Title:

Southern Methodist University Initiation Rituals

 

Informant info:

Class of 2018 at Southern Methodist University. He is from Glen Cove, Long Island.

 

Type of lore, Genre, Subgenre:

Customary Lore – Initiation rites

 

Language:

English

 

Country of Origin:

United States

 

Social/Cultural Context:

The informant is a member of an anonymous fraternity at Duke University. Duke is known a southern school with a large population of students from the northeast. Fraternities and greek life are a large part of the social scene at this school

 

Transcript:

“The older brothers would haze us quite frequently in our first term. I don’t think a lot of it is appropriate to describe now. One thing I can tell you is that there were many humiliating tasks. It is tradition that they would pour stuff (water, beer, syrup) on us sometimes, just to mess with us. ”

 

Informant’s Comments:

The informant described his experience with a negative tone. He explained that everything that they did was something that brothers “have always had to do.” Our other informants look back on their first term in the greek organization happily.

 

Collector’s Comments:

This lore is a great example of the initiation practices that are seen in southern schools. The initiation we see here is not like that of the northeast. It is based in testing of new members and humiliating them in order to establish subordination.

 

Tags/Keywords:

SMU, College, Initiation, Hazing, Customary Lore