You might not have noticed, but we have been lacking something crucial in the debate that’s raged this past year over the ominous aspects of fraternity culture: a qualified celebrity spokesman. Now, finally, we might have one — if Jon Hamm is willing to take up the cause.
I can understand if Hamm wants to put his fraternity days behind him. The news that broke this week about the popular “Mad Men” star’s involvement in a brutal college hazing incident is pretty shameful.
It’s definitely a blow to Hamm’s image. Considering he was launched to fame playing a cold and emotionally stunted womanizer, Hamm has done a good job of convincing the world that he is not Don Draper. He’s down-to-earth and funny in interviews. In his big-screen efforts, he takes on self-deprecating comedic roles (the handsome-oaf hookup in “Bridesmaids”) and self-effacing ensemble gigs (“The Town,” “Friends with Kids”) — no tacky attempts at action-hero check-cashing. He responsibly checked into rehab this year in no-drama fashion, before fans ever had a clue about a drinking problem. He’s been with the same woman for 18 years.
He’s a well-behaved star — a true grown-up, it seems. Who, we’ve just learned, may have been the worst kind of toxic campus bully back in the day.
Texas court documents exhumed in the Star tabloid and confirmed by the Associated Press show that Hamm was charged with hazing and assault for a violent initiation that sent four of his University of Texas Sigma Nu brothers to jail and resulted in their chapter house being shuttered. According to records, Hamm, then 20, was involved with beating a pledge brother, lighting his pants on fire, forcing him to do strenuous exercise, and leading him around the room by the claw of a hammer hooked under his genitals. The pledge ended up in the hospital. He later filed a suit, specifically accusing Hamm of punching him in the face and abdomen after he failed to answer trivia questions about the brothers.
Don’t be sad that your idol has fallen, all you “Mad Men” fanatics. This is good information to have — especially if Hamm realizes that he can now do good with it.
It’s very easy, when confronted with stories about college hazing, ritualized binge drinking and rape to think of fraternity members as bad, bad, bad guys. Some of them obviously are. Yet others, even those involved in reprehensible behavior, go on to become productive, responsible and mature adults. As Hamm seems to have done.
Look, let’s not pretend that we know him: He’s an actor; what we’ve seen of his off-screen character is what he’s decided to show us. But I’d wager that he did not spend his childhood physically assaulting his so-called friends — stuff like that looks bad on the college application, you know — nor continue the habit into adulthood. I’d wager that the same may be true of some of his Sigma Nu brothers, even those who did jail time. (Hamm did not do time. Records show that his assault charge was dropped; he completed probation under a deferred adjudication of the hazing charge.)
So what happened to these guys when they joined a fraternity? How did they get to a collective mindset where beating the heck out of one of their own members seemed like jolly hijinks or a time-honored bonding ritual or however they managed to rationalize their cruel and criminal behavior?
This kind of first-hand insight is what we’ve been lacking in the discussion of how to fix Greek systems. And this is where Jon Hamm could help.
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It’s easy to scoff at the Hollywood stars who attach themselves to a cause-of-the-week. But many have been huge assets, using their charisma and connections to raise funds or attention for worthy causes. And when a naturally likeable star has a compelling personal narrative, it can change a conversation overnight — think of Angelina Jolie, and how many women investigated their own family cancer histories after her prophylactic surgeries for breast and ovarian cancer.
I’ll go further: Hamm could be the advocate we need on the larger topic of bullying. Lately, it’s become common for celebrities to divulge in interviews that they were bullied during middle school or high school. I don’t mean to dismiss their experience: Kids can be monstrous to one another. Yet the sheer number of grownups casting themselves on the victim side of their adolescent battlegrounds leaves you wondering: Where are the former bullies, and why aren’t we hearing from them?
The answer, of course, is that few people think of themselves of having been bullies. Clearly, there’s some kind of nutty adolescent self-justification involved with that kind of cruelty. Which is why a “hey kids, don’t bully” message may fall short: No one thinks they’re that guy.
But now we know that Jon Hamm was that guy (or, ahem, was charged and did probation under deferred adjudication for being that that guy). And he knows that we know. And if he hasn’t already spent the past 25 years mulling over what the Sigmas Nus did back in 1990, he probably (hopefully) is having a sleepless night or two now. If he’s anywhere near the modest, self-aware fellow he presents himself to be, he probably has some deep thoughts about the things he did back then.
Campus Greeks can be a prickly bunch. They’ve been maligned lately, in some cases unfairly. They are frequently defensive about criticism coming from scolds outside their community. But Jon Hamm is, or was, a Greek system insider. He’s perceived as a cool guy. If he’s got any insights to share, he would definitely have an audience. He could change the conversation. He could open some minds.
Hamm has thus far not issued a public statement about the new revelations. Hopefully that means he’s really thinking about what to say.