I was in college and was excited to be accepted by a very "popular" group of girls. I was made to drink alcohol, embarrass myself by going to fraternity houses and singing to the brothers, deliver letters between the sisters and their friends on and off campus at all hours, clean the members’ houses, run on and off campus at all hours to get signatures from the sisters and much more. The other girls pledging were aware of what was in store for them before accepting and were willing to submit to these things. I was unfamiliar with this process, and it left me humiliated as I lost all self -confidence. My grades also fell while pledging because I had so little time to study or sleep. It's been 14 years, and I am now coming to terms with this and realize that what happened was not normal and that it's finally time to speak out about it.

I reported the hazing to the Panhellenic Council, and it just escalated the problem. The sorority was put on a pledging "freeze" until further notice, but that didn't stop the chapter from making us do their bidding. They were hardest on me because it didn't take long for them to realize that I was the one to turn them in. I de-pledged. That wasn't good enough for these girls though. They followed me and tormented me in my classes and around campus. They got fraternity members to do the same. My professors let me take my finals early and I hurried home. I never returned.

Stand up for what you believe in and get help. If the help you get fails, try to find it somewhere else. Don't run away, because there are people just like you who will endure what you did after you are gone. Someone needs to end the cycle. I remember seeing pictures of a pledge class before mine, one of the pledges faces blacked out in one of the photos. The sisters laughed when we asked about it - that girl was just like me the previous semester. I guess once I left - I was the one with the blacked out face!

I wish this had never happened to me. I really liked my school and my friends before I decided to pledge. I was doing well and was very happy there. I also wish that I understood why the hazing affected me the way it did while the rest of my pledge class went along with it. Some even seemed to enjoy it and find it entertaining.