Today we share a powerful message from alumnus brother Jacob Heltzel. Jacob Heltzel is Roster Number 1 and the primary co-founder (along with Richard "Trey" Paradiso - Roster Number 2) of Iota Lambda Chapter at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.
Both Jacob and Trey entered Longwood University and had pledged other fraternties in the mid-2000s and experienced the ills and dangers of hazing. Both men dropped from those fraternities and were left with a question of what to do next. After consulting with their fathers (both of whom were Theta Chi alumni), Jacob and Trey came together to bring Theta Chi to their Alma Mater - with a chief idea of creating a non-hazing brotherhood that could provide a true fraternity experience.
Jacob shares the downsides of the hazing that he experienced, both as a pledge and his observations of the fraternities that hazed on his campus. He also shares his thoughts about the brotherhood created at Iota Lambda and the progress that they have made and the success that they have had (not only as a chapter, but also as a powerful example within their fraternity system) since Installation in April 2007.
Thank you, Brother Heltzel, for sharing your powerful message.
To read more stories about the effects of hazing, click here.
For more information on the dangers of hazing, please visit http://www.hazingprevention.org