# Do (or Did) Some Fraternities Initiate Pledges by Paddling Them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2002, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338 "2002-03-21T13:53:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/41 "2017-03-24T13:19:57Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I heard stories about frat brothers having to swallow live goldfish as part of the initiation ritual. Any truth to that? This would have been in the 1950s. It’s unlikely that it was part of an initiation ritual. Most initiation rituals are essentially Christian rites, though often with elements of Greek philosophy thrown in. Of course, it may have been part of a hazing ritual. Goldfish swallowing became [something of a fad](http://www.mortaljourney.com/2011/01/1940-trends/goldfish-swallowing) on college campuses in the 1930s after a stunt at Harvard (though initially unrelated to any fraternity). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/42 "2017-03-24T13:29:09Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Meh, it’s just traditional Americana — I doubt if they paddled each other in 17th century Salamanca \* or 19th century Oxford or even in 20th century Mexican unis… Can’t speak for the others, but 19th century Oxford students were almost exclusively drawn from the same public schools where [fagging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging) was _de rigeur_. ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/43 "2017-03-24T14:48:30Z")
How do you think I got the “Charter Member” label under my username? 🙂 I was never a pledge or a brother, but I have it on good authority that one of the hell week rites at my school was onion on a string. A pledge would have to wear a string with a really large onion on it around his neck. He could stop as soon as he ate the entire onion. Since supposedly pledges were not allowed to shower during hell week, it was important that they ate their onion quickly. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/44 "2017-03-24T14:56:07Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > They were going to tie them together, wrap the girls up in them like a mummy, and then burn them in a big bonfire And I thought branding was bad. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![PAmarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@PAmarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PAmarine)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/45 "2017-03-28T17:10:48Z")
Gyrate in his submission mentions branding. We never did anything like that in our House, but there were rumors that the three black fraternities branded their pledges as a matter of course. In 1965, we were more imaginative than that. Our Pledgemaster returned from visiting a buddy in a Texas chapter really enthusiastic about cattle prods, which were in standard use at that time in many Texas fraternity initiation rituals. (they may still be today) Since our university was an agricultural institution, cattle prods were easily available. Believe me, there is nothing like zapping the most sensitive part of a pledge’s anatomy to force him to do unspeakable things. But cattle prods are expensive; you have to keep getting new batteries to keep the power strong. I suppose they are illegal now, too. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/46 "2017-03-28T20:52:56Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Can’t speak for the others, but 19th century Oxford students were almost exclusively drawn from the same public schools where [fagging](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fagging) was _de rigeur_. Meh, there was a homoerotic aspect in some schools ( and curiously not in others — seemed to depend on the personality of the headmaster, although one would think shoving a group of pubescent kids together without seeing the opposite sex would be buying trouble ) but fagging wasn’t part of that. Mainly making toast ( more difficult back then, how many children today have used a metal toasting fork in front of a blazing grate ? ). The most famous fag-master was Harry Flashman from **Tom Brown’s Schooldays** and the eponymous books by George MacDonald Fraser, and he preferred holding a small fag in front of a blazing grate to loving him tender. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/47 "2017-03-29T12:58:39Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Meh, there was a homoerotic aspect in some schools ( and curiously not in others — seemed to depend on the personality of the headmaster, although one would think shoving a group of pubescent kids together without seeing the opposite sex would be buying trouble ) but fagging wasn’t part of that. Mainly making toast ( more difficult back then, how many children today have used a metal toasting fork in front of a blazing grate ? ). > The most famous fag-master was Harry Flashman from **Tom Brown’s Schooldays** and the eponymous books by George MacDonald Fraser, and he preferred holding a small fag in front of a blazing grate to loving him tender. Don’t forget that caning was a standard element of student discipline in British schools until not all that long ago, relatively speaking . Paddling would have been jolly japes by comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338/48 "2017-03-29T13:23:44Z")
Paddling still exists in some U.S. public schools although it generally isn’t as bad as it sounds. My public schools had it in the 80’s - early 90’s. People gasp when I say that but you had an option - three licks (paddlings), three days suspension or three days of weekend or after school detention. Only an idiot would choose anything other than the paddling. It didn’t hurt much and it was over almost as soon as it began. I would love to have the paddling option as an adult rather than listen to a boss, romantic partner or police officer drone on about something I couldn’t care less about. Just smack me on the ass and shut up. It doesn’t cause any damage. It is the easiest way out of any wrong-doing that I know of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-or-did-some-fraternities-initiate-pledges-by-paddling-them/99338.md?page=2)