Paddling is hazing no matter how you try and minimize it

In the Greek fraternity business, the use of a paddle represents hazing. It represents the degradation of your fellow human beings. It represents power and abuse over those who are powerless and seeking acceptance in a group that wielded power on the campus of Gallaudet University.

And yet paddles are still proudly displayed on the fraternity walls like past trophies on the unknown number buttocks they have paddled and caused pain, injury, and suffering.

Carl Schroeder is a Kappa Gamma brother of the 79th Congregation. In his recent blog last month he attempted to minimize Kappa Gamma's use of their paddles on pledges as inconsequential and harmless and by his own admission revealed that paddling was a common practice in Kappa Gamma during his time.

The odd thing about this fraternity pledgehood was its initiation which was, to me, “the battle of wills and wits–alienation and accommodation, as well as affirmation.” I went through a battery of social tests, mental challenges, and physical tolerances. They were well-planned, well-programmed, and well-delivered, and my ego was never in bruise. Yes, I got tired and angry, and, yes, I was made to laugh at times throughout my Fraternity probation–the trial of my character. You can check with my beloved Brother Gary Malkowski of Toronto, Canada, because, as the pledges, we laughed together in public.

Now here are a few words about paddling. The Fraternity paddles were properly introduced to us the pledges. We were asked to accept them as very much a big part of the Kappa Gamma Fraternity. There was one member in our Congregation who did not so he left, for which I am always saddened by his own decision. Paddling itself was never crazy, absurd, or senseless; it was always foretold, explained, and interpreted. We were never subject to humiliation or abusive tricks, and we were never harassed with disagreeable tasks.

Meaning and understanding of the Kappa Gamma Fraternity are socially determined that casts light on the examination of the experience to elucidate these concepts, generating many different things. If one is not a full-fledged Kappa Gamma Brother, he cannot have a multiple concept of this prestigious fraternity, period! For me, as the Kappa Gamma Fraternity Merit Key holder, I am proud to be “the Fraternity man,” especially from Gallaudet University.

My baby brother Gerhard (Olgar) and our father George were also initiated as Kappa Gamma Brothers. It was very cultural for us. I first learned about this precious Fraternity when I was young in the middle school at the Maryland School for the Deaf. After I became initiated into the Blue Brotherhood, I confess to have since been “true to Gallaudet.”

Carl is proud to be a Kappa Gamma brother? He's proud of the fact that his Greek fraternity organization at Gallaudet University was caught hazing and suspended numerous times? Even racism was a factor for one of that fraternity suspension? Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma brothers did a Nazi-like salute in a group photo, by which he continues to remain silent about?  Proud of the fact of how Kevin Clark (a former Kappa Gamma pledge who took Gallaudet University and Kappa Gamma to court for hazing) was dumped at a children's hospital in D.C. after sustaining injuries that night of hazing from paddling causing bruising and bleeding to his buttock? Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma never publicly apologized for their past hazing practices to all the past pledges (those who made it or opted out)?  Proud of the fact that Kappa Gamma never publicly apologized for the Nazi-like salute group photo to the public and to president Hurwitz who is Jewish?  That sure is a long list of stuff to be proud of, Carl. Yet you opted to sidestep the issue or keep quiet about it. Quite curious how you avoided the KG Nazi-like group photo in your blogs but didn't mind discussing the paddling aspect of it one month after I did a few KG blog pieces on paddling and hazing, and the KG group photo.

Paddling is paddling and that is part of hazing no matter how much you try and minimize that, Carl. Every time someone sees a paddle hanging proudly on a fraternity wall means that fraternity has not learned anything about paddling and hazing.  Why are you still covering them, and making excuses for them?

From the wise words of a Kappa Sigma brother seen in the 1990 Tower Clock Gallaudet University Yearbook, page 324:

The benefits they had to offer, frankly, were unequaled by any other organization I knew of and the concept of a warm, strong brotherhood that these men had shared caught my fancy.  another valuable plus about them: they don't haze.   Their stand against hazing and the belief that pledging should be any enrichness and education of character rather than abuse and strict "training and re-education" of minds and bodies only served to further reinforce my initial hunch that this fraternity was the one for me.

