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ATO's sponsor anti-hazing seminar

David Westol is accustomed to having people disagree with him.

Before his speech Monday in the Student Center, he expected more of the same.

A retired prosecutor and current professional anti-hazing speaker, Westol was hired by Alpha Tau Omega to speak about the dangers of hazing new members of fraternities and sororities.

He said he knew when he came to speak about his experiences as a national executive director of the Theta Chi fraternity, he could have faced skepticism from people who support hazing as a practice because of tradition or other reasons.

When Westol and other national Theta Chi members investigate reports of hazing at the collegiate level, he said he usually receives one of three responses from hazers: hazing is tradition, hazing builds respect for the actives, and hazing was done to them and they want to do it to others.

He asked the approximately 425 people in attendance, mostly campus Greeks, if hazing was what the founders of their chapters had in mind when they started them.

"Hazers are incomplete people," he said. "Hazing is like having a human Playstation."

He said hazing is something no one will discuss with pledges, because if they told the potential members the abuse they would endure, no one would choose to join fraternities or sororities.

"You don't talk about the hazing," he said. "And this is a rhetorical question for the hazers. Why? If hazing is so great, why don't we talk about it?"

Dangerous hazing practices, such as line-ups, forced alcohol consumption, sleep and sensory deprivation, pointless memorization and subservience to active members, were the main activities Westol spoke out against. Describing a scenario where he told a story of a hypothetical pledge who died choking on his own vomit while pledging, Westol painted an ugly picture of the practice.

Though he focused on fraternities with the imaginary scenario, he said one national sorority without a chapter on the SIUC campus was guilty of emotional hazing by taking felt tip pens and circling imperfections on the bodies of the pledges.

Hazing, he said, breaks the bond of brotherhood or sisterhood by creating resentment from new members. Westol recalled his own days of hazing pledges and how his relationships with the younger men were never the same because they did not trust him.

InterGreek Council adviser Katie Sermersheim said hazing awareness is important in all areas, not just Greek organizations.

"I think it's more of a proactive aspect that unfortunately hazing occurs in many aspects of life - the military, athletic groups, even high school bands - and people should take the measures to understand why it is bad," she said.

Westol said he had great respect for Sermersheim, a longtime friend who recommended Westol to the ATO's. He also said he thought ATO President Adam Acree showed courage in inviting a controversial speaker.

"I hope people respect the fact that he brought in a speaker that some people may have disagreed with," he said. "I was very impressed with their patience and attentiveness."

Sermersheim said she thought Westol would be a good choice for a speaker because of his experience in risk management.

"It is something we try to do each year because there are new members every year who need to be educated," she said

Acree said the speech went pretty much as he expected from meetings beforehand with Westol. He said Westol told him after his speech the audience seemed interested and attentive.

At the end of his emotional speech, Westol asked the audience not to tolerate hazing in any form.

"If I can motivate just one of you to stand up to hazers and say, 'No, it's not going to happen,'" he said, "hazers are bullies, and they will back down."

 

 

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