ON CAMPUS
ZBT members Jon
Frankel, Evan
Wildstein and
Adam Dishell try
their hand at cards.
Peter Yates
Love, Not Haze
MELANIE KOFF
Special to The Jewish News
A
year ago, Zeta Beta
Tau fraternity at the
University of
Michigan was embroiled in a
lawsuit after a group of Zeta
Beta Tau pledges ran naked
through a sorority. The sorori-
ty brought sexual harassment
charges against the par-
ticipating three male
students.
Although the fraternity
denied the act was part of the
pledging ritual, they were fin-
ed and members were re-
quired to complete several
hours of community service.
Incidents like this sparked
Zeta Beta Tau's recent deci-
sion to become the first na-
tional fraternity to abolish
the pledge period, making a
student who joins one of Zeta
Beta Tau's 100 collegiate
chapters an automatic full
member.
In September, Zeta Beta
Tau enacted this policy for the
first time. At the U-M chapter
of Zeta Beta Tau, 19 students
were initiated into member-
ship immediately following
fall rush. The other 37 frater-
nities at U-M invited students
into a three-month pledge
period.
Zeta Beta Tau National
President Fred Schatz, a U-M
graduate and resident of West
Bloomfield, said members of
the fraternity's national
board of directors decided last
fall the only way to save the
fraternity system was by
abolishing pledging.
Schatz said there have been
44 deaths and probably
thousands of very serious ac-
cidents in the last 10 years
due to hazing rituals.
"Mandates were passed by
fraternities that there would
be no hazing but hazing con-
tinued," Schatz said. "Pledg-
ing created the window of op-
portunity for hazing."
Other national fraternities
are revising their pledge pro-
grams, though not as radical-
ly and rapidly as Zeta Beta
Tau.
Tau Kappa Epsilon, the
largest national fraternity,
will phase in a similar pro-
gram over the next two years.
Alpha Epsilon Pi has re-
quired that chapters con-
siderably shorten their pledge
At ZBT
fraternities
across the
country,
hazing has
been replaced
by
brotherhood.
period, and is working toward
phasing out the pledge
period.
The national officers told
undergraduates in the col-
legiate chapters that any per-
son accepting a bid to join the
fraternity must be inducted
into full membership within
72 hours, learning the rituals
and secrets of the fraternity.
Ronald Taylor, national vice
president of Zeta Beta Thu,
said the national officers
spent nine months developing
a 400-page Brotherhood Pro-
gram which "keeps some of
the good things that happen
during pledging."
The traditional pledge
period is an opportunity for a
student to experience frater-
nity life before making the
commitment to become a full
member. It is also a time for
the general membership to
ensure that a new member
will be an integral, con-
tributing member of the
fraternity. Once a member
becomes initiated, he is mak-
ing a lifetime commitment to
the fraternity.
Taylor said because the new
policy initiates members
within a week, the national
fraternity instituted a quali-
ty control measure. Beginn-
ing this year, every member of
a chapter will vote two times
a year on whether each of his
brothers has lived up to the
basic expectations of member-
ship. Expectations include
academic integrity, social
responsibility and brotherly
love.
Schatz said fraternities are
closely watching Zeta Beta
Tau's new policy. He said in-
itial reports show the number
of students joining Zeta Beta
Tau nationally has increased.
Schatz said the numbers of
new members in most
chapters are up as much as 30
percent over the previous
year. "We are overwhelmed,"
Schatz said.
Last fall, Zeta Beta Tau at
U-M received 20 pledges. This
year the chapter initiated 19
members, although one has
terminated his membership.
Alpha Epsilon Pi and Sigma
Alpha Mu fraternities receiv-
ed 14 and 16 pledges, respec-
tively. Male students at U-M
visit the fraternities during a
one-week period. During the
week, no alcohol is served.
Traditionally, students who
accept a bid from a fraternity
become members of a pledge
class for a period of months.
In most fraternities, pledges
are initiated into membershp
at the beginning of the
semester following their
pledgeship.
As the low men on the
totem pole, pledges are ex-
pected to clean the fraternity
house and grounds after par-
ties, as well as other grunge
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 83
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