College freshmen and fraternity pledges, a ritual designed to humiliate them without actually killing them, is sometimes carried to extremes. In the Netherlands a debate was under way.

College freshmen and fraternity pledges are fair game for hazing, a ritual designed to humiliate them without actually killing them. But every so often, the ritual is carried to extremes, someone is badly hurt, and an angry public debate flares. In The Netherlands last week, such a debate was under…