A Hofstra University freshman, Tina Courtney Holt, says she has been verbally and physically attacked by vengeful sorority girls, who shoved her head into a wall and threatened to “slit her throat” and “kill” her when she decided not to join their group. Holt, calling Phi Epsilon “a cult,” alleges she was subjected to abusive hazing that involved sitting for seven hours in the same position with other pledges. The sorority initiation ritual, she claims, includes being branded in the groin area with a hot fork. According to the New York Post, Holt informed the police about the alleged attack, but no arrest was made. Hofstra states it will investigate and comment.
If Holt’s complaints prove true, they join the growing roster of incidents of violence and savagery on many campuses. These cases augur ill for society, which cannot survive without a common understanding and acceptance of the value of non-violence and harmonious social interaction, as well as swift and proportionate curbs on violence. Have ethical relativism and twisted postmodern teachings about the use of power reached such a fever pitch on campuses that young women feel free to hound and abuse each other?