Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking [Paperback]

Hank Nuwer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

"A grim... exposé by hazing expert Nuwer of the continuing yet largely unacknowledged crisis of death and injury among fraternity and sorority pledges.... [F]or its sustained examination of these rarely questioned traditions, Nuwer's work is invaluable." —Kirkus Reviews

What forces young men and women to accept inhuman and degrading rituals in order to belong to a social club, sorority, or fraternity? Why do college administrators and Greek fraternities and sororities continue to allow practices that risk death or permanent psychological damage? Hank Nuwer confronts these questions in this hard-hitting, heartfelt look at the dark side of college fraternal life, newly updated for this paperback edition. Nuwer takes a broad look at the problem, examining its fundamental legal and historical roots and describing many instances of abuse and criminal behavior. A moving chronology lists the names of students who have died as a result of hazing activities in the U.S. from 1838 to 2001. The book concludes with Nuwer's recommendations for reform.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Furthering the work he started with Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing (LJ 11/15/90), Nuwer continues telling the stories of those injured and killed by fraternity rituals, including beatings, mental abuse, overwhelming physical exercise, and the forced consumption of alcohol, food, and other substances. Nuwer studies the history of hazing in fraternities and other secret societies as well as efforts to stop it. He argues that we need to control the Greek system but also non-Greek organizations that employ similar, sometimes deadly, hazing practices. Nuwer suggests how to remove hazing from campuses and to crack down on offenders. Extremely well researched, with lots of interviews with victims of hazing and the parents of those who have died, this book belongs not only in all academic libraries but also in the offices of student activity coordinators throughout the United States. Public libraries may wish to obtain it as well.ADanna C. Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A grim, comprehensive (some might say turgid) expose, by hazing expert Nuwer (Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, 1990, etc.), of the continuing yet largely unacknowledged crisis of death and injury among fraternity and sorority pledges. The book usefully provides a solid overview of the cherished Greek customs and demands that have encouraged widespread hazing, as well as a depressing litany of recent deaths at prestigious universities such as Auburn University, University of Texas, University of Maryland, MIT, and Rutgers. The majority of incidents involve coerced drinking, a phenomenon that evinces an astonishing callousness towards the dangers of alcohol abuse among upper-class brothers who are rarely held accountable. Nuwer also sheds light on such ugly practices as the extreme violence practiced by some African-American frats (often unauthorized chapters) on their pledges, and rituals of branding or extraordinary humiliation which some outwardly prim, elite sororities pursue. Nuwer demonstrates the institutional responses to these incidents to be usually inadequate, centered more on spin than safety, and foolishly deferential to the overwhelmingly middle-class or affluent student-perpetrators. (The appendix, a detailed chronology of incidents showing these deaths skyrocketing from 1975 onward, is truly shocking.) Nuwer is authoritative and insightful on this subject; he even provides fascinating encapsulations of hazings roots in the 19th century and previously, and of the relatively innocent stunts of pre-1960 fraternal life. Unfortunately, the writing veers from tightly professional to mawkish, with detours into softened academese, which will make his book hard going for the suburban readers whose privileged children are, in fact, his sad subjects. Nuwer also undermines his examination by equating every bout of verbal abuse or brick-holding marathon with the worst excesses of compulsive drinking, violence, and degradation. Still, this makes clear that a good number of easily led youngsters incur grave risks in the supposedly supportive, fun environment of collegiate Greek life, and for its sustained examination of these rarely questioned traditions, Nuwers work is invaluable. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 025321498X
• ISBN-13: 978-0253214980
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #653,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

National Award Renamed for Franklin College Professor

FRANKLIN, IND. - A national organization focused on hazing prevention and intervention has renamed its prestigious annual awards program in honor of Franklin College associate professor of journalism Hank Nuwer.

HazingPrevention.Org recently presented the "Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Hero Award" in 2011. The award recognizes up to five individuals, ranging from students, educators, social fraternity advisers, coaches and researchers, for extraordinary effort or accomplishment in the task of standing up to the dangerous and often illegal practice of hazing.

Nuwer's involvement as a social critic and journalist targeting hazing abuses began in 1978 when he wrote about the behavioral aspects of hazing in an essay for Human Behavior magazine. Nuwer has since made hazing education, prevention and intervention a significant part of his life's work.

"One death from hazing diminishes us all as a culture," said Nuwer. "For me as a journalist I saw the grief parents felt when a son or daughter died so tragically and unnecessarily.

"I saw how the lives of hazers were forever ruined, knowing every day of their own lives there was one who walked amongst them who would never graduate, never have a child, never have the opportunities he or she was meant to happen. And then there are the colleges and the Greek groups or athletic teams who will always bear the stigma of having a death from hazing that they somehow failed to prohibit.

"I simply feel that my work gives a voice to the voiceless, all those who died from hazing who cannot tell readers how easily their demise might have been prevented."

