"You need a code of omertà if you're trying to create an organization that's essentially like a criminal organization," Andrew Lohse said.
asserted
Lohse → need → organization
Lohse was talking about fraternities – the 36-year-old is a fraternity hazing survivor and the author of "Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy."
asserted
old → talk → Boy
As a Dartmouth student, the whistleblower exposed the stomach-turning indoctrination rituals he said he endured inside Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
asserted
he → expose → Epsilon
When recent headlines came to light regarding the mysterious deaths of two students at Ole Miss – one of whom was in a fraternity – and the alleged frat cocaine distribution ring at Penn State, Lohse said he was immediately reminded of his time as a brother.
asserted
he → come → brother
"For years and years [the last] 10 years, it's like whenever someone dies in a frat, like that's when my phone rings," Lohse told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Lohse → die → Digital
One of the Ole Miss students who was found dead this past week, Ryan Strang, was a Phi Delta Theta fraternity brother.
asserted
who → find → students
He was found at an off-campus home.
asserted
He → find → home
Authorities found packages of kratom, a commercially available drug that has been derided as "gas station heroin," at both scenes.
asserted
that → find → scenes
Phi Delta Theta has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
asserted
Theta → accuse → wrongdoing
"The loss of two young lives is a profound tragedy," the fraternity said in a statement, in part.
asserted
fraternity → say → part
"Phi Delta Theta joins the University of Mississippi and the broader Ole Miss community in mourning Robert and Aidan Hamilton and extending our deepest sympathies to their families, friends, chapter brothers, classmates, and all those who knew and loved them.
asserted
who → join → them
"These losses reinforce the importance of a collective commitment to health, safety, and well-being on college campuses today.
asserted
losses → reinforce → campuses
We encourage the Phi Delta Theta community to keep the Strang family, the Mississippi Alpha Chapter, and everyone affected by these tragic losses in their thoughts.
asserted
We → encourage → thoughts
"
Dangers like kratom did not exist when Lohse was in school, he said.
asserted
he → exist → school
It wasn't like every time somebody did cocaine they could die."
At Penn State, prosecutors allege in court documents that pledges were allegedly coerced into cutting and packaging cocaine as part of an alleged organized drug ring led by former Sigma Chi member Agostino Abbatiello.
uncertain
pledges → do → Abbatiello
Lohse said, "When I was reading that the pledges were in the background doing that, I thought that was sort of amazing – but in a bad way, but also extremely brazen."
Fraternity culture made more news this past week in Madison, Wisconsin, where police said they found roughly 30 partially clothed young men packed inside a sweltering basement, covered in food, condiments and other liquids – with several pledges showing signs of being physically assaulted.
The Madison Police Department said officers were dispatched to the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) house on Wednesday night and are investigating the hazing incident, with two people arrested.
"
asserted
people → say → incident
AEPi Headquarters takes the allegations involving our Pi Chapter in Madison, Wisconsin, extremely seriously," Jonathan Pierce, the fraternity's chief communications officer, said in a statement.
asserted
Pierce → take → statement
"We will cooperate fully with the authorities investigating this matter."
asserted
We → cooperate → matter
"Hazing is a betrayal of everything our fraternity stands for.
asserted
fraternity → stand → everything
There is no place for it in AEPi," he added.
asserted
he → be → AEPi
We educate our members about their responsibility to ‘Be Your Brothers’ Keeper.’
asserted
We → educate → responsibility
"It's a sad moment, for society, civilization," Lohse said about some of the recent headlines involving fraternity behavior.
asserted
Lohse → say → behavior
Young men need it more than ever.
asserted
men → need → it
Young men are more adrift than ever, there's no moral leadership."
"There's a vacuum in the center of higher education and American society that used to be filled by God, by religion, by the church," he said, adding that it's "totally vacant now."
asserted
it → be → church
During his time as a brother at Sigma Alpha Epsilon, he said he was forced to "swim in a kiddie pool full of vomit while being urinated on," and "chug" vinegar or milk to the point that he and his fellow pledge brothers "would vomit" in a room covered with tarps.
asserted
he → say → tarps
He also said he was forced into a small basement crawl space for a period of time.
asserted
he → say → time
This was all in addition to constant coerced binge drinking, he said.
asserted
he → coerce → drinking
"We're talking like 10, 15 plus drinks," he said.
asserted
he → talk → drinks
He said the unwritten "code of silence" or "omertà" contributes to these repeated hazing or drug-related issues within frats.
asserted
code → say → frats
"The original 19th-century concept of the American fraternity is not what exists today," Lohse said.
asserted
Lohse → exist → fraternity
"Essentially, you can look at a modern fraternity like a criminal organization.
asserted
you → look → organization
In most states, the unique behavioral attributes of a fraternity cross into criminal statutes—whether misdemeanor hazing or serious felony drug trafficking.
asserted
attributes → cross → statutes
You need a code of silence to protect that."
asserted
You → need → that
He went on to say, "the organization forces the individual to compromise their own identity for the collective, taking something from its members to ensure the system perpetuates itself over time."
Following the hazing incidents during Lohse's time as a student, SAE was suspended from Dartmouth for the last 10 years and re-recognized in August, The Darmouth student-run paper reported.
asserted
paper → go → August
When asked what advice he would offer students considering Greek life at major universities, Lohse stopped short of telling students flatly to avoid fraternities.
asserted
Lohse → ask → fraternities
Instead, Lohse urges young men to calculate the "opportunity cost" before pledging.
asserted
Lohse → urge → cost
"Consider that the upside benefit, while maybe not zero, pales in comparison to the downside risk," Lohse said, advising incoming students to reflect on what they truly want out of higher education.
"Think about what you actually want out of college.
asserted
you → consider → college
Who do you really want to be around, and who is actually going to be there to help you?
asserted
who → want → you
I think you'll find that a fraternity isn't going to provide that."
asserted
fraternity → think → that
Judson Horras, president and CEO of the North American Interfraternity Conference, told Fox News Digital that "student safety is our members' highest priority.
asserted
safety → tell → Digital
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
