Dishonesty or Truth?

Disingenuousness comes in many forms and this is one of them.

Now, if doing the Nazi-style salute is not an issue at all then I dare the Kappa Gamma of today to do another group photo doing the exact same salute as the Kappa Gamma brothers did back in the 1989.  Go ahead and prove me and to the rest of the people out there wrong.

Here's a close up zoom of a Kappa Gamma group doing the Nazi-style salute seen below . Note the deliberate outstretched arm, palm flat facing toward the front that reminiscences Nazi Germany's own Nazi salute ?  They are certainly not waving, Carl.

In Carl's futile effort to rebut my argument on the fraternity Nazi-style salute he had the audacity to use a picture of MLK waving to the crowd (more pictures here) as being the equivalent of a Nazi salute. Completely laughable. Yet note the palm of MLK's right hand is outstretched while his right arm is bent in a relaxed form but not in an attentive form.  Sorry, Carl, it is not the same thing. MLK wouldn't do such a dumb thing as to mimic a Nazi-style salute knowing full well, with him being a highly educated and wise man, knowing the history behind Nazi Germany. The kind of salute that is a reminder of the Holocaust that Nazi Germany atrociously committed during WWII.

Ok. What about the Pope's own salute? A Nazi style salute?

Nope. Not even close. Note the relaxed arm. The spread the of his fingers or outstretched palm. Nothing is indicative of having an attentive form but a person who is obviously waving at people, humbled by their presence.

Ok. What about Obama?

Nope. Again, just like the Pope. He is in a relaxed pose, outstretched arm with outstretched palm where he is obviously waving to his adoring fans before entering on his Air Force 1 jet like he has done many times.

Hmm. What about a cartoon drawing depicting a Nazi-style salute?

Seriously?

Based on a Roman character during Roman times doing their own kind of salute specific to their own time period that *PRE-DATES* Nazi Germany and WWII? Oh, c'mon! Why so desperate, Carl?

This next drawing suggested by Carl seen below certainly cannot be compared to the Kappa Gamma's 20th century Nazi-style salutes because that salute in the picture scene depicts an era that, again, pre-dates Nazi Germany and WWII by a few thousand years.

The point of this has to do with after the fact when it was Germany who made their Nazi salutes recognizable around the world and is correlated strongly with the history of their atrocious mass killings of several million Jewish people in Europe.   Anybody who attempt to use salute examples that predates Nazi Germany in an effort to rebut an argument about KG's own Nazi-style salute as being warranted and justified is simply missing the point in a totally disingenuous and dishonest way.

But, you know what's funny, Carl?  When you produced a picture seen below in the effort to rebut my argument it has backfired on you. Why? Simply because the young man with the tattoos doing the salute was a 20 year old professional soccer player who did the Nazi salute at a soccer game that got him booted for life.

The Hellenic Football Federation met Sunday in response to the incident and decided to ban the player, who has previously captained the national team in youth competitions. “The player’s action to salute to spectators in a Nazi manner is a severe provocation, insults all the victims of Nazi barbarity and injures the deeply pacifist and human character of the game,” the federation said as Greece marked the 70th anniversary of the deportation of thousands of Greek Jews to Nazi death camps.

Katidis, who initially claimed that he was not saluting but pointing at a friend in the stands, said later that he had no idea what the gesture meant. In an apology issued after the ban, he called his salute “totally unacceptable,” adding, “I feel terrible for those I upset with the stupidity of my act.”

Video and photographs of the incident showed that while several members of the club’s support staff celebrated with the player, others looked disturbed by the gesture, and at least one older man tried to pull his arm down.

Bold emphasis is mine.

The big difference with the 20 year old professional soccer player who did the salute is that he profusely apologized to the public for something that he was not aware of that it was in bad form and an insult to do such a salute. He acknowledged the stupidity of doing that salute. Did the Gamma do that? Nah. Never apologized to the public. Not once. In fact, we got people like Carl to help sweep it under the rug, because, you know, doing Nazi-style salute isn't hurting anyone. Right?

Here's another incident of two girls from a girls basketball team doing the Nazi salute that got them in hot water this year.

Remember, what we have is a *GROUP* photo of KG brothers doing exactly the same Nazi-style salute that took place in 1989, well before the era of the internet. It was a salute that looks exactly like this:

But knowing the history behind the people who did the saluting were the ones who supported and obeyed Hitler and his regime would understand that a Nazi style salute reminds people of this:

And, Carl, since you emigrated from Netherlands to the United States as a little boy and your continued refusal to acknowledge the seriousness of Kappa Gamma's own Nazi-style salute disrespects and insults the memories of those who died at those Holocaust camps, the Netherland Jews who suffered at the hands of German Nazis.

After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, a civil administration was installed under SS auspices. Arthur Seyss-Inquart was appointed Reich Commissar. He presided over a German administration that included many Austrian-born Nazis. They in turn supervised the Dutch civil service. This arrangement was to prove fateful for the Jews of the Netherlands.

During 1940, the German occupation authorities banned Jews from the civil service and required Jews to register the assets of their business enterprises. In January 1941, the German authorities required all Jews to register themselves as Jews. A total of 159,806 persons registered, including 19,561 persons born of mixed marriages. The total included some 25,000 Jewish refugees from the German Reich. A Jewish council was established in February 1941.

The arrests of several hundred young Jews (sent to the Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps) led to a general strike by Dutch workers on February 25, 1941, and a hardening of Nazi policy. The German authorities and their Dutch collaborators segregated Jews from the general Dutch population, and incarcerated 15,000 Jews in German-administered forced-labor camps. The Germans then ordered the concentration of Jews in Amsterdam and sent foreign and stateless Jews to the Westerbork transit camp in the northeast part of the country. Some of the remaining provincial Jews were sent to the Vught camp. As of April 29, 1942, Jews were required to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing.

Deportations of Jews from the Netherlands began in the summer of 1942. The last train left Westerbork for Auschwitz on September 3, 1944. During these two years, the Germans and their Dutch collaborators deported 107,000 Jews, mostly to Auschwitz and Sobibor, where they were murdered. Only 5,200 survived. In addition, 25,000-30,000 Jews went into hiding, assisted by the Dutch underground. Two-thirds of Dutch Jews in hiding managed to survive.

