Black Fraternities Keep Quiet About Hazing

The Tampa Police Department has finished its investigation on allegations of hazing by USF’s chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

A department spokesperson said the case has been referred to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office which will decide whether to press charges or dismiss the case.

Earlier this month, USF suspended the African-American fraternity over allegations of beatings at an off-campus location.

I’m an African-American college student and although I’m not in a sorority, my dad is an Alpha Phi Alpha and I know many people active in Black Greek life.

I set out to discover why hazing persists in fraternities. But assessing the subject can be tricky when the Greek world remains tight-lipped about the situation.

At a recent National Pan-Hellenic Council interest meeting, members of other fraternities and sororities still recognized the inactive chapter by “clapping it up” for them.

James Wiggins, an Omega alumni, declined to discuss the topic of hazing or anything that would cast his fraternity in a unappealing manner. He questioned why hazing continues to exist.

“Why do people break laws when they know that they’re going to get caught,” Wiggins said. “It makes no sense to me and I can’t speculate as to why they’re doing it.”

Hazing, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is an initiation process involving harassment. Hazing can range from slaps and paddling to cracked ribs and injured kidneys and in rare cases, death.

However, some members of Greek organizations don’t attribute hazing to humiliation. The only person I could find to speak openly about Black Greek life was my dad, Carl Prioleau. He’s retired military and works part-time for the government. He was an Alpha Phi Alpha in the 1970s.

He equates hazing to humbling a person before he or she can fully join. The problem is when the hazing becomes violent.

Prioleau also says no one wants to talk about hazing because fraternity brothers and sorority sisters want to keep things within the family.

“When you’re a part of the Greek world, you’re a part of the Greek family,” Prioleau said. “If there’s Greek family business, we’re not going to share that with anyone because we’re Greek.”