The GatewayIn Throwback, we find interesting, fun, or just plain weird articles from Gateway past.
This article is taken from the issue of October 21, 2010 issue of The Gateway. All issues from 1910-2009 can be found in our online archive.
The Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity at the University of Alberta tells pledges to eat their own vomit, deprives them of sleep, and closes them in a plywood box as part of a four-day initiation process, according to video footage from January 2010 obtained by The Gateway.
According to the DKE International Risk Management Policy posted on their website, hazing by any chapter, student, or alumnus is prohibited. Having the permission of a person being hazed is not a defence.
DKE International defines hazing as:
“Any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule. Such activities may include but are not limited to the following: use of alcohol; paddling in any form; creation of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological shocks [… and] morally degrading or humiliating games and activities.”
A DKE (Deke) alumnus, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his identity, and who will be referred to as Joe, described his experience during initiation as traumatic.
“[Pledges are] not told what happens. There’s very little care actually done for them. They’re stolen from, they’re taken advantage of, they’re yelled at […], they’re not told when it will end,” Joe said. “They’re definitely hurt mentally and physically at the end of it.”
According to Joe, the initiation weekend took place last year near the end of January. Pledges arrive at the Deke house on Thursday and do not leave until Sunday.
During check-in, when pledges arrive at the house, the initiated Deke brothers, who are active members or alumni, put the food and alcohol each pledge brings into the communal fridge.
One of the videos shows a pledge being yelled at by at least five of the active members or alumni during check-in because he brought two small cans of beans instead of one large can.
“Do you have a problem following instructions? Because if you do, your life is going to become extremely difficult […] Do you have a learning disability? Are you retarded?”
The video also shows the pledges being told to do wall sits, being pressured into taking a bite out of a raw onion, and being pressured into eating raw eggs, to which one brother says, “go salmonella.”
Video footage also shows pledges attending an off-campus dinner, where they eat food that is intentionally disgusting and then smoke a cigar as quickly as possible after eating. Joe explained that for these reasons, some pledges vomit and then eat their vomit.
“As far as I know, no chemical is added to the food, and there’s always a percentage of the people that just eat it,” Joe said. “But here are the instructions — get him to eat as much as possible, get him to puke; when he pukes, try to get him to clean up his plate. His plate should be empty, including his vomit.”
Over the weekend, the brothers also hold extended exercise drills for the pledges called “circles.” One alumnus, called the circle master, stands in the middle of a group of pledges, who are surrounded by active members and alumni. The pledges must do and say whatever the circle master tells them to, including sit-ups and push-ups, while being yelled at by their surrounding brothers.
Multiple times over the weekend, pledges also go into “the Hilton,” a plywood box that Joe described as being a confined space. He said that the brothers alter the size by putting desks and chairs inside of it.
“I’m guessing you could possibly stuff 30 people in there, but if you’ve got a class of 15, you just close off half. You couldn’t stand in it.”
Joe said that often, someone will squirt ketchup or throw food into the Hilton, or urinate inside before the pledges enter. The pledges usually won’t stay in the Hilton for any more than 15 minutes, and Joe said that anyone who is claustrophobic is not forced in.
According to a sample list obtained by The Gateway, pledges are also instructed to bring wooden paddles to the initiation weekend. According to Joe, brothers are never, under any circumstances, allowed to actually hit pledges with the paddles. However, Joe said pledges are never told that they will not be paddled and thinks the paddles add to the atmosphere of intimidation.
Many hours over the weekend are also spent in “meditations.” Pledges are instructed to sit upright facing the wall, but are not allowed to sleep. The alumni play extremely loud, repetitive music. After a few hours, Joe said many people start to hallucinate.
According to Joe, during the final stage of initiation, all of the pledges individually appear before a tribunal of active members and alumni and are told they did not make it into the fraternity. Then they all come together in a ritual where a brother will ask anyone who did not make it into the fraternity to step forward. Everybody steps forward.
The video indicates that over the course of the weekend, the personal property of the pledges is often stolen. At one point on the video, one brother says to another, “we steal their shit.” Joe added that other things are simply ruined because pledges’ belongings are kept in the basement, where circles occur, so things are often trampled.
Joe added that the pledges get no substantial time to sleep. According to schedules obtained by The Gateway, the pledges are only allotted time to sleep for a half hour on Friday night and for five 15-minute intervals and one half-hour interval on Saturday night.
In addition to sleep deprivation, Joe said the pledges are also encouraged to drink large amounts of alcohol throughout the weekend, but this is not mandatory.
“I’ve always wondered if it’s better to get drunk or not. Because the alcohol dehydrates you, but the alcohol definitely helps deal with the trauma. If you’re hammered through the whole thing, you’re going to have a lot less nightmares than if you’re sober the whole time,” Joe said.
After Friday night, pledges are not allowed to leave the initiations. On the video, a group of alumni discuss the basic rule that once someone starts on Friday, they can’t leave until Sunday unless it’s a special circumstance.
Joe explained that some of the pledges actually enjoy the challenge of initiations, and many of the brothers enjoy it as well, but he feels it’s unfair that pledges do not know what to expect from initiations before they begin.
“I’d call it hazing, I call it abuse. I think the better word is abuse. You get abused, absolutely.”
A second Deke alumnus, who also wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the information listed above.
Mike Siebert, President of the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the governing body of fraternities on the U of A campus, did not respond to specific allegations, but said that the IFC has a zero-tolerance policy towards hazing.
“Anything that [people] feel uncomfortable doing and you’re forcing them to do is hazing. Because there’s such a stereotype around fraternities, we do take a very broad policy of what counts as hazing because we want to make sure that people feel comfortable in a Greek environment,” Siebert said.
If any hazing incidents are brought to the IFC, they have a judicial council that meets to investigate. They would also bring that information to the Office of the Dean of Students, who is responsible for regulating student groups in conjunction with the Students’ Union.
Student Affairs Officer Norma Rodenburg from the Office of the Dean of Students said that acts of hazing would likely fall under the Code of Student Behaviour. If a student group were found to be hazing members, they could be sanctioned under the Code.
“Chances are something along the lines of hazing would likely fall into violations of safety or dignity, but we would have to deal with every case as it came through individually to determine whether that would fit or not,” she said.
Neither Siebert nor Rodenburg knew of any recent complaints about the Dekes.
Vice President (Student Life) Rory Tighe also did not respond to specifics, but said that the SU does not support hazing, and echoed Rodenburg in saying that hazing would have to be defined by the Code.
“There can be a pretty wide range of consequences, anywhere from specific disciplinary action on an individual to de-recognition of a group. Also for the fraternity and sorority system, they can be given reprimands from their national conference,” Tighe said.
DKE International did not respond to request for comment as of press time. A spokesperson for the DKE alumni association denied the allegations.
“We never would do anything to offend the honour of any of our own guys or any potential member either,” the spokesperson said.