The geography of the Netherlands made escape difficult. The ruthless efficiency of the German administration and the willing cooperation of Dutch administrators and policemen doomed the Jews of the Netherlands. Less than 25 percent of Dutch Jewry survived the Holocaust.

Carl, by sweeping under the rug what your own Kappa Gamma brothers did you manage to disrespect the memory of your own motherland by making light of it. Out of the 107,000 Netherland Jews that were sent to concentration camps, only 5,200 survived. But you insist the KG's salute was nothing.

Carl, you managed to defile the memory of your motherland and your Netherland ancestors in one full sweep by essentially laughing about the KG's Nazi-style salute.

Here are some pictures to make you laugh! We the Kappa Gamma Brothers do have our own salution–a gesture of our own that is as ancient as it is modern! It is an incognito salution–I shall never tell you our secret!

A load of bull, Carl. Completely dishonest and disingenuous regarding this salutation. Just like that young soccer pro at age 20 who did the Nazi salute in full public view, he didn't understand the gravity of doing that.  Others around him were visibly disturbed by his saluting out on the soccer field. He continued to do that even while an older and wise man tried to pull his arm down to get him to stop doing the stupid Nazi-style salute. The young soccer pro was completely clueless and didn't understand the seriousness of doing that Nazi salute. Neither did the group of 35 young, Kappa Gamma men in their early 20s, who didn't understand the folly and seriousness of doing a Nazi-style salute in a group photo, too. Otherwise, if that salute is not a big deal, then I challenge you and all the KG brothers to do another group photo doing the exact same salute that was done in 1989.

But you and your KG brothers will never, ever do that in a million years because you and they KNOW it is not right. You know it is not right to do that in public or in private within the confines of the KG's fraternity walls. Your recent comment is a startling revelation because you appear or seem to imply that this type of Nazi-style salute is done all the time within the confines of the KG's private areas? And that KG brothers are required to do that kind of salute to each other? Just like Hitler's troops and officers who were required to do that back during pre-WWII and during WWII?  Are you saying that KG is still secretly doing that type of Nazi-style salute today??

Utterly unreal, Carl.

Keep digging. Keep going to bat for them, Carl.  I'd would rather see a much better and improved Kappa Gamma fraternity for them to own up to their own history and move forward and finally deserve the respect and recognizance. You're not helping, Carl.

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.

Untold history of DPN, it almost collapsed!

The 7 Ducks (name was given from their first meeting at a duck pin bowling alley) were behind the Deaf President Now rally movement that took place on March 1, 1988.  They were primarily responsible in selecting the "Gallaudet Four" leaders to lead the DPN protest. The 7 Ducks consisted of Gallaudet University alumni were:

- Dwight Benedict (Gallaudet's dean of student affairs),  
- Michael O'Donnell (professor in American Sign Language and Deaf Culture at George Washington University, Washington D.C.),
- Stephen Hlibok, (financial advisor for Merrill Lynch),
- Jeff Rosen (ZVRS general counsel),
-Fred Weiner, (Gallaudet's assistant vice president for administration),
- James Tucker (superintendent of Maryland School for the Deaf-Frederick),
- Paul Singleton (Purple Video Relay Services' director of government and strategic accounts).

What's interesting in this case is that all of them are bonafide Kappa Gamma brothers. No Kappa Sigma brothers. No Alpha Sigma Pi brothers.  No independents. Why is that? Once the DPN protest began the Seven Ducks dissolved and was replaced by the DPN Committee since the protest became a student-driven protest.

One little bit of interesting tidbit of unknown history was that DPN came close to collapsing very early in the protest.  

In the beginning prior to the DPN rally, which began on March 1, 1989 in support of electing a deaf president, the story goes that "Seven Ducks" asked many Gallaudet University students (including Tim Raurus and Greg Hlibok) if any of them would be willing to lead the DPN rally, a potentially sticky job. They all turned it down. The "Seven Ducks" finally approached Jerry Covell to see if he could do the job. Jerry agreed to take up the responsibility since he had nothing to lose.

The rally started with Jerry Covell standing on a large wooden box in front of a TV in the student cafeteria (wooden box was used by students to stand on so they can change the TV channels or use it to stand on to present short speeches or quick announcements). He was able to get the attention of students in the cafeteria with him waving his arms and explain to the students why they should support of the DPN rally.   From the 1994 book "The Deaf Way," Jerry Covell mused over his experience leading up to the DPN protest.

"When our former president, Dr. Lee, decided to resign his position to work for the company of one of the members of the Board of Trustees, we students had never really thought about having a deaf president. Though there was some talk among ourselves, we didn't seriously consider the possibility until December 1987 or January 1988. At that time, a group called "The Ducks" was formed. This was a group of seven or eight men, most from Gallaudet or formerly from  Gallaudet, who were all strong leaders in the deaf community. They decided that it was important, in fact key, to get the students involved in having a deaf president. So in January  they started planning for a rally the following March, March 1st. They asked students to participate, and I agreed.  

I can recall going to the cafeteria to talk to the students, saying that we must have a deaf president. The students said that a deaf person could not be president of the University because the president has to use the phone and deal with Congress. If Gallaudet were to survive, they said, we must have a hearing president: There was no way a deaf person could be president of Gallaudet if the University were to continue.  When I saw that I thought, "can't...." and I wondered. And of course I felt hurt because I thought a deaf person could do the job. So I continued to go to the cafeteria.  

By the way, the reason I went to the cafeteria was that it is the best place on campus to reach a large number of students. The academic buildings are too spread out. The cafeteria is the one place where I could talk to most of the student body. it's the place to share information and ideas. For weeks I talked, and there was a promotion stressing the importance of having a deaf president.  

The rally drew near. The Board of Trustees was considering six candidates for the position of president, three hearing and three deaf. We were ecstatic - three deaf people had made the final cut. So let's say there were ten hearing applicants and five deaf applicants, and the list was narrowed down to three deaf and three hearing finalists. It showed that deaf people could make it that far. It meant we could do more.  

The last week of February, the Board of Trustees announced that there were three finalists for the position, and surprisingly, two of them were deaf. So we all felt fairly sure that there would be a deaf president for the University. It would happen. We were all very sure that we couldn't lose.  

