VOL. 10, NO. 3
I
North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C.
FRTOAY, OCTOBER 7,1994
Wesleyan cracks down on hazing
By PATRICK BRANNAN
North Carolina Wesleyan Col
lege is using a proactive approach
to confront the issue of hazing on
campus.
Recent cases of hazing, nation
wide, including 23 fatalities in the
past 10 years, has led to an in
crease in discussion of the prob
lem on college campuses through
out the country.
Student Life associate in
charge of Greek life, Ben
Hamrick, describes the approach
taken towards the Greeks by the
college as “a developmental
stance or approach is being used
with the Greeks, getting them to
work through their own questions
and issues.”
Hazing is not just confined to
Greeks. Hazing can occur in any
organization, but Greeks and ath
letics are the two areas most as
sociated with hazing. The North
Carolina Wesleyan College 1994-
95 student handbook’s hazing
policy states, “It is a
misperception that hazing only
occurs in fraternities and sorori
ties. Other groups and individu
als have been found guilty of haz-
mg.
Hazing will become a more
severe crime in North Carolina
starting Jan. 1,1995. At that time
hazing will become a class 2 mis
demeanor and the person or per
sons convicted of hazing must be
expelled from school. If the
school does not expel the guilty
parties the school may also be
charged with a misdemeanor.
The Wesleyan handbook de
fines the school’s hazing policy
on page 29: “North Carolina stat
ues define hazing as ‘to annoy
any person by playing abusive or
ridiculous tricks upon him/her, to
frighten, scold, beat, or harass
him/her, to subject him/her to per
sonal indignity.’
“Under state law, hazing is a
misdemeanor (change to class 2
misdemeanor January 1995) pun
ishable by a fine not to exceed
$500, imprisonment for not more
than six months, or both. In addi
tion, the law mandates that the
school expel any student found
guilty of hazing.”
Greeks are the organizations
(Continued on Back Page)
Os Guinness
set to present
Staley Lecture
DAY FOR WESLEYAN — Wesleyan officials and community volunteers turn in the contributions
and pledges raised during the recent one-day fundraiser, “A Day for Wesleyan.” The Rocky Mount
area raised a signficant total for the college’s budget
By MICHELE A. CRUZ
Dr. Os Guinness, of Washing
ton, D.C., will be giving this
year’s Staley Lecture at North
Carolina Wesleyan College.
His speech, “Making the
World Safe for Diversity; Free
dom of Conscience in a World of
Tribalism,” will be held in the
chapel Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 7:30
p.m. The public is invited to at
tend.
The Staley Lecture is made
possible by the Thomas F. Staley
Foundation, which is firmly per
suaded that the message of the
Christian gospel, when pro
claimed in its historical fullness,
is always contemporary, relevant,
and meaningful in any genera
tion.
To this end, the Foundation
seeks to bpng to the college and
university campuses of America
distinguished scholars/artists who
truly believe and who can clearly
communicate the Christian gos
pel to students.
Guinness, bom in China dur
ing World War II where his par
ents were medical missionaries,
has lived in England, Switzerland,
and the United States. He com
pleted undergraduate studies at
the University of London and
(Continued on Back Page)
Date rape possible even on this campus
By CHIP SULLIVAN
Date rape has reared its ugly
face throughout the beginning of
the “politically correct” society
that we now live in. It is a prod
uct not only of the fundamental
differences between males and
females but of fhistration, repres
sion, and anger. That aside, it
must be asked: Could date rape
occur even in a small school like
Wesleyan?
The answer, as you may have
guessed, is a resounding “Yes!”
Date rape occurs in high school
and especially colleges. Wesleyan
may be fortunate it is a small
school with a very low crime rate.
Larger schools have much higher
student populations and may be
more susceptible to violence. Still,
there inevitably will be parties at
either an institution with 1,000
students or 50,000 students. There
will still be drinking, there will
still be sex, and conceivably, dioe
still will be date rape.
Wesleyan students have noth
ing to worry about, right? Most
colleges now publish an annual
crime report with statistics made
open to die public about crime on
their campuses. R^»s are listed
in the report, along with other vio
lent crimes. So, Wesleyan has
nothing to hide.
• Well, not exacdy. Those are
mere figures, meant to reassure
students, parents, teachers, and
administrators alike. The Presi
dent of the college can sit in his
office and boast to his colleagues
about how low the crime rate here
at Wesleyan is. Unfortunately, for
many various reasons, a lot of
date r^jcs go unieported.
According to ^ director of
campus security, Deborah
Pittman, rape “is one of the most
unreported crimes on this cam
pus and every caiMpus.”' The Vitf-'
tim may feel embarrassed idxxit
the incident She will feel vio
lated and fear retribution froni her
assailant
One [Hoblem wifli all diis is
that the pec^le that commit these
acts are never brought to justice.
That leaves them free to commit
such acts again, and may in the
futiu« lead to an escalation of the
violence in these attacks.
(Coiitina^ on Back Pl^)'