Six members of the Rutgers University chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. were arrested Jan. 27 for hazing pledges, with one being admitted to the hospital.
The New York Daily News reports that the sorority members were accused of paddling pledges on the buttocks so severely that they were not able to sit. One pledge said she was struck 200 times, leaving blood clots and welts on her buttocks. Because she was in too much pain to sit, the pledge’s mother took her to the hospital and then notified campus officials and police.
The sorority was immediately suspended.
One of the suspects, 20-year-old Llana Warner, was charged with felony aggravated hazing. Others arrested include Vanessa Adegbite, 21; Joana Bernard, 21; Kesha Cheron, 20; Shawna Ebanks, 21, and Marie Charles.
According to NJ.com, New Jersey passed one of the country’s broadest anti-hazing laws in 1990. Still, hazing remains a problem. According to a national 2008 study, more than half of the members of all campus organizations experience hazing, but only 5 percent report it.
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