Then came March 1, the day of the rally. Everyone turned out, students, faculty, and staff. No one was in a teaching mood that day. All came to see what would be said. Speakers from all over the country stressed the importance of having a deaf president.  One presenter - I can't remember who it was - said, "This is Gallaudet, a school for deaf people, the only one in the world. Yet in the buildings here the public phones are not accessible to deaf people. You have to go to an office and plead to borrow one- and hope that it's not broken - and search around to find a TTY you can use.  That's outrageous! If we had a deaf president, he would make sure that all the phones in the buildings were accessible to deaf people." 

I'll always remember that day. We had high hopes. We felt positive we would win.  Then on Sunday, March 6th, the shock came. The Board of Trustees announced that Dr. Elisabeth Ann Zinser, a hearing person, had been selected as president of the University. The news came in the form of a press release that read, "Gallaudet University is proud to announce the appointment of the first woman president in the history of the University. 

Now I'll be honest with you. I've got nothing against women. I think highly of women. But Jesus! Why not a deaf president instead of a woman president?  We asked for a deaf president; we never asked for a woman. To make things worse, she was hearing. That was it! We really blew up. The crowd went wild and marched to the Mayflower Hotel, where the Board of Trustees was staying. As soon as we read that paper, we hit the streets.

The four student leaders in the DPN protest weren't the official leaders during the first march to the Mayflower Hotel. Just that Jerry Covell was the only recognized DPN rally leader of which he became the de factor leader in the DPN protest. The selection for official student leaders was done after the fact in order to pool crucial resources from a variety of people and organizations. The four DPN leaders were selected after the first march on March 6, the day of the announcement when Zinser was selected to be the president of Gallaudet University. The ad hoc protest group marched towards the Mayflower Hotel by marching illegally on the streets of Washington D.C. without a permit. In the photo below shows Jerry Covell leading the protest down the street (click on picture to enlarge it).  In the photo below Jerry Covell is in the middle of the front protest line with his horizontal stripped shirt and famous trademarked denim jacket.

Perhaps the reason Greg Hlibok (brother of Nancy Hlibok Amman who is a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister who is also deeply involved in the latest power struggle at the Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind) and others who joined later as leaders of the protest because it was then deemed "safe" to step up seeing the large turn out and the near unanimous support from the deaf community as they rallied around the cause for a deaf president. Tim Raurus was a former SBG President at the time while Greg was the new SBG President for only a few weeks before the protest began. Bridgetta was considered by some people as the "token" female leader not knowing exactly why she was selected. I would surmise that Greg Hlibok or Tim Rarus didn't want to get in trouble with the Gallaudet University administration by getting their hands "dirty" and instead took a "wait-and-see" approach before risking their academic careers.  It was Jerry Covell who actually did the "dirty work" in the beginning to try and get the students' support for DPN rally leading up to that fateful day on March 6, 1988. He took tremendous academic risk for stepping up to become the first leader of the DPN rally. He prevailed. The rest is history.

The four student leaders of DPN appointed for the protest were Greg Hlibok (Kappa Gamma and chief of the Disability Rights Office at the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C), Jim Rarus (Kappa Gamma and senior vice president of sales at ZVRS), Bridgetta Bourne (supervisor of career center and transition services at California School for the Deaf-Fremont), and Jerry Covell (Kappa Sigma  and coordinator of the Interpreter Preparation Program (American Sign Language) at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill).  Jerry Covell was a natural leader of the protest. He had a knack in getting people fired up and was able to get his ideas across using fiery and inspirational words.  The other two male leaders, Greg Hlibok and Tim Rarus, had their own strengths and weaknesses. Bridgetta Bourne was the fourth one installed to help round out the mostly male DPN leaders and put an inspirational female face on the DPN protest.  

Once the leaders were selected the story goes that in the first few days into the protest it almost came to a halt with Jerry Covell threatening to leave the "Gallaudet Four" in the face of some of the DPN Committee members. It was believed his threat to leave had to do with the motives and agenda of Kappa Gamma brothers that Jerry found unpalatable.

The DPN Committee was responsible for the operational functions of the protest such as security, public relations, morale, etc. and consisted of Gallaudet students, alumni, faculty and staff members. Each of the four DPN leaders chose their own group of DPN Committee members. Both Tim Raurus and Greg Hlibok are Kappa Gamma members with Bridgetta Bourne-Firl who is a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister (note: PKZ considers Kappa Gamma fraternity as their "brother" group and Kappa Gamma sees PKZ as their "sister" group who some say they share the same zealotry on power and control, or so they say, and Bridgetta even married to Leslie Trosky Firl who became the Grand Rajah of the Kappa Gamma for the 1987 - 1988 school year). Jerry chose a more diversified group of people in his group. It wasn't long until Jerry's people quickly realized how they were out-leveraged by other people who had their own motives. The potential meltdown of DPN came in the first few days of the protest stemming from fraternity brothers and sorority sisters who wore their own Greek shirts. An effort to increase the visibility and advertisement of their own fraternity and sorority to try and inspire students who may want to join their Greek organization. Jerry knew it was a publicity stunt. Kappa Gamma Greek shirts worn were designed to be used as subliminal messages to the press and community.  Kappa Gamma has an obsession about capturing leadership positions in various organization on Gallaudet campus.

It was the kind action and attitude that disappointed and dismayed Jerry Covell. He threatened to leave the group. Jerry flipped his two birds at the DPN Committee famously captured in a photo seen in Jack Gannon's book "THE WEEK THE WORLD HEARD GALLAUDET" which can be found on the top of page 55 in the book. Jerry was ready to walk out after flipping the birds at the DPN committee which probably occurred on the third day of the DPN protest at a time when there was a lot of media frenzy covering the DPN protest and people were getting national coverage. It must have been one heck of a serious conversation because everybody's face seen in the picture looked serious. This was in a roomful of Kappa Gamma brothers (click on picture to expand) who were a part of the DPN Committee. I'm sure some people will try and deny that the incident ever happened and the real reason why Jerry flipped them off.

Leaving the newly formed "Gallaudet Four" so early into the protest would have undoubtedly put the kibosh on the whole DPN protest and in danger of collapsing had Kappa Gamma brothers and Phi Kappa Zeta sisters insisted on wearing their Greek shirts during the protest period. The protest, as it was explained, was an opportunity for all of the deaf and hard of hearing people at Gallaudet University to come together as one "loud voice," and not about an opportunity to advertise their own fraternity or sorority. The DPN Committee relented and agreed to Covell's demand (or so the story is told). And the rest is history.

