Make of list of ways to haze pledges and categorize it like so: Legal-, Borderline-, Illegal but funny-.
According to http://education-law.lawyers.com/college-and-university-law/no-ifs-ands-or-buts-hazing-is-illegal.html , hazing is illegal.
Of course, that it is illegal does not mean that it does not occur.
But there are some forms of “hazing” that are legal. Even its doing laundry or cleaning dishes. Instead of hazing, I mean to say forms of initiation
I think at this point most colleges have their own definitions of hazing and anything fitting that definition is illegal.
At Cornell (where I attend), the formal definition of hazing is: “To haze another person, regardless of the person’s consent to participate. Hazing means an act that, as an explicit or implicit condition for initiation to, admission into, affiliation with, or continued membership in a group or organization, (1) could be seen by a reasonable person as endangering the physical health of an individual or as causing mental distress to an individual through, for example, humiliating, intimidating, or demeaning treatment, (2) destroys or removes public or private property, (3) involves the consumption of alcohol or drugs, or the consumption of other substances to excess, or (4) violates any University policy.”
Examples include scavenger hunts, road trips, wearing of public apparel which is conspicuous and not normally in good taste, morally degrading or humiliating games or activities, and any other activities which are not consistent with academic achievement.
So basically, a ton of stuff can be considered hazing, and it’s all illegal under the university law.