Frat Boys: Inside America's Fraternities Page #2

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to prove themselves before they can

enter the brotherhood.

This kid has been washing

this guy's car for ever.

The hose doesn't reach, man.

That's awful.

The recruits will go through

an intensive ten-week period

called pledging where they will be

tested to see if they fit in.

I'm going to have you move

my entire bed to the left

and you are

going to take this sponge

and this bleach and you're going to

remove any mould that you see.

So, like, any of this black sh*t.

To demonstrate their loyalty,

the pledges have to do all

the menial jobs around the house.

I just want you to hang

all my clothes,

spray them with wrinkle release,

unwrinkle them.

Um, that's it.

All right, cool.

Pledge number 12.

It's James...

..and he's just going to

hang up my clothes. Hm?

I thought it was Jordan, not James.

Is it Jordan?

Thanks, man. Love you too, Bro.

See, I'm confused.

Just hang the shirts and throw

the pants in the dresser.

Button-downs first,

then long sleeves, and then T-shirts

and then, if you don't have enough

hangers, athletic shirts.

Pledging is a period

before you are a brother.

It's kind of a test run to see

if the organisation is actually

right for you.

You follow through the process

and then you earn your place

in the organisation.

Ben is definitely...

He's a well-respected brother

around here.

He's definitely a good guy to...

not necessarily idolise

but try to follow in

their footsteps, kind of thing.

I'm originally from Leicester,

lived there for 15-and-a-half years.

I moved here in my second year

of high school.

I'd never even heard of a fraternity

until I moved to America.

I didn't even know what it was.

I'd seen it referenced

in a couple of movies

but wasn't really paying

attention to it.

Didn't realise how

much of a big deal that was

until I moved out here

and out here it's...

It's a big deal.

Why do you want to be

part of a fraternity?

A lot of people just think it's

about going out and drinking

and everything -

they have other stuff too.

You get to meet a cool bunch

of people

and a lot of your friends that you

keep for the rest of your life

you meet in college,

and it's a really easy way to meet

a big group of people.

You get to meet the right people,

who you want to talk to,

and essentially it's also a good

way of, like, getting connections

outside of college that could help

you link up with jobs and stuff.

All right, not just to get girls.

Absolutely not, not just that.

It's a bonus.

One day I'll have someone

doing this for me,

that's the best way to look at it.

And everyone has done this.

It's not like we're singled out

and we're the only people

that have done this.

Everyone who's up there,

even the President, has done this.

You know, you earn your stripes,

I guess.

This is not coming off.

Hey, man.

What are you going to start with?

The normal stuff. OK.

Let's go down the line.

What's your major?

Finance. And what do you want

to do with that?

I'm going to be a financial adviser

and stockbroker.

Before I graduate I'm just

trying to trade a lot.

Favourite quote? Favourite quote?

"They say money can't buy happiness

but I'll take my f***ing chances."

Nice.

'Part of the pledging process,

'you have to get to know

all the brothers.'

What's the point of joining

an organisation

if you don't know anyone in it?

So every week you have to interview

a certain amount of brothers.

You have to get to know them,

ask them certain questions -

when they were initiated,

their families, whatnot.

Best tip for pledging?

Um, just meet as many

girls as possible.

The more girls you meet,

the more girls that like you,

the more likely you are

to get through.

Biggest fear?

Not being successful.

Same as everybody else.

Really? Yeah.

Makes sense.

And the last one - ass or tits?

Dang. Tits.

All right, I'm done.

All right, cool.

Jordan is one of 25 pledges

trying to join the Gazoni

fraternity.

I'm going to go through this,

so hopefully you guys have

everything done. If not...

..it's going to reflect poorly

on you.

I am the shepherd

of the flock of sheep

and they are all the new sheep

and I am trying to guide their way

to the pasture, you could say,

which is the brotherhood in my mind.

Let's go over the, uh,

14 expectations.

Do you guys know them all?

All right, was the first one?

Second one?

13?

All right. Greek alphabet.

Anyone think they know it here yet?

Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon,

zeta, theta, eta, iota...

No, you messed that up.

Oh, I messed up?

Eta. Yeah, zeta, eta, theta.

I said that!

EVERYONE TALKS AT ONCE

All right, if you guys don't know

that yet, you're going

to have to just start

knowing your sh*t, guys.

Hopefully you've been getting your

interview done, your house hours.

I'm going to be looking

through that tonight.

'We all want to become the best

people we can be'

and that's why we do have such

a strong brotherhood, it's cos

we all have about the same values

and same wants and goals in life.

Across America, around 100,000

students are going through

this process at the same time.

But pledging isn't always

innocent fun.

A big university is in crisis mode

tonight after a teenage student

found unconscious

in a frat house has died.

A drastic move after

the tragedy on campus.

West Virginia University

is suspending all Greek activity

after a freshman died.

What's happening right now

at West Virginia University

in Morgantown is just the latest

tragic incident involving

fraternities at colleges

all across our country.

Sometimes, the process of joining

includes more sinister elements.

There are some rituals that

do take place

where you're supposed to

demonstrate your manhood,

or your strength, or your intensity

or your perseverance,

or your ability to endure

difficult circumstances

that results in a tragedy.

Shut the f***ers up!

Shut the f*** up.

With brothers swearing an oath of

secrecy, little is known.

But a handful of unverified images

have appeared online.

Each of you little b*tches

have sinned

and now you b*tches... Ooh!

..will confess.

What if we confess to the wrong

thing, brother?

THEY ALL CHEER:

P*ssy!

What these videos appear to show

is that pledging rituals

can involve physical beatings,

forced alcohol consumption

and even branding of the skin.

For the last 20 years, attorney

Doug Fierberg has worked on lawsuits

related to dangerous pledging

practices which are known as hazing.

This is a wrongful death

in a fraternity case.

A wrongful death, fraternity hazing.

Wrongful death, fraternity hazing.

For years in this country, Americans

had been denied the truth

about how dangerous fraternities

are to young people and families.

Most everything in here

is filled with files

of fraternity injury and death.

And that's just, sort of,

part of what's active.

There's filing cabinets

all around this office.

In them are just tragedies involving

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