In fact, during my senior year, another fraternity played a prank on us by calling our national organization and reporting a hazing incident. The Greek system has changed so much over the past couple decades - National organizations have brought in risk management experts to help them crack down on some of the riskier behaviors within fraternity chapters (hazing, drinking, drugs, etc.). I seriously doubt that paddling goes on much in this day and age. Sort of a reminder of how insane college fraternity life is. It’s a nice decorative wall trophy and I know a lot of people who have them. My dad still has the paddle his pledge class made for him. Believe it or not, paddles were available for purchase at the University Bookstore. My little brother botched the project, claiming he didn’t know where he might acquire a paddle to decorate in the first place. Paddles were largely symbolic, and my sophomore year, we asked the incoming pledge class to make decorative paddles for their fraternity big brothers. Certainly, it never happened in my fraternity during my pledgeship, nor did it happen once I was an active brother. There were always rumors about one fraternity or another paddling their pledges, but I never believed those rumors.