Jerry Covell at one time did not belong to any fraternity. He actually tried to join Kappa Gamma and was a Kappa Gamma pledge in his first week of probation. But that didn't last long since he walked out on them. It was said that he was disgusted with what he saw going on inside during the pledging process. He wasn't afraid of Kappa Gamma as you can see with him giving Kappa Gamma brothers who were a part of the DPN Committee the bird. The following year after trying to join Kappa Gamma, he joined Kappa Sigma. At the time of the protest in March of 1988 Covell was the Grand Procurator of Kappa Sigma and in the Fall of 1989 became the Grand Master. One of the big reason why he joined the Kappa Sigma fraternity was because the fraternity never supported hazing from the very beginning. They believe in the simple honor and respect of their fellow human beings. From the 1990 Tower Clock Gallaudet University Yearbook, page 324, on Kappa Sigma:

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.

It was an open secret when it came to which fraternity did the hazing and which did not. But notice the power structure at the time. The Seven Ducks were all Kappa Gamma brothers. Two of the four DPN leaders are Kappa Gamma brothers with the third being a Phi Kappa Zeta sorority sister. PKZ is considered to be the sister Greek organization of Kappa Gamma who share the same ideals as Kappa Gamma.

In the 1989 Gallaudet University yearbook (1988 - 1989 school year) Tim Rarus was like all other Kappa Gamma brothers holding no title other than being a Kappa Gamma brother. In the next following 1989 - 1990 school year after the DPN protest was over and the first deaf president was finally put in place Tim Rarus suddently became the Grand Rajah of Kappa Gamma. Tim never held previously the Kamoos, Tahdheed, Mukhtar, Abbah Tekoth or Abbah Ganesa Kappa Gamma title.  Though not to mean holding a certain title is a pre-requisite to become the Grand Rajah.

The power structure of Kappa Gamma during the mid to late 1980s was a crucial period in gaining the necessary influence within the community of Gallaudet University and the Student Body Government whose elected top SBG officials were mostly Kappa Gamma brothers. All of which coincided with the DPN protest in March of 1988 and the eventual success that sealed their power base, influence and authority. That is until charges of hazing and racism within their organization leading to suspension of their organization multiple times in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the unfortunate Nazi-like salute in the 1989 group photo which shifted more of their influence and respect away from them.

What is interesting is to see the make-up of the Student Body Government during the 1980s and 1990s.  In the 1987/1988 SBG adminstration school year was led by Tim Rarus, president of SBG, and Hector Brual, vice president, who were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time. During the 1988/1989 SBG administration period they had Greg Hlibok, president, and Roger Kraft, vice-presiden, both were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time who just came off of the successful DPN protest several months earlier in March of 1988. For the 1989/1990 SBG Administration year Terry Wilding was the president while Roger Kraft became the vice-president, both were Kappa Gamma brothers at the time. Successive years with Kappa Gamma brothers holding top influential positions. The names and Greek organization can be verified in Gallaudet University's yearbooks.

Here's an example of the SBG make up during the 1987/1988 SBG administration year.

- Tim Rarus, President (Kappa Gamma)
- Hector Brual, Vice-president (Kappa Gamma)
- Debbie Trapani, Assistant to President (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Heidi MacGlaughlin, Assistant to Vice-president
- U. Sung Chung, Special Assistant to President (Kappa Gamma)
- Stevie Gemmil, Secretary to Special Assistant
- Jolene Whaley, Administrative Secretary
- Craig Hanrahan,  Business Manager (Kappa Gamma)
- Paul Rutowski, Assistant Business Manager (Kappa Gamma)
- Jennifer Nasukiewicz, Special Assistant to Business Manager
- William Millios,  Director of Academic Affairs (Kappa Gamma)
- Ted Baldwin, Director of Athletic Affairs
- Jeff Bravin, Director of Public Relations (became a Kappa Gamma the following year post DPN)
- Liz Walker, Director of Student Relations
- Cayetano Adamo, Direct of Student Welfare
- Joe Hartung, Assistant Direct of Student Welfare (Kappa Gamma)
- Colleen Smith, Director of Housing Affairs
- Janet Etkie, Assistant of Housing Affairs
- Tade Cross, Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Missy Kaler, Assistant Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Ginger Smith, Assistant Director of Social & Cultural Affairs
- Debbie Burnaman, Director of Student Media
- Mary Chimelak, Assistant Director of Student Media
- Jennifer Cooper, Publicity Director
- Andrew Byrne, Proofreader
- Menchu Sanchez, Typist
- Christine Beckwith, Chief Justice (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Terry Wilding, Student Congress Speaker (Kappa Gamma)
- Christine Ehrlich, Student Congress Vice-Speaker (Phi Kappa Zeta)
- Maureen Behrens, Student Congress Secretary
- Petra Horn, Parliamentarian
- Mario Hernadez, Sargeant-at-Arms
- Carl Schroeder, Advisor (Kappa Gamma )

As you can see in this example most of the males in the SBG were Kappa Gamma brothers holding top positions of influence and power. A pattern repeated throughout the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s. Much of these power and influence have gone beyond the confines of Gallaudet University into the field of education, technology, and social politics.  That's another story, another time.

Now you know the interesting and yet unknown part of DPN history and the important role Kappa Gamma played in. Not to mention Jerry Covell's courage in helping set the DPN path in the right direction.

Video: Deaf Athletes doing the Nazi Salute at Summer Deaf Olympic Games

Here's a shocking video with picture stills (see below) of deaf athletes parading around on the White City Olympic stadia oval track doing the Nazi salute at the Summer Deaf Olympic Games or known as the International Games for the Deaf  at White City, London in 1935. Twelve countries and 221 deaf athletes participated in that event. One picture still from the video you can clearly see a deaf team from Great Britain doing the Nazi salute. Of course, the deaf German team was expected to do the Nazi salute while flying their Nazi Germany's Swastika flag. It's a grim look into the past seeing deaf non-German athletes "forced" to do the Nazi salute not knowing in a few years many of their deaf brethens in other countries and deaf Jews would be persecuted and/or exterminated during the horrors of WWII Holocaust by Nazi Germany.

