HAZING PARTICIPANTS TELL STORY

Two former members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, which is banned from Southeast Missouri State University because of a hazing that took the life of a pledge in February 1994, recently expressed their thoughts on Greek life and hazing before 200 Greek hopefuls at the university.

Michael Q. Williams and Issac Simms III, who were participants in the incident that led to the death of Michael Davis, 25, delivered some good advice to the students. Included in their advice was that putting a stop to the kind of hazing that took place in their fraternity is a responsibility not only of those who do the hazing, but the recipients as well. One said he would advise his son that if an organization is hazing, don't join that organization. If all would-be pledges took that position, it the organization that hazes wouldn't last for long.

It is good that a court ordered these two men as terms of their probation to talk to other college students about hazing. By doing so they must face up to what happened to Davis every time they speak, and it can't be easy for them to relive the incident. Davis, after all, was a friend of all of those involved in his hazing. That is a hard burden to carry, but it is a story that must be told.