Fraternities tend to get a bad reputation when it comes to hazing, but it’s definitely not limited to just men. The initiation process at the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, part of State University of New York in Albany, was so horrendous that seven of the members were arrested for it. The initiation ceremony involved humiliation and pain at the expense of the pledges.
One pledge informed authorities that she was blindfolded, forced to get on the ground and eat mud. She was also covered with a mix of substances including eggs, rotten milk, and potentially even urine. Another former pledge told CBS New York that she chose to back out of the process because of how terrible the hazing became. “They would say like ‘you’re worthless,’ or ‘you’re a stupid (expletive),'” she explained. “Some of us got stepped on and they’re all wearing heels.”
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This resulted in seven sorority members were arrested last week on misdemeanor hazing charges. Police were called to their house after their neighbors had complained of loud noise. There they found four women who were undergoing initiation in the basement of the house. One student was suffering an allergic reaction – with shortness of breath, chest pain, and swollen eyes – and had to go to the hospital, according to the Albany Times Union. This means that the seven women must face the charges, as someone was physically injured.
However, a representative for the Alpha Omicron Pi revealed that the sorority hasn’t been affiliated with UAlbany since 2014. The Albany Student Press explained that Alpha Omicron Pi is supposedly considered an “underground” organization that isn’t officially recognized by the college as a chapter. The university responded to the student arrests:
“The University at Albany has a zero tolerance policy on hazing. While we cannot discuss individual students due to federal privacy laws, any student involved in hazing is violating rules of the University’s Student Code of Conduct. If the university is made aware of allegations of hazing, it will initiate an investigation and if it is determined violations of the conduct policies have taken place, the university will work quickly to implement the appropriate administrative disciplinary measures.”
We hope those sorority girls have learned their lesson.
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[H/T: Cosmopolitan]