Michael said that while other new members enjoyed it, he did not.

When asked about Michael’s experience, Lampoon President Owen T. L. Bates ’13 was vague about the nature of his organization’s initiation practices. Though he said the Lampoon tries to make the process “as positive an experience as possible,” he said the organization strives for “an equal blend of the Dartmouth initiation and the come-as-you-are initiation.”

According to Massachusetts law, hazing comes in many forms: everything from forced consumption of any food to isolation to lack of sleep. Massachusetts code defines hazing as “any conduct or method of initiation into any student organization, whether on public or private property, which willfully or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of any student or other person.”

According to Marc Edelman, a law professor at Barry University who specializes in sports law, Massachusetts hazing laws are particularly stringent in comparison to other states.

For example, in Massachusetts, consent cannot be used as a defense; an action may be considered hazing even if a student agrees to partake in it. Massachusetts is also unusual because state law holds individuals responsible for failing to report witnessed incidents of hazing.

Thanks to these state laws, Harvard “needs to take far greater efforts to make sure its student body is aware of the legal implications of engaging in hazing activities,” Edelman said.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

In September 2010, Chris received an envelope under his door inviting him to participate in the several-month-long process known as punch, in which prospective final club members schmooze with current members in an attempt to curry enough favor to secure a spot in the club.

In November, after a series of punch events, club members arrived at Chris’s door after midnight, woke him up, and took him back to the clubhouse. Chris had been selected to join the club; he was no longer a punch, but now a neo. The members offered their congratulations and invited him to chug a few beers in celebration. It was a relatively tame start to a process that would intensify in the run-up to the final initiation dinner the following month.

Over the next few weeks, Chris was told to chug beer mixed with human dandruff and pubic hair, eat gin-soaked hamburger buns, and drink a soupy mixture that included hot sauce, raw eggs, butter, and milk. Some of the ingredients were gathered from House dining halls.

Chris’s initiation also included more benign but embarrassing activities, like wearing a dress for a day. But on a typical weeknight of initiation, Chris would drink about twenty beers in three or four hours. He frequently blacked out.

When a member of the Fox was asked if his club practiced any of the traditions that took place during Chris’s initiation, he said that the Fox does “nothing like that, ever.”

The presidents of the Owl, the Porcellian, and the Delphic declined to comment on their club’s policies regarding hazing. The presidents of the A.D., the Fly, the Fox, the Phoenix, and the Spee did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Chris said that he completed his initiation willingly and that the activities were safe.

“You just have to be careful and just look after your buddies and know when it’s a time to stop,” he said. He added that the older members did not play a harrowing role but a supportive one.