A Brief History of Fraternity and Sorority Paddles and Recommendations

• Publication year: 2015
• Author: By Alexandra S. Lehman

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FRATERNITY AND SORORITY PADDLES AND RECOMMENDATIONS*

By Alexandra S. Lehman^**

A. Introduction

The paddle. The fraternity and sorority paddle is most commonly used today as a decorative keepsake representing brotherhood or sisterhood and is given as a gift according to a local chapter's traditions. The history of the paddle, however, is rooted in violence and remains both a tool and symbol of hazing in Greek organizations. Several national fraternities and sororities have decided to phase out the use and gifting of paddles and instead encourage alternative gifts not associated with hazing. This is a trend that should be encouraged. Fraternities and sororities should discontinue the licensing of paddles with their names and trademarks and instead promote viable paddle-gifting alternatives such as symbolic plaques and decorative symbols.

B. History of Paddling and Greek Hazing

The use of paddles as a form of punishment supposedly originated at sea, where they were used by sailors to discipline each other for minor offenses such as leaving one's post.¹English sailors referred to paddling as "cobbing," from the word "cob," which meant to fight or strike.² The "cobbing board" was usually created from the plank of a wooden barrel that contained the "bunghole," which was a hole drilled into the barrel to allow liquid to flow out.³ As a means of punishment, the hole in the board allowed air to pass through resulting in harsher blows whereas a solid board would result in a more cushioned blow.⁴ Eventually, more holes were carved into the boards to increase the intensity of the punishment. Paddling at sea was eventually imitated on land and brought to the United States by slave traders as a way to punish slaves without leaving visible damage, thereby lowering their value to potential purchasers.⁵ By the early nineteenth century, paddles were specially carved for beatings to suit the beater's preference—shuttle necks were carved as a handle, many still contained holes, sizes and shapes ranged from tennis racquets to oars to pizza-style boards, and the larger paddles were made from oak or hickory.⁶ Prisons and schools also adopted paddling as a method of corporal punishment.⁷ Nineteen states still allow corporal punishment in schools, which often includes paddling.⁸ The ten states with the highest rate of corporal punishment in schools include Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Florida, and Missouri.⁹ Some schools have reportedly used shaved-down baseball bats as paddles to punish students.¹⁰

The practice of hazing, subjecting individuals to abusive or humiliating ritual activities for initiation purposes is traced back to the military in ancient Greece.¹¹ European universities in the middle ages adopted hazing practices, such as upperclassmen forcing new students to act as servants.¹² These practices were then brought to America.¹³The use of paddling as a form of hazing in fraternities dates back to the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.¹⁴

C. Decline of Paddling and Rise of Decorative Paddles

In response to increased reports of hazing, many states began to adopt anti-hazing legislation, and today all but six states (Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Wyoming) have adopted statutes that prohibit hazing.¹⁵These statutes are generally broad enough to preclude the use of paddling. Ohio's statute, for example, defines hazing as "doing any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act of initiation into any student or other organization that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person."¹⁶ Universities, fraternities, and sororities have also responded by passing their own ant-hazing policies, many of which specifically ban paddling or mirror the language in the statutes.¹⁷

As the use of paddles as actual tools of hazing significantly declined, their use as a symbolic gift and fraternal tradition emerged. Most Greek organizations developed an unofficial tradition where new members would decorate ceremonial paddles as part of their initiation into the fraternity or sorority. Pledges often purchase a blank wooden paddle to decorate commemorating their membership into the Greek Organization or to give as a gift to their "big brother" or "big sister" within the fraternity or...