Hazing | The Tragic Story of Student George Desdunes | PBS

♪♪ -Every time I hear about a young person dying because of hazing, it tears me up inside, because truthfully, I’ve been a part of the problem. ♪♪ For — For too long, I’ve held back from talking about the hazing I experienced out of loyalty to my fraternity,

Because of my fear of the consequences, and because I didn’t want to be seen as a snitch. But that all ends now. -Allegations of hazing are growing more disturbing by the minute. -One South Florida family claims — -I feel a strong need to get underneath hazing culture

Beyond my fraternity and my own experience. -Sexually assaulted — -Investigating the alleged hazing — -Allegations of hazing — -Allegations of hazing — -Disturbing case of hazing — -I want to know why we hold on to rituals and traditions that are so dangerous… -Had rocks thrown at him

While being dragged across the barracks floor. -…and that cause physical and emotional harm. -In order to become a brother — -One student was forced to grab a player’s private parts. -Swim in a kiddy pool of vomit. -Drink alcohol to the point where some became sick while frat members hit or tackled them.

-Stand up for yourself! -When rites-of-passage rituals cross the line into potentially dangerous hazing. ♪♪ ♪♪ -Those children wanted to be neurosurgeon. They wanted to be lawyers. They wanted to be everything. They were good children. And now what happened? -I read about Marie and her son George in The New York Times,

A mother who emigrated from Haiti to give her only child a chance at a better life. ♪♪ -“My family consists of two people, my mom, Marie, and myself.” ♪♪ “Over the years, I have come to realize the sacrifices that she has made for me

In order to help me achieve something with my life.” ♪♪ -When George was about 2 years old, his father passed. And it became George and I. ♪♪ George was the love of my life. ♪♪ It was a Monday. And I came home around 11:30. I heard a scream. -Whoo! Yes!

-And I still hear the scream in my ears today. It was George. He said, “Mom, I got accepted.” George got accepted to Cornell. That was one of the happiest day for him. -♪ Friendships that live on and on ♪ ♪ Bonds that grow so strong ♪ ♪ Brotherhood forever good ♪

♪ Last forever long ♪ -At Cornell, Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity had this annual tradition where pledges got to haze their Big Brothers. And on February 25, 2011, at around 3:00 a.m., the pledges got to haze George. Soon after, news broke about the hazing. -They bound his wrists and ankles

With zip ties and duct tape and compelled him to consume alcohol until he lost consciousness. Back at the frat house, Desdunes was dumped on a couch and left to die. ♪♪ ♪♪ -When you read what happened, like, I can’t — Every time, I close my eyes

And I think what they did to George, and then I’m like, “Is this what gentlemen do? Is this what make you a man?” ♪♪ -George was the fourth hazing-related death within SAE, a fraternity with deep roots and a storied reputation covered widely by news media all over the country.

-Labeled the deadliest fraternity in the U.S., SAE has had multiple deaths from hazing and alcohol-related incidents. -Sigma Alpha Epsilon, SAE, announced it closed down the local chapter. -A few years after George’s death, someone leaked this video made by members of SAE at the University of Oklahoma. [ All singing ]

The video went viral. [ Cellphone chimes ] -Now infamous SAE chapter at Oklahoma University. -It made me wonder if SAE’s reckless and blatant disregard for George’s body may have been rooted in the fraternity’s racism. ♪♪ -Since then, SAE has been trying to change its image.

-Because now more than ever, the world needs true gentleman. ♪♪ -You want to be a gentleman? I have place for you. I have plenty of place for you. There are hospital who need help, nursing home. There are the prison. They can go and educate the prisoner. I will send them places to pledge.

♪♪ -We call it a disease, because it infects your mind-set. So if you have a infectious disease, and you don’t do anything to it, what does it become? An epidemic. ♪♪ -♪ The effects are still daunting ♪ ♪ The evil is still haunting ♪ ♪ They still laughing and flaunting ♪

♪ Hazing, it’s sad that it won’t end ♪ -Hazing is clearly a systemic force, as opposed to a series of isolated incidents. It’s way too common, and the incidents are similar to each other over time and across geography. ♪♪ -This isn’t a chapter problem. It’s not an individual problem.

It’s a problem of organizational culture. Either the organizations don’t want to stop hazing or they don’t know how. -♪ The effects are still daunting ♪ ♪ The evil is still haunting ♪ ♪ They still laughing and flaunting ♪ ♪ Hazing, it’s sad that it won’t end ♪ ♪♪

-When I started out on this journey, I feared that I was betraying my brothers by making this film and breaking my silence. After speaking to so many parents who have lost their children and other victims of hazing, I realize now that it’s our silence that’s an act of betrayal. ♪♪ ♪♪

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