Click here for video

How ironic on finding this video while the Deaflympic Games is taking place presently in Sofia, Bulgaria, too.

Click here for video

 

 

It's no fun seeing deaf people running around mimicking the Nazi-like salute whether intentional or not just like what the 35 brothers of Kappa Gamma of Gallaudet University did in a 1989 group photo shot.

It's quite shocking that in 1989 Kappa Gamma brothers did not have enough intelligence to not incorporate their Nazi-like salute into their fraternity claiming it to be a type of a "secret handshake." This is a salute which can only be construed, as anybody would, as nothing but a Nazi-salute. There is no excuse for what Kappa Gamma brothers did when you factor in the horror and history of the Holocaust in WWII. And by saying that let's take a closer look at the history of 1935 Deaf Olympics and what the Holocaust did on deaf Jews in Germany.

We need research taking a look at what was going on with the so-called Deaf Olympics. There were international games for the deaf in Stockholm throughout the 1920s but in particular in 1935, and then in 1939 after there was almost a boycott of the regular Olympics in 1936, yet deaf people throughout the world participated in the Olympics in Stockholm. And of course, the Germans sent a team. There were no Jews, there were no Jews on the team but there was a team that went to the games in Stockholm, and of course, as you can imagine, the Germans won the most medals.  

I apologize to the interpreters, that was a long aside.  

If it’s difficult to determine precise figures for the number of deaf people the Nazis sterilized, as Dr. Heberer indicated, it is impossible to know exactly how many deaf people were murdered in the T-4 program. As she mentioned some of the records of this operation were destroyed, but even if there were complete documentation, gleaning the number of deaf victims from the files would be a delicate operation. Deaf people were never officially designated as subjects in the Euthanasia Pro... project, yet we know from Friedlander and Biesold that deaf infants, children, and adults were murdered in the asylums. Some were surely misdiagnosed as schizophrenic, cognitively disabled, sometimes as a result of staff failure to properly communicate with deaf people in sign language or in appropriate written German, and sometimes as the tragic result of societal prejudice about the intelligence of anyone who is deaf. When we recall that a patient’s dossier from an asylum often received only a cursory glance from the doctor, who could sign a death warrant, it’s clear that the diagnoses were often meaningless. Perhaps only a painstaking examination of extant hospital and asylum files, records from schools for the deaf, and the state-run killing centers will elucidate the treatment of deaf people in the T-4 program. The fate of deaf Jews in Germany, in Nazi-occupied Europe, is a story of tragic discrimination and heroic survival. There were very few deaf Jewish survivors from Germany.

Regardless, the Holocaust is a known history that took place during WWII where 5 to 6 million people were murdered in extermination Nazi camps. What might be surprising with the group photo circulating the internet is that the current president of Gallaudet University is a deaf Jewish person with a strong Jewish heritage. In fact, president Hurwitz became the first deaf Jewish person to become president of Gallaudet University in its 145 year history. Also, in 1983 he was awarded as an honorary Kappa Gamma brother by Kappa Gamma. How will president Hurwitz and Kappa Gamma's own history of hazing where the Greek fraternity was suspended three times in 1980s and 1990s be able to rectify the Nazi salute photo to the American public? Can president Hurwitz explain away with a straight face to deaf Jewish people everywhere that the Kappa Gamma salute in the group photo is not a Nazi-style salute? But merely a type of a "secret handshake?" Will president Hurwitz continue to align himself with the Kappa Gamma fraternity as an honorary Kappa Gamma brother knowing their hazing past and their Nazi-like salute taken 1989 while continuing to attend Kappa Gamma's annual Grand March seen in this video here? 

How will Kappa Gamma and president Hurwitz of Gallaudet University rectify these problems that have come to light recently? Why would anyone want to join a fraternity who have refused to publicly apologize for their past behaviors and hazing practices on former pledges and who may still be suffering mentally and emotionally? Who will take the lead to rectify these past mistakes? President Hurwitz? The leaders of Kappa Gamma, current and past?

Keeping quiet is not the answer.

Who will have the balls and leadership to step forward and do the right thing?  Why continue to ignore the whole Nazi salute snafu as if nothing happened, president Hurwitz? I'm sure the Jewish Deaf community and the deaf community as a whole would like know. Why continue to ignore the past persecution and murder against deaf people by Nazi Germany? Why continue the association with Kappa Gamma if they are unwilling to publicly apologize for their past hazing transgressions against deaf pledges and their careless indifference about the Holocaust history by doing the Nazi salute while their official Kappa Gamma robes are the blue hooded garments with human skulls on them?

Simon J. Carmel’s lecture, “Silent No More: Testimonies of Deaf Holocaust Survivors” related the unheard stories of the persecuted deaf Jewish during World War II.

What would deaf Holocaust survivors say to you, president Hurwitz? Kappa Gamma? Will you honor the memories of deaf Holocaust survivors and those who never made it out alive in WWII?

President Hurwitz, it's time to be "silent no more" and help preserve the institution's integrity, the Deaf Jewish community relationship and make a stronger and more respectful fraternity organization. It's time to be on the victim's side of history and do the ultimate mea culpa in public.

They are waiting.

UPDATE: What I have should have done was put into a pre-Nazi historical context with the salute. Prior to 1942 the Nazi-like salute was actually done in the United States as part of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. This was called the Bellamy Salute, something that I discussed in an earlier blog in reference to the 1989 group photo.  "It was actually the official American salute (in the Pledge of Allegiance) and then it became the official Olympic salute before it became the gesture of German socialism (see the new book "Pledge of Allegiance + Swastika Secrets" by Ian Tinny explaining the work of the historian Dr. Rex Curry). The Pledge of Allegiance was the origin of the Nazi salute and Nazi behavior. So, at the old olympic games there were more than just Germans doing the gesture. and the 1989 youngsters might have known more about the gestures roots in the USA and in the Olympics then those around them." Hat tip - Daniel Ruth. 

Yet, it is still a shocking vid seeing them doing a Nazi-like salute even though that salute was invented around 1892 but 7 years later in 1942 Congress out of act of embarrassment and preservation out of the fact that Nazi Germany stole the United States' salute changed their salute to hand over the heart whenever we do the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. 

"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".

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!

