Greek life and fraternity culture has often been criticized for being overly exclusive and for being violent in nature when regarding imitations and hazing.
With more light being shed on hazing awareness, universities have acted with various policies in place to protect Greek life members.
UConn specifically follows Title 53, Connecticut’s hazing law in which student organizations are strictly prohibited to intentionally put members in danger regarding their health and safety in the name of keeping a membership title. This pertains and is not limited to, all forms of nudity, extreme mental stress, forms of assault, small space confinement, and sleep deprivation.
Although these laws are put into place UConn has still struggled with incidences of violence regarding hazing and violence, specifically within UConn fraternities.
Last spring, an incident regarding fraternity Lambda Theta Phi, resulted in the arrest of a UConn student and the demolition of the organization after a series of violent events. The incident last spring was a result of a fraternity member using his forearm to strangle someone who owed him money.
“In the UConn police case, he was charged with disorderly conduct, third-degree assault, and third-degree strangulation. He was released on a $5,000 non-surety bond,” according to Channel 3 Eyewitness News.
This incident, along with another, involved the same student who was the acting president. They continued to participate in hazing members.
“During the incident, police said Vallejo forced the victim to recite a code of the fraternity while in push-up position. When the victim had difficulty and could not recite the code, Vallejo is accused of throwing the victim into a wall before using his forearm to choke the victim,” Channel 3 Eyewitness News reported.
Most recently on Oct. 4, an incident involving standing fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon, where a fraternity brother attacked a party goer at a fraternity owned house off campus.
An anonymous witness who attended the party that evening who was in line for a ride home from the party describes what she saw that night.
“One of the girls were yelling at this guy and he pushed and slapped her,” said the witness. “Then this frat guy attacked him, pinned him down because he was going to attack her more, which then prompted him to run off in the woods because they told him to leave.”
Despite the reoccurring instances of violence, The Daily Campus reports that the members are required to participate in trainings regarding domestic violence and its prevention.
“The former TKE member was released on a bond of $5,000 and is set to appear at the Rockville Superior Court on Oct. 16, 2024,” according to The Daily Campus.
Although UConn and Greek life has required trainings and follows Title 53, figures such as UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz, who commented on the Channel 3 Eyewitness News story regarding Lambda Theta Phi, declined on commenting on UConn’s prevention towards violence for this story and it is unknown if further disciplinary actions with be handled by the university.
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