"Example is not the best form of leadership. It is the only kind." These words were first spoken by Albert Einstein. Dave Westol, Executive Director of Theta Chi International Fraternity, also said them to a group of CFS Organization members and athletic team members yesterday evening in Rollins Chapel.
Westol has delivered his talk on hazing and risk management, which features a slideshow of newspaper articles on hazing incidents and their consequences, to over 300 college campuses across the country. But this lecture at Dartmouth was a special one for Westol " the Dartmouth chapter of Theta Chi was the first to protest the national's Caucasian clause in 1952.
In front of headlines recounting the deaths of numerous college students due to organization's hazing and negligence, Westol said that his goal was to get students to examine their own practices. He told students: "The best leaders in an organization do not haze. People who haze are incomplete people."
Common sense, said Westol, is the best tool a student has against tragic occurrences and the various legal actions that follow them. More than anything, Westol emphasized the importance of caring for one's fellow members and having foresight regarding potentially dangerous situations.
Providing more concrete data about fraternity liability and danger, Westol commented that fraternities are the sixth worst liability for an insurance company to take on, placing them in front of nuclear power plants.
But Westol did not only use shock factors to discourage hazing. He implored students to change the image of fraternities, sororities and athletic teams from exclusive organizations with demeaning entrance rituals. Westol showed slides of a cartoon with the caption "Fraternity Row" below a picture of four Greek houses, the last bearing the letters "AA," for Alcoholics Anonymous. This was the image that he asked students to debunk through good judgment and leadership.
To further increase awareness of the negative images of fraternities and sororities, Westol cited the national trend of colleges -- such as Amherst, Bowdoin and Colby -- who have downsized or eliminated their Greek systems.
He commended Sigma Phi Epsilon for their Balanced Man Program, which encourages academic, extracurricular and social achievement. He also showed newspaper articles in which alumni of fraternities and sororities wrote editorials on exercising good judgment and common sense regarding hazing practices.
Yet the tone of the evening was a somber one -- Westol believed that, from his observations during his short visit to Dartmouth, there is hazing present on this campus. Westol asked every Dartmouth student to work toward making that change.
