Each year, when recruitment rolls around, students of Greek Life are faced with the task of ensuring student’s safety, while still upholding the Greek Life reputation. Due to some fraternities’ past actions, the school has started to become much more strict on the dangerous recruitment activities that students participate in. Hazing will not be tolerated at all here on our campus, and the school is well aware that actions happen behind closed doors, and cannot always be monitored. In honor of Max Gruver passing away 4 years ago due to a hazing incident, Sonoma State Sorority and Fraternity life has stepped up to stop hazing.

When it comes to Sonoma’s Sorority and Fraternity life, these organizations take pride in treating each member with respect. Proving that this is not just a statement, Sonoma State has issued five-year bans to campus fraternities due to hazing related incidents. While Sonoma State works hard to take the stigma away from hazing, students interested in joining Greek life should not have to worry about what types of dangerous activities lie in front of them when they are getting to know a brand-new fraternity. Joining Greek Life means that you should be finding people that will keep you safe and care for you regardless, and these incidents have historically proven otherwise. 

Max Gruver’s life came at the cost of reminding students of how we need to treat our Greek life brothers and sisters. The Max Gruver Foundation has worked with the state of Louisiana to “create an updated felony hazing law”, so that no family or student will ever experience the pain that was caused by hazing. The foundation has been able to distribute over “100,000 wristbands” all over college campuses to spread the word that hazing needs to end. 

As for how this is playing a role on Sonoma State’s campus, Panhellenic organizations are taking initiative to keep their members safe. Rachel Beckmann, president of Alpha Delta Pi, wants to “create a safe environment based on friendship, academics, and strong moral values.” The “stereotypical sorority” is so far from actual Greek Life, and Beckmann is taking great strides to “eliminate the reputation.” She never wants her sisters, or potential new members, to feel uneasy when going through recruitment, and these hazing incidents have definitely caused a rift within the society of Greek life. The overarching theme of Greek life is to create lifelong relationships that help better your college experience, and we will continue to learn from Gruver to be safe and respect our brothers and sisters. 

When joining an organization, new members are required to attend a lecture about hazing. This helps students and new Greek life recruits to be able to identify the dangers of hazing, and encourages students to put a stop to it, by getting help from people they can trust. It is important to note that not every organization will be perfect, or follow these rules behind closed doors. However, for the ones that are prioritizing the safety of new members, the experience that new Greek life recruits would get is much safer and positive. Sonoma State will not tolerate if someone is being treated unfairly, and wants to enforce the ideology that going through recruitment is a healthy experience, focusing more on brother/sisterhood, philanthropy, and academics.