Carl, you do not need paddling or hazing in order to have a strong brotherhood. A paddle need not be a big part of a fraternity. That kind of mindset is absolutely warped and sickening. Take the example of Kappa Sigma, a Greek fraternity that does not haze. Paddling has never been a part of their tradition. Compare that to Kappa Gamma when their tradition was obviously steeped with paddling. One thing though, do they still hang their KG paddles on their fraternity walls? If paddles still on their walls mean they still secretly embraced their past tradition of hazing.

Carl, the only way to ease your burdensome thought and embarrassment about Kappa Gamma is to be fully honest about the whole thing.  Reach out to those who have been wronged in the past. Minimizing the whole paddling and hazing history and practices is an attempt to hide the real truth of what really went on. The only way to right a wronged history is to be forthcoming about it honestly and truthfully. Only then will Kappa Gamma come out better and brighter in the future.

ASL Dragon Flops

Let's get one thing correct on what I said about Kappa Gamma and PKZ.  

ASL Storytelling Theatre blog claimed that I thought or said that

"the Kappa Gamma Fraternity is a sister organization of the Phil Kappa Zeta Sorority."

 No. I never ever said that or thought that.


What I did say:

"PKZ considers Kappa Gamma fraternity as their "brother" group and Kappa Gamma sees PKZ as their "sister" group...."

Note the quotes. Very important.

The ASL Storytelling Theatre blog is run by Carl Schroeder, a Kappa Gamma brother, of course.

I wonder if he approves of Kappa Gamma doing the Nazi-like salute?

He's strangely silent on that matter.

"Gallaudet Student Alleges Hitlerite Hazing"

Sticky: For those coming in here from ASL Dragon going by on what Carl commented about PKZ go here because I don't mention PKZ in this blog piece. But continue reading below about how KG did the Nazi salute with a picture as proof.  


The title of my blog comes from an article in Legal Times (June 6, 1994, Vol. XVII, No. 3, page 6) entitled "Gallaudet Student Alleges Hitlerite Hazing" discusses the "Fuhrer Furor" regarding a former student who alleged that Gallaudet University tolerated a supposedly neo-Nazi style fraternity environment promoted by Kappa Gamma. In the article, it has a group photo taken during 1989 the 35 Kappa Gamma brothers doing what it appears to be a Nazi-type salute.

The first impression can be a good or bad one. Doing a salute that looks exactly like a Nazi salute is first and foremost a really bad impression, especially in the age of the internet, for Kappa Gamma and Gallaudet University as a whole.

Say it ain't so with a straight face to the American public.

The current president of Gallaudet University is Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz. He became the tenth president of Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010. He also became the first Jewish person to head the institution in its 145-year history. He is also an honorary Kappa Gamma brother in 1983. And he has a big impact on the Kappa Gamma fraternity in his support of it.

President Hurwitz can be seen attending the 2011 Fall Kappa Gamma march in this video here.

The 1994 Legal Times article is a case dissection of Kevin Clark's lawsuit against Gallaudet University for the 1993 hazing claim against them that has caused him to suffer a "post-traumatic stress syndrome." The article also provided an incredible revelation of a defense response from the university's legal officer about the Kappa Gamma group photo doing what appears to be a Nazi-like salute. Michael Levy who was a partner at D.C.'s Freer and McGarry law firm said he was able to obtain,

a 1989 group photograph of the Kappa Gamma fraternity members engaging in what appears to be a Nazi-style salute. Although the picture is almost 5 years old, Levy says, it shows two of the defendants in the suit apparently saluting. Yet Kelly, the university's legal officer, says that Levy has misinterpreted the photo.  

What the picture shows, Kelly says, is a group of fraternity brothers holding their arms erect in "the equivalent of a secret handshake."  

Besides, Kelly says, several of the fraternity brothers are Jewish, and some are African and Asian-Americans. "It doesn't make sense that these students would be idolizing Adolf Hitler," Kelly says.  