Special Edition: Hazing History of Kappa Gamma

Do Greek organizations ignore their own history of hazing, especially the paddling part?  It doesn't help when paddles are proudly displayed on the walls inside the lair of a fraternity house.  Seeing a paddle hanging on a wall is a stark reminder of past physical abuse that have produced many bloodied and bruised buttocks in the name of "brotherhood" pledging process. You might ask yourself why someone is willing to sell their own original, vintage wooden pledge paddles on eBay? Embarrassed to have one around knowing its dark, secret history?

Kappa Gamma's history is filled with getting caught for hazing but did they ever step up to the plate and apologized to all the pre-pledges, pledges and current members for the physical and mental abuse in the past? Maybe it's high time that they collectively as a group or least somebody with the balls to step forward and do their "mea culpas" acknowledging the errors of the organization's hazing past onto others and publicly apologize on the campus of Gallaudet University for their organization's past misdeeds? Like a publicly apology on the campus of Gallaudet University from current president of Gallaudet University Dr. Hurwitz who is the 83rd Congregation Kappa Gamma brother as a start? Not all members, pledges or pre-pledges made it through completely unscathed. Some may still carry emotional, physical and/or mental scars as a result.

Paddling is one of the oldest traditions in Greek organizations, and was adopted by many Black Greek organizations. Although receiving a swift whack to the backside with a wooden paddle may seem harmless, it is possibly the most dangerous ritual. Paddling can cause blood-clots, kidney damage, blood in urine, Rhabdomyolysis, and death in many cases when symptoms go unnoticed.

 

It's not just the mere paddling with a couple of easy whacks. It's the handling of a paddle wielding it like a baseball bat and exacting the full force of contact squarely on the buttock turning it red, purple and blue. The goal is to injure and humiliate.

Source

Paddling victims could receive severe injuries on their buttocks looking like this here.

Anytime you see paddles hanging on the walls of a sorority or fraternity house means they are proud of their paddling and hazing history. Why else would they display them in the first place? A paddle represents physical, mental and emotional abuse. Hazing manifest into a gang-like mentality by members in the effort to weed out the so-called "weaker" ones through physical and mental abuse in the pledging process.

Hazing comes in all shapes and sizes in terms of subtlety and obviousness with paddling being the very obvious kind of hazing exercise which is a no-no in fraternities nowadays. But it still continues elsewhere. However, there is one international fraternity on the campus of Gallaudet University, the Kappa Sigma, who believe in the simple honor and respect of their fellow human beings. From 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.

Whoever wrote that hit the nail on the head. But a question must be asked. Is hazing, however subtle, still continuing somewhere in the dark recesses of the Kappa Gamma's building (or any fraternity for that matter) in their super-secret effort to somehow stay connected with their long tradition of hazing going back to perhaps the early 1900s?  According to Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking the possibility of some level of hazing may still be continuing out of habit and connection to their own history which I hope that this is not the case for Kappa Gamma at this point.  

School administrators also find it hard to halt the actions of alumni who haze (or who encourage undergraduates to haze), because penalties such as school suspension that deter students are no threat to alums. Another problem is the unevenness of enforcement across schools. In particular, many noncriminal pledge activities (wearing "dinks" or beanies, silly clothing, or pledge pins; getting members to wear undergarments; lining up without being subjected to verbal or physical abuse) are considered hazing by authorities at one institution, while the same actions are tolerated at another. Yearbooks at Gallaudet University in the '80s and early '90s carried pictures of student club members being hazed, for example, and these "harmless" initiations were vigorously defended by some Greeks. After the ex-wife of a Kappa Gamma fraternity pledge sent photographs of her ex-husband's bruised buttocks to the author and to Chuck's Eilen Stevens, Kappa Gamma officers Brian A. Bippus and Paul R. Rutowski defended their hazing activities performed behind closed doors on the Washington D.C. campus of Gallaudet.  

"Our paddling was based purely on a voluntary basis, and it was always done with a purpose. Paddling is a common practice among fraternities and sororities, as well as secret societies across the nation....We are not in this alone." 

We are not in this alone?? What a great excuse to paddle! Like lemmings following other lemmings over a cliff using their own warped justification to physically, mentally, and emotionally abuse pledges with their elongated wooden paddles.

Stevens wants all schools to ban "harmless" activities that involve the dominance of a group over non-members who wish to belong. If you allow objectionable pre-initiation rituals, you increase the odds that a tragedy will eventually occur, she said. Talking to thousands of students and parents a an activist and speaker on the college circuit has convinced her that all hazing practices enslave the hazed and hazers alike.   In a 1997 telephone interview, she said that hazing creates what is tantamount to a caste system at schools dedicated to ensuring equality for all. Hazing occurs when a group perceived to have power over a new comer requires someone to do any of the following:

*engage in servitude, run errands, and perform so-called favors
*participate in intimidation; use derogatory terms to refer to pledges; terrorize; use verbal abuse or create a hostile environment
*engage in acts of degradation such as required nudity, partial stripping, rules forbidding bathing, and games played while someone is in a state of undress
*engage in rough rituals involving physical force, paddling, electric shocks, beatings, calisthenics, and sexually demeaning behavior.

The list continues on for another page.

Here's a quote to remember from a piece called, "What is a 'Real Man?' ":

"Men belonging to a fraternity live at the contested border and boundary between acceptance and rejection."





In a 1993 People magazine article "Their Brothers' Keepers?" it referred to one incident at Gallaudet University of a pledge who experienced extreme hazing.

The punishment was both tedious and cruel. Last February members of the Kappa Gamma fraternity at Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf in Washington, D.C., reportedly ordered pledge Kevin Clark to stand in a meeting room for several hours without moving. Eventually Clark collapsed and was rushed unconscious to a hospital. He later recovered from head injuries allegedly incurred during his fall, and university officials suspended the fraternity for four years. Such pointless brutality is not unique to Gallaudet. Though colleges have tried to crack down on fraternity hazing in recent years, degrading and sometimes racist initiation activities are still common, In many schools hazing has gone underground, where it is more likely to be abusive," says Eileen Stevens, 52, who founded the Committee to Halt Useless College Killings after her son Chuck, 20, died of alcohol poisoning in a 1978 hazing incident at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y. A few students have broken the code of silence and offer a glimpse of this dangerous and demeaning rite of passage.

