The sad and senseless death of Robert Champion has once again raised the issue of college hazing. Champion was a drum major in Florida A&M University's legendary Marching 100, a band known for its ability to merge technical brilliance with innovative showmanship. As a native of Tallahassee, I grew up watching the Marching 100. To this day, its performances give me goose bumps.
Hazing has long been an issue within the band, and Champion's death last month, after he was allegedly punched repeatedly in a hazing ritual, represents only the latest, and most unfortunate, outcome of this barbaric practice. In the wake of that incident, the university's board of trustees has put the band's director, Julian White, on administrative leave and has reprimanded the university's president, James H. Ammons.
But in all the current administrative hand-wringing and public discussion of hazing, an important focus is noticeably absent: the role and culpability of willing victims. And while I am loath to blame victims, they are not always blameless when it comes to hazing. Without them, this pervasive practice could not endure.
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