Can hazing be done differently? This writer and former student association member thinks so
Good hazing rituals do exist, according to Barend Last. He wrote a book about introductions within student associations and other clubs. Based on his own experiences and conversations with members, he outlines how hazing should be done. ‘It’s that one per cent that goes wrong.’
Barend Last was 21 years old when he was put on display as entertainment during a dinner organised by his student association as part of a hazing ritual. First, older students threw beer in his face, then mayonnaise, and soon he had food scraps in his underwear. He found it humiliating.
When Last, now a student, denounced this a year later, the older students were open to scrapping the tradition. Last realised that hazing could change. This was one of the reasons he wrote a book about how hazing should be done: De kunst van ontgroenen (The Art of Hazing), which was published today.
Just last week, the Thalia fraternity was told by student association ASV/AVSV that it would not be allowed to recruit new members this year because fraternity members had once again behaved seriously inappropriately. In 2021, the same ASC/AVSV even stopped all hazing periods due to abuses within fraternities. Shouldn’t we just ban hazing altogether?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Proper hazing has positive functions. At a time when research shows that students’ mental well-being is deteriorating, a carefully designed initiation ritual can create a sense of belonging. The feeling that you belong somewhere. That’s exactly what young people crave when they transition from school to young adulthood.”
“Hazing should not be based on humiliation, but on teaching certain values. When I was seventeen, I also experienced a form of hazing during my naval training, which I did before my studies. Our group had to drag a 500-kilogram chain across kilometres of beach. You get to know yourself, your masks come off and you form bonds in no time. Student initiation ceremonies should be like a game show: completing tasks that combine thinking, creativity and physical tests. Funny, sometimes serious, and ultimately promoting growth.”
In 2023, two years after the scandals at the ASC, the Ares fraternity at Amsterdam’s Lanx was suspended because they had given new members assignments such as “fuck a refugee”. So students are simply incapable of hazing rituals like the ones you describe?
“Student associations are generally doing well. Think also of hazing rituals in the military, scouting, sports or even the business world. You don’t hear about 99 per cent of hazing rituals. It’s that one per cent that goes wrong, but that's the one that gets media attention.”
“Creating an absurd play together, enduring physical hardship or defending difficult positions: there are plenty of hazing rituals like that. Such assignments allow you to get to know each other and, hopefully, yourself.”
“Still, I have to admit: some associations are beyond saving. A fraternity like Thalia or, for example, the Belgian Reuzegom – where Sanda Dia died during an initiation ritual in 2018 – simply has to be disbanded. The culture is too toxic, too far gone. Sometimes you have to take preventive action, as the ASC has now done with Thalia. I think that’s courageous. But entire societies where things have gone wrong more often, such as Vindicat or the ASC, with thousands of members and a strong old boys’ network, you shouldn’t be under the illusion that you can dissolve them. So you’ll have to change from within. I’m thinking of a system where older students – really generations older – act as role models and keep an eye on things.”
Isn’t monitoring an illusion? Recent research by newspaper NRC showed that incidents are increasingly taking place behind the closed doors of fraternity houses.
“That’s right, you see that increased supervision during general hazing rituals is causing the phenomenon to increasingly move behind closed doors. You can’t regulate everything. External pressure can even make hazing worse, out of a kind of self-preservation. So you have to find other methods to keep hazing safe.”
“A good way is to always have to sit on an initiation committee for two years, with half of the members changing every year. This ensures that experience is passed on to the next generation in that committee. And these guys are also better at keeping an eye on the younger members, who might be more likely to cross the line. It is also wise not to allow second-year students to participate in hazing until the culture has changed, as they often harbour feelings of revenge from their own time.”
In 2022, ASC/AVSV also came under fire because members had made misogynistic speeches during a dinner, in which women were referred to as “sperm buckets” and “whores”, among other things. Is such a sexist culture related to hazing?
“Absolutely, because hazing lays the foundation for the rest of the membership. At the Utrecht corps, hazing committees taught new members songs about men having to ‘hunt hertjes’ (litt. deer, a derogatory term for women, ed.), while women rehearsed songs such as ‘chop off that dick.’ This reinforces the stereotype that men have to attack and women have to defend themselves.”
“Whereas in a hazing ritual, you can make it clear from the outset that everyone must treat each other with respect and that boundaries must be respected. In this way, a good hazing ritual can actually be the solution to a culture that has gone off the rails in a previous hazing ritual.”
At the ASC, three students ended up in hospital in 2016 after being forced to sleep among the trash. In 2019, two new members suffered hypothermia and in 2021, despite promises of improvement, things went wrong again. Is a cultural change still possible?
“Certainly, as proven by the Augustinus association in Leiden, which is changing its culture with external training courses on topics such as sexual harassment. In my book, I have a number of golden rules for good hazing that can change such a toxic culture. For example, traditions should only be preserved if there is a higher purpose, not ‘because it has always been that way’. Physical and mental boundaries must be respected: prospective members must be able to stop participating in any part of the initiation without consequences.”
“There must also be a script in advance that clearly states the exact purpose of each part. It is perfectly fine to teach someone humility, make them eat cold porridge or do jumping jacks. As long as it is proportionate and focused on the group, a lot is possible. As long as the idea is clear.”
You had a son a month ago. Would you advise him to go through hazing in eighteen years’ time?
“I would definitely recommend hazing to my son, whether it’s in the army, the scouts or a student club. Hazing can be a great learning experience. You learn to speak in public, organise things and realise that the world doesn't revolve around you. But I would take some time to consider the culture of the association he would like to join and whether it is worthwhile.”
“Rituals will always exist, and hazing is no different. As long as there are students, there will be hazing. So we might as well teach them how to haze wisely.”