Let me expand about the Kevin Clark hazing incident and how he successfully sued.  In the 1993 People magazine article "Their Brothers' Keepers?" the incident that Kevin Clark experienced was never fully explained. During the pledging probation Kevin Clark was made to stand for several hours under the auspices of Kappa Gamma which caused him to faint and collapse on the floor or so the story goes.  He was rushed to a hospital but my according to my inside sources he was taken to a children's hospital instead and was hastily dropped off at the emergency entrance like a wet rag doll before taking off into the dark of the night.  This could be the case since I suspect in their panic they thought the children's hospital was the closest hospital which is approximately 2.9 miles away from Gallaudet University even though Howard University Hospital was only 1.9 miles away and much closer. It wasn't just that incident that helped win the suit (settled out of court) but pictures of severely bruised and bloodied buttocks and other documented items that helped sealed the indictment against Kappa Gamma.  The Greek organization eventually got suspended for hazing.

In 2006 another pre-pledge incident (pre-pledges are those who go through the interviewing process first before becoming a pledge) experienced the type of hazing described below has been actually corroborated by others who experienced the same thing:

I did not appreciate KG for its antics back then. When they wanted to interview me, they put me in a room blindfolded and made me stay seated for a long time...then they opened the blindfold and I was shocked to find their swords aimed at my eyeballs.

That was a shock test to see if these pre-pledges or interviewees were willing to go through the actual hazing pledge process and that they have the mettle and the "courage" to continue.  Blindfolded in a seating and/or standing arrangement lasted anywhere from less than a few hours to several hours long according to a variety of accounts. The more well known the student is on campus the less standing or sitting he will experience. If a particular student is not "well known" on campus the longer he will stand or sit while blindfolded.  This is believed to have been a common practice by practicing certain favoritism in turn for a lesser "sentence" when it came to hazing their own well known pledges.

According to one commenter in the 2006 Washington Post article he or she talked about how  president I. King Jordan was ceremoniously paddled by a Kappa Gamma brother to become an honorary member of Kappa Gamma after he became president of Gallaudet University.

Many members of this fraternity work at Gallaudet as faculty and staff. Even I. King Jordan was paddled in as an honorary member after he became president. Of course, they were thrilled when two of their own made it to the final three of the presidential selection process, but dismayed when a woman was selected. 

If so then that would be a rare acknowledgement by a university president in 1988 that paddling pledges was seen as an acceptable hazing practice on the campus of Gallaudet University during those days. I was told that there is a picture of president I. King. Jordan posing while he was ceremoniously getting "paddled" after he became president of Gallaudet University.

History is replete with references to hazing in the old days of Kappa Gamma back in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s seen in the old Buff and Blue archived news letters but how hazing was done and the severity, if any, is subject to discussion.

As is the custom, hazing continues to be the chief interest at the present time. Painting the preps with lip-stick, making them propose to fair damsels of Fowler Hall are only two of the many situations affronting these new students. A common sight is that of an upperclassman explaining the tradition of our noted "coffin door" in forceful and authoritive language and what would result should that certain Prep chance to walk through it. It seems that at the rate they are going, the Freshmen, who were Preps themselves only yesterday, had spent their summer vacation not working in defense plants, but in thinking up new ways with which to make the life of the lowly Prep "miserable." Contrary as it may seem, the new students are apparently enjoying every bit of their hazing. The question, then, is, are the Freshmen dealing out the usual castor oil, or have they changed to honey? The Buff and Blue (newspaper), Vol. 53, no. 1 (October 27, 1944)

Pledges actually enjoyed their own hazings when upperclassman figured out ways to make them feel miserable? Pledges enjoyed that?

Right.

But the question is how extreme were these hazings back in the older days compared to 1980s and 1990s? I'm sure that might be a surprising find.

From an interview in the Buff and Blue about KG during the late 1940s:

I have to say that the best memory for me was the Kappa Gamma Fraternity days. The whole experience really did it for me. It was the pledge process, the four weeks, the “torture period,” [this was before anti-hazing policies existed].

Torture Period? What exactly was hazing like back in the 1940s and 1950s compared to what was documented in the 1990s onward?  More references to freshman hazing from the 1960s, 

Another question, why did it take nearly 80 years before Kappa Gamma was caught hazing and the organization suspended as a result? How come Gallaudet University president Dr. Hurwitz, and prior president Dr. Davila, who are both KG brothers (honorary)? Why did that take place?

Even as recent as the 106th Congregation at the March 3rd, 2005 Kappa Gamma Fraternity Trivia Bowl there is a Powerpoint slide acknowledging with pride proclaiming that the worst paddling incidents occurred during Kappa Gamma's 55th, 81st, and 83rd Congregations (1955, 1981, and 1983) as seen on slide number 65. Incidentally interesting is that the current president of Gallaudet University, Dr. Alan Hurwitz who is a Kappa Gamma honorary brother per the Kappa Gamma website entitled, "Brother Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz, 83rd Congregation." 83rd Congregation and he wants to carry that title?

Slide #76 ask the question on what happened in 1981,

"Why did the 81st Congregation  go through one of the worst probations (if you were a part of that Congregation, you chicken-shits would've died after the first Hell Round!)?"

And the answer was,

"Brother Fear of the T-4 had previously been Brother Death and so he whacked the suppliants as Death. The other T-4 members were forced to whack harder than him, which meant the suppliants were receiving Hell Rounds each time they were whacked." 

Of course, all this means they were paddled mercilessly. The next slide confirms that.

Slide #78,

"How many bloody asses were there in the 81st Congregation?"

Answer:

"13 Bloody Asses." 

Which confirms that some of the paddlings were so severe it caused the pledges' buttocks to turn purple and bloody.  We can only imagine how pledges must have felt when they had to endure one of the worst paddling incidents in the 83rd Congregation with a bloody buttock. Imagine the stain on their underwear and I don't mean skid marks.

On slide #82 a trivia question on when Kappa Gamma received their first suspension and what was the cause of suspension. The first suspension was in 1990 when Kappa Gamma was found guilty of paddling the 90th congregation (slide #83).

Kappa Gamma was suspended the second time in 1992 on accusations of "racism" (slide #85) by a black pledge when one of the Kappa Gamma brothers attempted to act like a "black brotha" using exaggerated, offensive mannerisms of a black person. Yo! Dig me? Wha'sup? Instead of calling it like it was supposed to be, a hazing incident, it appears that this was a cover up and was called it as a racism incident instead.