Tessier, the Kappa Gamma member, echoes that sentiment, calling the notion that blacks and Jews would join a neo-Nazi fraternity "ridiculous."

Below is a color group photo but have chosen to cover their faces but not their shirts this time. Their shirts clearly show the Greek letters Kappa Gamma.

The galling claim by Mr. Kelly was that the salute is the equivalent of their "secret handshake" just goes beyond credulity. Why on earth have that kind of salute within a fraternity circle? Something that is instantly recognizable by everybody as nothing more than a Nazi salute using the right arm outstretched, above the shoulder with palm open and flat while facing down just like a Nazi soldier would do using the exact same right arm?

If it's like a "secret handshake" and it's not really an issue then I suppose the Kappa Gamma fraternity as a whole, the 1989 fraternity brothers in the photo, Gallaudet University and president Hurwitz wouldn't be embarrassed about it and would without a second thought allow the photo to be publicly displayed in full? Can president Hurwitz accept Mr. Kelly's claim with a straight face while trying to explain to the American public that it's not a Nazi-style salute but the equivalency of some "super-secret handshake" type of thing? Can you even buy that without shaking your head? Would the American public ever buy that? It's not about the fact that Kappa Gamma doesn't idolize Hitler or that it's not a neo-Nazi type fraternity, that makes sense.  The fraternity is clearly not like that. The problem is how the public sees the photo. Would they see the 35 salutes with arms outstretched and not the fraternity brothers' skin color or their last names based on their Jewish, European, African, or Asian-American descent? Would that salute instantly remind people of the horrors of the Holocaust created by the Nazi and Stalinist parties (which one was worst?)? A time during WWII where millions of innocent people from babies, young children, teens, adults, the elderly, and those with various disabilities, even deaf people, were brutally killed in the planned machinery of mass genocide aimed at Jewish and Polish people, and many others. It was all about race supremacy and maintaining the nth generation bloodline of the "purest of the pure."

Perception and having the first impression is everything.

Another revelation in the Legal Times article was the allegation that,

former student alleges he was blindfolded and forced to endure three hours of  taunts, nazi sloganeering, and wild spatial disorientation in a "confined and overheated" portion of a basement in a university building.   Because he is deaf, Clark says in the complaint, being blindfolded meant being deprived of his crucial remaining sensory ability.  That deprivation, he says, combined with the excruciatingly loud screaming from the fraternity members, contributed to his trauma. Levy says that while his client could not actually hear the loud screams, the noises created vibrations distressing to him.

Nazi sloganeering? Exactly what went on in the Kappa Gamma's? Did they force pledges to do the Nazi-like salute to their brother superiors whenever they were around? Did they say "Heil XXXXX" to one of their higher-ranked brothers while saluting him? Was it a requirement to salute to each other or to higher ranking brothers? What did or did not happen in the stuffy Kappa Gamma basement of hell back in those days? Did the Kappa Gamma brothers continue to experience hazing (probably on a much lower scale and intensity) soon after becoming a brother, too? What's more important is whether that sort of nonsense is occurring today despite Kappa Gamma's strong anti-hazing support.

As for blood-curdling screams they were supposedly heard by a hearing student staying in Krug Hall while attending Gallaudet University to major in Sign Language Interpreting. A claim that lends credence to the allegation of "excruciatingly loud screaming" that went on in the basement of the Kappa Gamma fraternity organization. 

In the face of these new revelations of old, how will president Hurwitz, who is of a strong Jewish heritage, and Kappa Gamma's own history of hazing be able to rectify the group picture Nazi-like salute to the American public? Can president Hurwitz explain that with a straight face to the Jewish people everywhere that the salute in the picture is not a Nazi-style salute? Just a type of a "secret handshake." No harm. No foul. Right? Will president Hurwitz continue to align himself with the Kappa Gamma fraternity as an honorary brother knowing their past?  How will Kappa Gamma rectify their past hazing practices on former pledges and those who didn't make it may still be suffering deserve an apology from them? Who will take the lead? President Hurwitz? The leaders of Kappa Gamma, current and past? Who will have the balls and leadership quality to step forward and do the right thing?

