Dartblog

Three months ago, we noted that the infamous April Thompson was leaving the College to work her magic at SUNY Binghamton — now known as Binghamton University. According to yesterday’s Times, it seems that the students there are in need of her special disciplinary skills:

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — One student said she feared for her boyfriend’s health and ability to do his schoolwork because he was coming home from fraternity pledging around 4 a.m. with gashes and cuts on his hands and elbows that reopened daily.

A parent said her son returned home with a shaved head and injuries, from running barefoot on a bed of rocks, that required an emergency room visit and subsequent treatment.

Another student said he was hazed night after night, until right before morning classes. He wrote in an anonymous e-mail to the university, “I was hosed, waterboarded, force-fed disgusting mixtures of food, went through physical exercises until I passed out, and crawled around outside in my boxers to the point where my stomach, elbows, thighs and knees are filled with cuts, scrapes and bruises.”…

One father cited text messages from his son, which could “only be interpreted as desperately reaching out for help.” He said they included descriptions of being forced to stand out in the cold in his underwear, prevented from sleeping for prolonged periods of time and not being allowed to leave the fraternity all weekend…

One [student] said her sorority threw pledges into a freezing shower where they had to recite the Greek alphabet. Another reported being forced to eat concoctions meant to make pledges vomit on one another and to hold hot coals from hookahs in their hands…

There also were reports of students’ getting frostbite from walking barefoot in the snow. One said pledges, blindfolded, driven miles from campus and relieved of their phones, were expected to find their own way home. Another said a fraternity branded pledges on the leg, back or buttocks…

Part of the problem, university officials said, was that few victims were willing to come forward, so allegations were hard to verify.

And to think that people accused Andrew Lohse of making up the hazing rites at SAE. The kids over in New York are in a whole ‘nuther league.

Addendum: The NYT “The Choice” blog wonders how stories like the above impact students’ and parents’ choice of schools. The answer: not so much. The story mentioned Dartmouth, as does a piece about Binghamton in the U.K.’s Daily Mail.

Addendum: The Diane Rehm Show on NPR focused on hazing today. Dr. David Skorton, President of Cornell, was one of the guests. Click on the speaker icon in the upper left of your screen to listen.