What Constitutes Hazing At Bowdoin?

The Captains of a women’s athletic team created a chem-free team-bonding opportunity for their first-years in the form of a scavenger hunt. The Captains texted first-years, informing them to clear their calendars and arrive at an off-campus apartment at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. When everyone arrived, the Captains told them this event was optional. No one opted out. The first-years were divided into two groups and given the first of four clues that would take them around campus, where they found the following items: personal lubricant; a condom; a tube of lipstick and the name of a member of the men’s swim team with whom they were to take a picture, incorporating the first three items, and the male swimmer in his Speedo. The Captains thought that because alcohol was not involved, this would be a fine bonding activity and not violate the Bowdoin College Hazing Policy.

The Quidditch Team is a quirky yet popular club sport at the College. The seven-player team recently took on two new members, a first-year and a junior. At the first meeting, the agenda was focused on how the team would collectively celebrate the new members. In the end, they chose to watch all eight Harry Potter movies consecutively, in costume, and while playing a Harry Potter drinking game (drink once when someone says, “Potter”; drink twice when someone says “Voldemort”, etc…). After the movies, the team headed to the dining hall. Before they could eat, all members, now drunk, stood on their chairs and yelled, “Expecto Patronum!” for which they received a standing ovation from a crowded dining room. The junior cited this tradition as the reason she decided to join the Quidditch Team.

Two upper-class members of a women’s club team emailed their first-years directing them to show up at a campus apartment the following Thursday at midnight. They were told to bring a bathing suit, a black sharpie marker, and a six-pack of beer. They might want to spend extra time at the gym that week, the email chided. A rumor quickly circulated that upper-class students would use the markers to circle the first-years’ body fat. When they arrived, first-years were surprised to find a party waiting for them that did not include wearing the bathing suits or having their bodies drawn on. The upper-class students felt they brought the younger members closer together without having broken any College policies.

In the 1980’s, a student organization initiated new members by blindfolding them, driving them to a remote location at night, and directing them to find their way back to a campus party in their honor. Historically, each student was left with, and expected to drink, a fifth of alcohol. Under pressure from alumni, current members revived this tradition but built in safeguards: students were driven around town for 20-minutes to disorient them and then dropped in an unfamiliar but adjacent spot with a six-pack of beer which they were told to consume before returning. Older students were also posted nearby to ensure the new members’ safety. In fact, when the temperature started to drop, the older students took pity and drove the stranded students to the campus party. All members were proud that they maintained the spirit of the original  initiation while watching out for the newer students.

Each semester a student organization crowns the member who can drink the most hard alcohol without throwing up or being transported. The reigning champion must defend the title against all comers prior to a College House party within the first few weeks of school. During the drinking contest, student judges remain sober as a safeguard against alcohol poisoning or other trouble. In the last three years, the winners have been a mix of first-year and upper-class students which causes students to believe they are operating within the current hazing policy.

Five students on the wrestling team sat around a table at Pine Street Apartments. There were two first years, a sophomore, a junior, and a senior. The teammates played quarters with a handle of Jack Daniels and a shot glass. The game continued until the handle was drained, but not before two students vomited and headed back to their rooms. The three other students passed out and were later discovered by friends who called Security because they were concerned about the drinkers. Two of the three were transported to the hospital with dangerously high blood alcohol levels.

A men’s athletic team ended its season on a high note and held a party to celebrate. Although the prom theme party was open to all students, members of the team were required by the captains to arrive together in same-sex couples, with upper class students dressed in tuxedos and first years dressed in drag. Most first years enlisted women friends from their dorms to help with hair, make up and clothing, which the men reported to be as fun as the subsequent event. Because the party was open to the entire campus and many other male students wore women’s clothing, the first-years said they did not feel singled out by this assignment.