Hazing supposedly ended in 1993 the year when Gallaudet University suspended Kappa Gamma for four years for violating the university's strict anti-hazing policy which began in 1909. Although they were suspended in 1990 for hazing violations and again in 1992 due to accusation by a black pledge of racism, supposedly so if that was really indeed the case. Would performing racist acts to a black pledge be considered a form of hazing?  By pre-emptively suspending the fraternity in 1993 Gallaudet University essentially admitted that hazing did in fact take place in 1993, again, before the lawsuit was ever to begin in court.

Perhaps the best chance for a plaintiff, Fioravanti says, is to prove that the university assumed a duty toward its students by attempting to regulate hazing and then did so negligently. In Clark's case, he alleges that the university knew of the fraternity's hazing and had previously barred the group from campus.

The suit was settled out of court before it ever began which scuttled the chance to explain the pledge's horrors he had to endure. Otherwise had the lawsuit gone through the court process more revelations may have been revealed as part of the whole discovery process legally required of Kappa Gamma and the university to divulge for the plaintiff to have. Suspending Kappa Gamma for hazing before the court proceeding had even started was an interesting way of admitting or acknowledging on what took place. It was better for them to settle out of court than not, and maintain the secrecy in an institution run by many Kappa Gamma brothers in high ranking administrative and staff positions. Kevin Clark did the right thing by taking Kappa Gamma to court. He was a courageous man for doing so and helped open the eyes of the public and gave an extra voice to all of the pledges in all fraternities who were afraid to stand up for themselves.

It's time to clean the gutters of the past and make a better and more respectful Kappa Gamma fraternity and Gallaudet University. Sweeping it under the rug will not help. Do something that will inspire and encourage the public and the deaf community.

UPDATE: Video of deaf athletes doing the "Nazi salute".

When a fraternity does the Nazi salute

What would you think or for that matter what would other people think hearing upon about a fraternity who got together with their 35 fraternity brothers at an outdoor retreat to pose in front of a camera and does the unthinkable that no fraternity organization anywhere in the United States would in their right mind do that? What would people say upon seeing a group picture of 35 fraternity brothers wearing their Greek shirts doing the Nazi salute? An insult to the memory of the millions of Holocaust victims who were brutally tortured and murdered in World War II? 

What would you do or say then? Speak up or stay quiet if it was your college's fraternity?

Now, would you even dare imagine a deaf fraternity group doing the Nazi salute for a group picture? What would you think? Before you blurt out, realize that we all make mistakes while young and did stupid things.  That's forgivable. Something that happened years ago while in college. People do change for the better as we grow older and wiser. But what's not forgivable to is try and continue to shove hazing victims under the rug thinking their hazing story will never see the light of day.  Pictures of fraternity brothers doing the Nazi salute along and bloody bottoms of pledges who have undergone intense paddling during Rush week are one thing. But to have pledge hazing victims are another thing whose emotional and psychological scars can last a lifetime just so that the few immature fraternity brothers would feel important.

In bowels of the Kappa Gamma dungeon

I'm not sure where the main lair of the Kappa Gamma (K7) took place as their official headquarter over the years but I'm sure it has moved a few times. I believe College Hall was a previous K7 headquarter. What would be interesting if not shocking is where did some of the hazing take place under the auspice of Kappa Gamma where in two cases the organization got suspended as a result? One "dungeon" would be the Krug Hall basement. If initiation did take place then hearing people living or visiting the dormitory hall would have certainly heard the blood curdling screams and cries emanating from deep below in the basement of Krug Hall.

K7 had (not sure where they are situated now) their headquarter in Krug Hall back in the 80's and there was one hearing student majoring in Interpreting who lived in Krug. I happen to know him very well. He would tell me how he could hear horrible sounds coming from the basement of Krug. This happened often. As a result, he was scared because he knew they knew he was hearing and could hear stuffs. His words: "The screams were blood curdling screams."

