Hazing is something that every school with a greek community worries about. When hazing happens on a campus, it not only looks bad on the fraternity or sorority that was hazing but also the entire greek community and university. Last week, Iowa State’s greek community celebrated anti-hazing week, showing the university and the public that they are living up to the standards and trying to abolish hazing.

Starting on Sept. 22, greek community volunteers received a scenario where a student had been hazed. The fraternity or sorority then assessed the situation and discussed how they would handle it as a chapter. The members of the greek community got the opportunity to practice what would happen if there were to be hazing in the greek community, so they would know how to handle the issue if it ever arises. The participants then presented their plans of action and solutions to judges, and the winners received a prize.

Hazing on college campuses can become very dangerous. Students from other universities have been humiliated, put in situations where they didn’t feel comfortable and have been forced to drink too much. Some have even died from hazing. Situations that have come about nationwide tend to put the greek community in the spotlight as the poster children for hazing.

Movies such as “Neighbors” and “Animal House” show instances where hazing occurs in the greek community, such as forcing pledges to drink excessively or making them do ridiculous things to humiliate them for others’ enjoyment. Although life is not always like the movies, it is discouraging that these movies highlight hazing and makes it seem like it is a regular part of the greek community.

In all reality, greek students care very much about the greek community and work very hard to make sure that hazing does not get their privileges taken away. The greek houses that took the hazing situations and assessed them were planning for how they would handle these situations if they were to happen in real life. These types of events should happen more often, to continue to show that the greek community is working to protect themselves from hazing.

Greek houses are not the only people that take a part in hazing. Other clubs and organizations have been known for hazing around the country. Greeks are not only practicing for themselves but also to spread the word around campus and set an example for other organizations to not haze.

Hazing can be incredibly dangerous and needs constant attention by students and school officials. It is encouraging to see that students at Iowa State are concerned with the issue and are ready to face it if the situation is ever to arise here. We as a university must stand up against hazing and the greek community is doing a great job in leading the efforts.