Family Of Hazing Victim Challenges Ben & Jerry’s To Change Flavor Name

By Matt Wiley

In their fight to end hazing, the Kowiak family of New Tampa has taken the battle to the front door of Vermont ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s, after the company recently released its “Hazed & Confused” flavor. The family argues that the name makes a reference to the activity that took Harrison Kowiak’s life in 2008.

Lianne, whose son died in a hazing accident in 2008 when he was rushing for the Theta Chi fraternity while attending Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, petitioned Ben & Jerry’s to change the name when she saw the flavor in a magazine advertisement. However, it doesn’t look as though Ben & Jerry’s has any plans to change the name.

“Our Leadership Team and majority of our consumers who have shared their opinions about this understand the popular culture reference (of “Hazed & Infused”) and overwhelmingly feel that the flavor name and the marketing of it in no way supports or infers hazing,” representatives from Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.

The name references “Dazed & Confused,” the song made popular by the rock supergroup Led Zeppelin in the 1970s and again when the 1993 film with the same name (which launched the careers of many stars in its ensemble cast, including Matthew McConaughey, Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Joey Lauren Adams, Nicky Katt, and Rory Cochrane)was released. The flavor, part of Ben & Jerry’s new “Core” line of flavors, features hazelnut ice cream and hazelnuts, hence the word “hazed” in the title.

“Given that understanding, it does not make sense for us to consider changing the name,” the statement says. “For any family to lose a son or daughter to hazing is tragic. Our hearts go out to the family.”

Kowiak says that she and her husband Brian were not pleased with the decision. They were told that the name is Ben & Jerry’s “cheeky style humor” that is seen on other cartons of its ice cream, many of which also feature pop culture references, such as “Cherry Garcia” (named after the Grateful Dead’s late guitarist Jerry Garcia) and “Phish Food,” named for another popular rock band.

“To say that we were disappointed (with Ben & Jerry’s decision) is an understatement,” Kowiak explains, adding that she sent a letter and followed up with the Ben & Jerry’s consumer affairs office. “Our letter was very factual, with the intent of educating them about the social issues and dangers of hazing. We were hoping that by educating them, they would better understand our position and change the offensive flavor name to something more appropriate. We were careful to keep everything as unemotional as possible — even though it was difficult — and focused on factual hazing statistics.”

Kowiak argues that, although the flavor’s name is based upon a pop culture term, the movie that it references actually is centered around high school hazing, which is included in the film’s synopsis. High school freshmen are chased by the older students and paddled. Some are forced to walk through a car wash.

“Our objections, along with many other university students, administrators, educators and volunteers throughout the country, is that the name makes light of and thus minimalizes the entire concept of the dangerous and sometimes deadly act of hazing,” Kowiak explains. “It also honors a movie, and, in turn, honors the practices therein, with the plot based upon violent hazing practices.”

In addition to the Kowiaks, the family of Robert Champion (the Florida A&M University student who died in a hazing accident in November of 2011), Karla Hunt (an Indiana woman whose son was hazed in high school), Elizabeth Allen (founder of StopHazing.org) and Hank Nuwer (a long-time hazing prevention advocate) also took issue with the ice cream’s name. Kowiak says that a representative from the University of Central Florida mentioned the issue about the ice cream flavor’s name before she (Kowiak) spoke to more than 400 students there in late September during National Hazing Prevention Week. She says that she also spoke to a group of more than 500 students on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus the same week.

Harrison died of blunt force trauma to the head, during an activity called “bull-dogging.” Harrison and another pledge were instructed to run from one end of a field to the other in the dark. While doing so, members of the fraternity, dressed completely in black, would tackle them as they ran.

But, after Harrison was tackled, he slipped into a coma. Members of the fraternity drove him to a local hospital instead of calling 9-1-1. His family never had a chance to speak with him again. Afterward, the story about what happened continued to change when the surviving students were interviewed by authorities.

The Kowiaks filed a lawsuit against  both the university and the Theta Chi fraternity and several of its members, and settled out of court in August 2012 for an undisclosed amount. Kowiak says that the money is going towards educating and raising awareness about hazing.

“(Ben & Jerry’s) choice of this flavor name is in very poor taste and is extremely inappropriate,” Kowiak says. “To say that we were saddened and shocked by their complete insensitivity is an understatement. We felt it was a real slap in the face to us and to the many others who have been detrimentally impacted by senseless hazing practices, as well as those involved with hazing prevention education.”

The aforementioned hazing prevention website StopHazing.org posted a statement prior to the decision also urging Ben & Jerry’s to change the flavor’s name:

“Ben & Jerry’s, we ask you to maintain our confidence in your forward-thinking company by using this as an opportunity to educate the public about the problem of hazing and to move quickly to find a new name for your hazelnut ice cream.”

Nuwer, meanwhile, wrote on his blog at HankNuwer.com, “Hazed and Confused?  Here’s my new motto. ‘We’re not buying it…nor any other Ben & Jerry’s product. Not so long as they put out that offensive flavor.’”