One week ago, the Charlatan published an investigation containing six Carleton students’ allegations of hazing within Alpha Pi Phi’s (APP) Carleton University sorority.
The statement Carleton provided the Charlatan before publication failed to include any reference to hazing in general.
The lack of comment from Carleton University following the publication of the investigation story leaves Carleton students in the dark as to where the university stands on hazing issues.
This is unacceptable.
If Carleton truly cares about victims of hazing, it would immediately and thoroughly address and respond to the allegations included in the report. Instead, the university has sidestepped taking any form of action, which does nothing but empower hazing behaviour.
The sources’ allegations include: hand-feeding ice cream to nude APP mentors; a culture of substance abuse; incidents of sexual misconduct; delayed investigations relating to these incidents; a student’s mental health decline and performing a “sexual” dance in front of hundreds of people at an event called Greek Olympics.
The university’s silence since the investigation story was published is disrespectful not only to the six Carleton students’ who came forward with allegations but to the entire student body.
Despite Carleton not recognizing Greek life groups as “on-campus organizations,” sororities like APP regularly host events, have meetings and recruit students on campus.
While Greek organizations are not Carleton-sanctioned, the university should have full autonomy over the use of its facilities and limit non-campus groups from operating.
Carleton purports to support sexual violence survivors, but the university has not yet taken a public stance in response to the alleged hazing experiences of the Carleton students’ who have come forward.
If the university continues to ignore hazing allegations stemming from organizations that are running on campus, they are not just failing the six Carleton students’ who brought forth the allegations, but they are failing the student body as a whole.
Featured image from files.