On slide #86 it asks the question who was the pledge (de-emphasizing the word "pledge" in extremely small font as their way of insulting the person soon to be announced in the next slide) that started the suspension proceedings of Kappa Gamma from 1993 to 1997. Slide #87 with the answer "Kevin Clark" in a font so small you'd have to zoom in close enough just to see his name. On slide #108 it ask a trivia question to list as many probation events with slide #109 listing about 70 events such as the "48 Hour Period," "Goat Night," (which reminds me of the movie Revenge of the Nerds with the goat scene and some condoms for the pledges) and so on.  The list of probation events ends menacingly with "Z-4, (your asses will be sorry!!)" which sounds very much like a paddling expectation despite Gallaudet University's strict policy on hazing.

In my opinion, there were three incidents where Kappa Gamma got caught hazing rather than just two. History has shown repeated references to hazing attempts and how the organization was caught multiple times for hazing suggest the need to repeat such a pattern. Let's hope not.

But here's a good thing. Kappa Gamma no longer supports hazing in any form.

          What is the Kappa Gamma Fraternity’s stance on hazing?

The Kappa Gamma Fraternity follows and respects the Gallaudet University Hazing Policy and abides it fully. Fraternal growth should be facilitated through positive encouragement and instruction of intellectual lessons that strengthens the whole soul, not through hazing.

If that's true perhaps then it's time to burn those old wooden paddles hanging on their walls which graphically represents their hazing history of emotional, mental and physical abuse and apologize to past pledges (especially those that didn't make it), pre-pledges/interviewees and even some of their own ostracized brothers for their hazing past on them who still feel the pain today.

Current and past Kappa Gamma leaders and brothers ought to stand up and make a public major mea culpa announcement and officially apologize to all of the people they have harmed through their antics, intimidation tactics, and hazings that could have caused physical, emotional, and/or mental pain.  They should be at least show remorse and concern over their own Kappa Gamma's past extreme hazing instead of glorifying KG paddles hanging on their walls.

A public apology is in order.

This is the only way to get a clean slate as a fraternity with a new face and mission of no more hazing. Choosing to stay silent and not apologize disrespect those who continue to carry physical, emotional and/or mental scars.  Current Gallaudet University president Dr. Hurwitz need to step up and apologize on behalf all those who cannot or unwilling to apologize to those who have suffered in their hazing experiences under the auspices of Kappa Gamma. Not apologizing means the leaders (current and past) and brothers of Kappa Gamma are not serious about moving forward and be the bigger man. Another former Gallaudet University president, Dr. Robert Davila, is also an honorary Kappa Gamma brother, could also join along with president Dr. Hurwitz and do a joint public announcement on the campus of Gallaudet University along with many of their brothers and make a public apology asking for forgiveness. Doing that will give those who were harmed by their hazing activities the chance to forgive them for their years and years of hazing.

But will they ever come clean?

My poll results suggest that people want to hear from Kappa Gamma leaders (past and present) and brothers to publicly apologize for their Kappa Gamma's sordid hazing past for the physical, mental and even psychological harm they have caused to pre-pledges (interviewees), pledges, and brothers and those who are currently ostracized for whatever reason. It is simply not enough to have a statement on their Kappa Gamma website saying that they support Gallaudet University's anti-hazing policy. A public apology is in order.

What's more, having a statement of supporting no hazing while paddles continue to hang on the walls of their fraternity house shows total hypocrisy in light of their now anti-hazing approach in line with that of Gallaudet University's anti-hazing policy. A paddle hanging on a wall represent emotional, mental and physical abuse. Those paddles in any fraternity hanging on a wall represents a shameful history that need to go into the dust bins.

Here's a last interesting tidbit about the "H.O.S.S." It stands for "Honorary Order of Secret Society. Some say it means "Honorable Order of Silent Surds."  H.O.S.S. was an early Greek organization at Gallaudet University that was founded in 1864 and disbanded in 1894 when the Gallaudet administration discovered that the dues of H.O.S.S. were used to purchase wine.  Later the same group renamed their new fraternity in 1894 as the Xi Phi Sigma fraternity. It lasted until 1900 before it was disbanded again because the XPS fraternity refused to have a faculty supervise their probation activities (i.e. hazing). That same group finally formed an independent fraternity called Kappa Gamma in 1901.

And what about "H.O.S.S."?  Did you ever see the scene in one of the Harry Potter movies where Harry Potter with the rest of the Gryffindor members utters a password, "Fortuna Major," to the Fat Lady in order to get inside of their own secret society within the walls of Gryffindor Tower?




Yeah?

Whatever the case, I think it's time that current and past Kappa Gamma leaders and brothers ought to own up and make a statement by publicly apologizing to all those who have suffered under their hazing practices. Only then will the healing actually begin.  It takes a much bigger man to admit their own mistakes and feel bad about what they did in the past and the mistakes of their own fraternity organization. It takes a very big man to admit that and go forward for the better of all brothers and the fraternity itself.

I feel that the Kappa Gamma fraternity is still great and honorable fraternity that means good but only if they do the right thing. It's the few wayward brothers who got drunk with power and those who followed their instructions without questions are the ones that sullied the name of the Kappa Gamma fraternity organization. They are the ones who have harmed some of the pledges and past brothers with their hazing antics and physical abuse. But as an organization itself the fault lies in more ways than one.

It's time, KG. Stop stalling and do the right thing, and be a man for once. Recognize your brothers, past pledges who didn't make it, and pre-pledges as human beings. They deserve more than your century long silence on past hazing practices.

UPDATE: Why did I blog about Kappa Gamma?

UPDATE II: Why is Hurwitz listed on the KG website as being in the 83rd Congregation and called a brother and never attended Gallaudet University as a student? Is he an honorary brother? Yes. The website does not mention the honorary title which is a mistake on the KG part. The 83rd Congregation and the date of his birth would make him about 41 or 42 years old at the time. Yet, the 83rd Congregation carries the distinction as having experienced one of the worst paddling incidents. See previous blog on that one.  And if he's an honorary meaning he never went through that terrible hazing incident which is good. But bad to carry the 83rd Congregation title as an honorary brother.