Blood curdling screams? Maybe they were screams of pain while pledges got their bottom paddled? Was the basement of Krug Hall the only place of meeting? Maybe they took place in underground tunnels under the campus of Gallaudet University to ensure their cries would be muffled or simply dared K7 to leave their K7 graffiti symbol?

I worked at PPD as Electrician maintenance. I confirm 100% I witnessed and visited all Gallaudet Tunels [sic]. The very most tunel [sic] I used to use was the one connecting MSSD to Gallaudet President's house. The Entrance in MSSD down basement near electrical or gas and heater machine. Another tunnel I secondly used connect MSSD-HMB-SAC. I confirm that I have visited all off the Gallaudet Secrete societies and fratenities organization room located in ELY building. I saw some of the simbole [sic]  from those secretes societies gratified [sic] in the tunnels.

Who knows where these hazing events took place? But their history betrays them that the "dungeon" appears to be their preferred choice. From the 1945 Buff and Blue newspaper:

Kappa Gamma Taps 10 Candidates From out the flaming vortex of the swirling and turbulent river, Styx, looms Kaoosa, the Scourgo of Probation. Unleashing one of the earliest probations in years, the Kappa Gamma Fraternity has surrendered to the stern hands of the Tetrad Terrible Four, eleven untried and trembling candidates for admission into its subterranean and rubicund portals:  

Herman Johnson, '46; Edmund Witczak, '46; Joseph Broz, '48; Carl Barber, '48; Michael Cherniawski, '48; Myron Lee, '48; Darwin Younggren, '48; Gwendel Butler, '49; Mark Carter, '49 and Delbert Erickson, '49.  

Alumni Brethren who desire to pay homage to VISHNU are welcome at any time to view the neophytes as they undergo the trials and tribulations under the drudgery of the Pawheeves, and await the taciturn and austere judgment of SHIV on the terrible DAY OF DAYS. Remember the date and place where, O Beloved Brethren, we are to gambol en masse with those who have successfully defied the tortures of the Underground.

And exactly what did those tortures entail? Who knows? Only the victims and brothers of power know.

What about hazing through the forcing of drugs? Alcohol? Cocaine? Marijuana? Pills? Did drugs play an important role in the hazing process? Does the fraternity atmosphere promote or encourage misogynistic attitudes toward women? Did it ever manifest into the form of rape? Did anyone commit crimes that people in high places were able to protect them from the finality of judicial reviews by escaping punishment with some of their brothers sitting in the seats? Who knows?  There are all kinds of questions about influence and power.

Who knows what happened in the past in the bowels of the Kappa Gamma dungeons? The pledge victims whether they made it through the initiation rites or not will continue to suffer until one day they will have the courage to speak out about the pain and travesty that shames their own organization for their past, cruel transgressions who are unwilling to apologize for what had happened in the past in the bowels of the dungeon of their K7 lair. Sometimes all it takes is for one brave and courageous brother to apologize and the rest will follow.

All it take is just one.

When will the victims get their day? When will they get their dignity back? It may never happen unless somebody stand up for once and all and help end the misery of the past. Not just for one victim's peace of mind but for the many others who are kept silent out of fear may someday see an opportunity.

Why did I blog about Kappa Gamma?

Why did I blog about Kappa Gamma?

For one, it's the despicable hazing and intimidation they have committed in the past and continued even after getting caught a few times for hazing. Did any of them learn anything at all after all those years even after getting caught repeatedly for hazing and getting repeat suspension? Sometimes I doubt that after seeing the number of hazing victims and the number of people that were intimidated in their wake. Although I'm naturally an optimistic person I leave you that with an open mind.

Secondly, the fraternity paddle represents the power to exert physical, mental and emotional abuse on their intended victims. To me, the paddle symbol does not represent brotherly love or respect for their fellow human beings but power. The power to exert control over their "lowly subjects" through physical and mental punishments during initiation rites. The kind of rites that have left lasting scars on many pledges whether they made it through the initiation or not.   Seeing a paddle is really a reminder on who the real bullies are. Why continue hanging proudly the fraternity paddles on the walls? Is that what bullies do when they put their trophies of past victims on their walls?

