As I was doing some other research, I ran across something disturbing. There’s apparently an organization at Tuskegee which has had a regular practice of putting its pledges in a hospital. According to what I found, it appears this has been ongoing for 25+ years, and the University hasn’t stopped it. It would seem the least it could do is warn incoming students that pledging to this organization could be hazardous to their health, but it hasn’t even seen fit to do this. I don’t know if it’s afraid, or what, but that seems downright irresponsible behavior. I suppose it has the legal refuge of “plausible deniability” but it seems unlikely to me that something that results in injuries to pledges with such disturbing regularity can really pass unnoticed to anyone that cares to look.

I am going to continue to dig into this particular organization. I haven’t named them because I lack complete enough information to determine if the problem is local to Tuskegee or is endemic to the national organization, but I do know of specific cases (yes, plural) where this sort of abuse has happened at Tuskegee. I know they routinely employ intimidation and threats to prevent their victims from prosecuting. I appeal to those within the reach of my keyboard; I will compile the facts and statistics and maintain your anonymity, and when the complete case is built, I will publish, in an attempt to publicly shame them into doing the right thing. And if you don’t wish to work with me on this, that’s OK. I would still urge you to talk about it openly with your friends, and especially with young people you know who might be in danger of walking in to this situation; if they’re intent to pledge, they deserve to walk into it with their eyes open, don’t they?

And if you’re a member of this group, particularly if you’re one of the ones (and there are several of you) who are also leading Bible studies in the community while endorsing this abuse, I am ashamed of you. You, especially, should know better. Jesus didn’t say, “Let the children come to me and suffer,” and you know it. I don’t see how you can sit by and watch this happening, much less condone it or even actively take part in it. You should be ashamed of yourselves; by your actions you bring shame not only on yourselves, but the whole Christian community as well.

Ultimately, the blame lies with the local organization, including the adult alumni in the area who are helping to perpetuate this abuse. (I was tempted to characterize them as “thugs” but I’m not sure if I mightn’t be insulting thugs by doing so.) I know this, and endorse this viewpoint. But I can’t help but feel the University bears some responsibility, because of the “code of silence” that it is participating in. Because I feel this way, I can no longer recommend this university to any of the youth I work with.