Hazings and Fraternities: The Unfortunate Impact of Brutalized Masculinity
Hazings and Fraternities: The Unfortunate Impact of Brutalized Masculinity
Lillee Martin
The Piazza Center and Hazing Prevention Network define hazing as, “…a power-dynamic behavior aimed at screening, fostering bonds, or establishing standing in organizations that risks the health and safety of individuals…” Hazing is a destructive epidemic with worldwide scope of varying severity and frequency, but how will you react when it happens to you? The normalization of peer pressure and enforced involvement in dangerous situations has reached the breach point; the brutal impact and terrifying reality of hazing has collided with Flagstaff like a meteor.
In the early morning of January 31, 2026, Colin Daniel Martinez, a Northern Arizona University student, died of alcohol poisoning at
a fraternity party. Before this; however, the evening prior began with a Delta Tau Delta (a fraternity founded in 1858 at Bethany College in West Virginia—supposedly driven by the values of truth, faith, courage, and power) event. The invite-only dinner was the concluding event of this year’s Spring Rush (an informal Greek Life recruitment period occurring at the beginning of the spring semester) and was orchestrated by three of the frat’s leading members: Carter Eslick, Ryan Creech, and Riley Cass—all of which were later arrested, thanks to Jack’s Law (established in Arizona in 2022). Four pledges, including the victim, were allegedly forced into drinking nearly 3.5 liters of vodka altogether in the time following the dinner. For reference, this equates to around 78-80 shots of vodka; 4-5 consecutive shots alone of any 80-proof alcohol pushes the body’s tolerance limit to the brink in most healthy men under the age of 65, according to the US Family Health Plan. Of the three, Carter Eslick, the pledge master, is the only one to get indicted by a grand jury.
The party seemed to have had a maximum of 30 attendees at its peak; these attendees were allegedly concerned regarding his state at around 3:00am—the students recognizing unconsciousness, a lack of puking, shallow breathing, and gagging as the primary symptoms. It wasn’t until 9:00am the following morning that any authorities were notified of the 18-year-old student’s health status. He died in the time that his emergency went, not unnoticed, but unattended.
Unfortunately, this tragedy is one of many. As of June 11, 2025, HazingInfo reports 334 (now 335, at least) hazing related deaths in the past 187 years; 123 happening in the last 26 years alone. Although many instances of hazing include lethally dangerous activity that has led to substantial fatalities, most cases are not as blatantly problematic. Being that the shame and ambiguity regarding hazing has the ability to muddle the accurate probability of victims, the estimated range is around 55%-80% of members that claim to have been involved in an involuntary ritualistic display of submission to their frat. This information is sourced from the Hazing Prevention Network and a 2008 University of Maine study, respectively. According to Auburn University, out of the estimated 73% of students in fraternities or sororities that have experienced hazing, 53% of that population included drinking games, 26% included forced alcohol consumption, and 31% included public humiliation—Hazing has the potential to be devastating beyond the associated health concerns; one’s integrity and reputation tend to be threatened by the external pressures of conformity and the promise of community.
This is not a new problem heightened by the increase of social media or other broad excuses: Stetson University states that, as of February 12, 2010, there were 96 fraternity and sorority related deaths—90 of them being men, or members of the fraternities, rather than the sororities. Why could this be? Is there a realistic connection to be made between this data and consistent behaviors presented by masculinized individuals, or is it purely coincidental? This conversation feels like one that is easy to tiptoe around; being that there exists conceptual concerns and blockades that disturb an accurate through-line of thought, bioessentialism—the belief system that suggests “certain characteristics, behaviors, or abilities are inherently linked to one’s biology or genetics,” (The Oxford Review) being the first that comes to mind (a concept I disagree with in every context). It is important to understand that with the nuance of conversations like these grows a potentially complicated interpretation of alignment to opinion. I believe that in the contemporary context of the United States, the relationship between men, the performance of male dominance, influenced ego, and external pressure has created persistent opportunities for dangerous situations like fraternity hazing. In contrast to the competitiveness ingrained into masculine spaces (frats, sure, but maybe even sports teams or gangs), I find that there is a societal expectation for women to prove themselves worthy of traditionally masculine roles (like positions of power and influence) in a way that has created a systematic cycle of teaching women to appease men; similarly, I believe that men are also taught to appease the men around them. They themselves are competing for the highest and most distinguished form of praise from men that hold power in masculinized structures. There is also something to be said about the very threshold of resistance that different demographics of individuals must hold within themselves to stay afloat in an ever-perpetuating society of forced conformity and systemic oppression—the white man competes with his peers to show that he is capable of withstanding; maybe because he hasn’t lived a life in which he has ever needed to practice that kind of strength. While I think that this harmful ecosystem of power hierarchies and an entrenched desire to prove your worth are entirely subconscious, I do think that this is a viable explanation for common threads within (typically male) spaces that engage with traditions like binge drinking games and public humiliation rituals. I am unsure as to how this deeply 
rooted history of men and their dynamics can become uninvolved with ego, but I am hopeful that it can; simply because I do not think that people do not deserve to die for the sake of fragile masculinity and I feel strongly that others will agree with me.
Regarding Colin, the victim of this hazing event in January of 2026 at NAU, there is not much that can be done now to alleviate the suffering that he experienced in his final hours. This being said, I find it crucial to recognize the extent to which the bystander effect brutally impacted his fatality. As the rising generation of college students filter in, I strongly advise that students continue to remember the Good Samaritan’s Law; a law enforced in all 50 states to protect rescuers from liability—especially in situations of illegal substance use. Learn from your potential peers; do not allow your fear of law enforcement or a detriment to your reputation prevent you from saving another person’s life.