Thirdly, despite the organization cleaning up their act and publicly supporting a vigorous anti-hazing policy the problem is the number of hazing victims they have left in their wake spanning decades. Kappa Gamma or any of their brothers have refused to publicly apologize for causing physical, mental and emotional pain on their subjects seeing them as less than human beings.

Kappa Sigma is the one fraternity at Gallaudet University that best exemplify the philosophy of brotherly respect and seeing their pledges as true human beings and as equals and not some "lowly scum" subjects who deserve to be hazed and intimidated. That is an example that all fraternities and sororities should strive for without the need to have any kind of hazing, no matter how subtle.

Of course, in any fraternity organization you have your few bad apples who insist on using their influence and power to intimidate and bully other people long after they have graduated and made a name for themselves in the working world. If they think they are safe in their place of power from their own past misdeeds, then they better think twice about that. History has a way of catching up. Yet, they continue to be the bullies they are and set bad examples and name for their own fraternity long after the fraternity has cleaned up its act of no more hazing and acts of intimidation.  It is the fraternity's responsibility to confront their brotherly bullies to clean up their act and stop targeting their victims and other people through intimidation and fear.

You see? This is what hazing creates. For some victims it can create lasting emotional and psychological pain long after the initiation was completed. It is really a fraternity's own fault for creating that kind of an atmosphere that is still being felt today by some of their victims. Even though many fraternities have cleaned up their act and instituted a strong anti-hazing policy stance the problem is the many victims they left in their wake because of their own stupidity and ego.

It's time that brothers and the KG fraternity do a public apology for their intimidation and hazing practices over the years. It is the only way that will help with the healing process between them and their victims whether they are already brothers or former pledges who didn't make it. This would be a true act of unity in action rather than continue with a divisive attitude and acts of intimidation.  In fact, some fraternity brothers have done exactly that by apologizing for their past misdeed and naïve behaviors like this one fraternity brother who wrote an apology letter to all the victims that he helped create simply because he was young and naive:

Yet, if I truly want to be a Revolutionary Man, I have to be ruthlessly honest with myself. I have to own up to mistakes I’ve made, people I’ve pissed off, and most importantly people I either took advantage of or caused unnecessary harm to. Above all, I have to be honest about where I stepped out of my own integrity. This process requires that I leave no stone unturned.

The purpose of this post is to publicly apologize and to own up to three key mistakes I made while I was an undergraduate:

1. I watched and did nothing as others were hazed, knowing inside that it was wrong. 

2. In turn, I betrayed my own integrity and hazed others. I manipulated, misled, shamed, and verbally and emotionally hurt other men.  

3. When I changed my tune and realized hazing was wrong, I “came out” against hazing in a very unskillful fashion.

In college I took part in hazing other men with the aim of unifying each pledge class and “making” pledges active members of my fraternity. A guy had to “earn” his way in, and dammit, I was going to make it hard for him. After all, I reasoned, I went through it, now he has to go through it too. I think the members achieved the desired outcome of unifying the pledge class, but the means with which we did it were plain wrong.

I had many justifications for my behavior. “It’s not really real.” “I didn’t mean the things I said to him.” “It was just a joke, all BS, just for fun.” “If this guy didn’t go through hell week, he’d still be an arrogant asshole. I put him in his place.” “It made him a man” and many, many other such rationalizations.

Not until I became President of the fraternity did I begin to fear the repercussions of my actions. My good friends called me “God squad” to imply that I was abusing my power as I tried to balance old traditions with my new responsibilities. I began to slowly speak out against hazing some, but pretty weakly and was too scared to really stand up.

When I began to work for my fraternity headquarters as a leadership consultant after college, I really changed my tune. There, I heard a man speak by the name of Dave Westol who spoke of the atrocities of hazing. I got it at that speech. This is when I began to piss a lot of folks off: “Who’s the hypocrite telling us what to do?”

Now, years later and with a master’s degree in psychology under my belt, and having studied trauma extensively, I understand the price tag of hazing on the human psyche.