Nuwer has written numerous articles and four books on hazing, including the groundbreaking 1990 book Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing . His other hazing books are High School Hazing (Scholastic), Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader (Indiana University Press). He's written several books on the craft of writing, including To the Young Writer.

In 2006, the State University of New York awarded Nuwer an honorary doctorate to recognize his scholarly work in the area of hazing prevention. Author Michael Kimmel's 2008 best-selling book Guyland cited Nuwer as "a virtual one-man crusade to eliminate hazing" for more than 30 years. A frequent commentator on TV, Nuwer's appearances include the Today Show with Matt Lauer and CNN with Anderson Cooper. Nuwer also is a nationally-known speaker who has lectured at more than 120 campuses, including Dartmouth, the University of Michigan, Penn State and Syracuse University.

Nuwer serves on the board of HazingPrevention.Org and the advisory board of Security on Campus, a national watchdog organization devoted to rooting out violence on campus. He developed an online hazing prevention educational course for the Human Equation group in 2007-08 and started a collection of educational print and video materials on hazing at Buffalo State College's Butler Library. He has appeared in numerous documentaries, most recently Haze , the documentary inspired by the death of Colorado student Lynn Gordon Bailey and narrated by Robin Wright Penn. His regular hazing prevention column appears on the StopHazing.Org Web site.

A resident of Waldron, Ind., Nuwer advises Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society at Franklin College and teaches journalism courses such as investigative reporting. He is a member of Sigma Tau Rho social fraternity at Buffalo State College and Phi Kappa Phi national honor society.

Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis. He has also taught at other institutions such as the University of Richmond and Ball State University. He is a member of the BSU Journalism Hall of Fame and was inducted in 2010.

A graduate of Buffalo State College, he has been named a Distinguished Alumnus (1999) and awarded an honorary doctorate (2006). BSC's Butler Library honored him with its establishment of the Hazing Collection and the Hank Nuwer Collection. The curator at Butler Library is archivist Dan Dilandro.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shocking, provoctative, and thoughtful. Will make you think., October 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking (Library Binding)

I read "Wrongs of Passage" and I must say, it really made me think. As a former fraternity brother who engaged in certain activities that to this day I am not proud of, "Wrongs of Passage" forced me to re-evaluate some of my existing beliefs.

It brought me back and reminded me of the psychology of pledging. How it consumes you. Changes your life. It reminded me how as a fraternity pledge in the spring of 1991, nothing else mattered except getting in. Extrinsic problems, like my plummeting GPA meant nothing so long as I walked the proverbial "long road" to brotherhood.

It reminded me how at the time, being spoon fed nasty concoctions while blind folded and screamed at, was all fine and dandy. How being forced to do 100 pushups in a room that was so filled with smoke, you could barely breath was just part of what it took to pass that final test.

Hank Nuwer's exploration into the psycology of the pledge is so dead on. I found my self saying "Exactly" out loud more than a few times.

I could go on and on and on about this. I loved this book. It took me back to a place I haven't been to in a long time.

This book is a must read for anyone who has ever pledged, thought about pledging, or knows someone who has pledged a fraternity. Even if you don't fit into one of the above catagories, you will find "Wrongs of Passage" enthralling, engrossing, and especially, disturbing.

15 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important contribution and a must read., January 29, 2000

By 

Brian Rahill (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking (Library Binding)

Having brought attention to the dangers of hazing in his first book Broken Pledges, Hank Nuwer expands on this work with Wrongs of Passage and makes another outstanding contribution to the literature on hazing. He elucidates the dangers of hazing from many angles, and while coining the term "greekthink," takes an important step in describing the often elusive dynamics which enable hazing to persist.

Wrongs of Passage is a commendable achievement and a valuable resource for students, parents, teachers, school administrators and others. Having first hand experience with hazing as a victim, perpetrator and anti-hazing educator, I gained yet another perspective by reading Wrongs of Passage. The knowledge and sensitivity that Hank Nuwer brings to the subject of hazing is unparalleled. I found his history of hazing enlightening, his first-hand accounts heart-wrenching and his strategies for change a sorely needed call to action. This is not a "fraternity-bashing" tirade but rather an in-depth analysis of hazing from multiple perspectives. Hank Nuwer shames those who continue to participate in hazing, and lauds those that have taken positive steps to eradicate these deadly practices. This book should be required reading by students, teachers, parents, and anyone who works with and cares about the future of our nation's youth.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wake up and smell the stale beer, November 12, 1999

By 

Will Clarke (Author of Lord Vishnu's Love Handles and The Worthy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking (Library Binding)

If national fraternities and sororities are truly earnest about ending hazing, they should distribute this book to pledges along with their organizations' pledge manuals. Think about it, pledges subject themselves to hazing because they think they have to. Better yet, why not just do away with pledgeship altogether and boom! hazing is a thing of the past. It's a simple solution that would improve Greek Life and end the hazing deaths of young freshmen every year.