There are many complicated forms of initiation: the Vaishnavas differentiate between the members of the four classes; the Shaivas and Tantrists take into account the natural aptitude and competency of the recipients and distinguish between first-grade initiates, who are believed to obtain access to God, and higher-grade initiates, who remain in a state of holiness.
It might possibly be a consequence of different forms of initiation of warriors, where one part seemed to have belonged to Óðinn and the other to Freyja.
The hazing allegedly involved 11 freshmen victims, and Haroldson said in a statement that the "underclassmen's intimate areas were aggressively targeted as a form of initiation".
"No matter how mild the form of initiation, we feel that it's demeaning to the kids and a distraction in the classroom," Mr. Iovino said.
The tradition of seniors' pressing stickers onto freshmen's T-shirts as a form of initiation, cherished by some students but abhorred by others, had been halted.
Members of the various denominations who abandon all worldly attachment enter an "inner circle" or "order" that, seeking a life of devotion, adopts or develops particular vows and observances, a common cult, and some form of initiation.
The first college society to bear a Greek-letter name, it also introduced these frat-row characteristics: an oath of secrecy, code of laws, elaborate form of initiation, special handshake and Greek and Latin mottoes.
It's extreme happening as a form of initiation, in public, with no distinguishing among participants, observers, what is spontaneous, what is staged, or what is even the stage.
Out of the 349 women randomised to the intervention group, there was clear documentation of some form of initiation of the intervention in 328 (94%).
The participants revealed that this form of initiation is perceived as being immoral because it provides an opportunity for unmarried women to have open discussions about issues that might lead them to engage in sexual activities.
Sebastian Junger ("First, the Ordeal," Op-Ed, March 11) suggests that hazing may be one of our society's forms of tribal initiation rites and that tribal rites of passage fostered an intense comradeship by reducing the initiates to a uniform and egalitarian condition.