When faced with a threatening situation, we humans respond in one of four ways: Fight, flight, freeze or submit. In college, I witnessed men go through all of these. Men cried, men fought back, men left the fraternity forever, men “took it,” and men just simply shut down—they would get silent for hours, days, and weeks.

I traumatized other men, period. Yes, I was young and naïve, but that is no excuse for immature, hurtful behavior. I was a boy initiating other boys.

Grow a conscious. Grow some gonads. Be revolutionary and apologize to your victims. Show yourselves to be real men by exemplifying what fraternity brothers are really like and that is to show true respect for their fellow human beings whether they are brothers or not. Move away from a boy-like mentality and finally become men with pride and respect.

I support the victims. They have no voice because they were effectively silenced through acts of intimidation by instilling fear in them for even daring to speak up about past transgressions against them.

I am challenging you, Kappa Gamma, to finally do the right thing.

President Hurwitz (a Kappa Gamma brother of the 83rd Congregation who is now the university president of Gallaudet University - he is listed on the KG website as being in the 83rd Congregation and called a brother and never attended Gally as a student but is an honorary brother), do you support the victims or the few wayward brothers who continue to intimidate people into silence? Do you understand the price tag of hazing spanning decades on the human psyche and what it does to the victim's moral and self esteem?  Did you also watched and did nothing? Do you not feel remorse or concerns?  Do you wish to finally unify all of your brothers and past pledges and other past victims of hazing? Do the right thing, president Hurwitz and set an example.

These victims will not be silenced!

Poll: Should Kappa Gamma officially apologize to pledges for past hazing practices?

Here's an online poll. Should the Kappa Gamma fraternity at Gallaudet University officially apologize to all past pledges for hazing them whether they made it into the Kappa Gamma fraternity or not?

feedback surveys

Independent Greek FROGs at Gallaudet University

Back in around 1988 on the campus of Gallaudet University there was this new independent “fraternity” group who called themselves “FROG” with the Greek capital letters phi (F), rho (R), omicron (O), and gamma (G) or (Φ­РОГ ). When finger-spelled it is spelled out as the letter “F,” “R,” “O,” along with an upside down “L” to look like the capital Greek letter “rho” which spells "FROГ." The 1988 yearbook captured an image of a student wearing a FROГ t-shirt as proof that this did happen.

This was a fine and dandy thing except that some of the fraternity Greek members on campus were whining about the fact that FROГ was not a legitimate Greek organization. Either they misunderstood or took offense about the whole FROГ thing was about.  The FROГ idea was the brainstorm of the late Robert Johnson.

Also, he led to set up and organize a short-lived ad hoc organization called FROG to mock the Greek organizations for fun during the Rock Festival weekend and I played some roles in his organization.

While as a student I remember distinctly these complaints by some Greek members and just laughed at the whole idea of them actually complaining about it. The hilarity was over the fact that some of the campus fraternity members actually felt threatened by a group of people wearing FROГ t-shirts and those selling the t-shirts. This so-called "organization" was never meant to be anything else other than a joke. How can it be an organization if it's for independent people who can "join" at any time?  It was all about poking fun at fraternities and sororities during Rock Festival weekends.

The beauty of FROГ was that anybody can join, except, of course, for those who already joined a fraternity or sorority Greek organization, as long as they are legitimately independents. Best of all, no hazing is required to become a member. No need for hazing like the 48 Hour Period sleep deprivation, Goat Night fun, or paddling probation events. Just buy a FROГ t-shirt and, voila, you're a member of the FROГ ad hoc "organization."  You don't have to buy a t-shirt to proclaim your independence but it sure can help.

FROГs accept you for who you are and not about what you are. It doesn't matter if you're athletic or not. It does not matter if you're smart or not. It doesn't matter how good looking you are. It does not matter how well you sign, speak or the ability to hear or not. It doesn't matter if you wear a hearing aid, cochlear implant or not. FROГ or FROG independents do not discriminate, physically harm, harass or mentally abuse.  Buy a FROГ t-shirt day! And say "No!" to any kind of hazing however small or big.