Stophazing Case Study

Nolan Burch, a young man local to the area, died last year of alcohol poisoning. He was pledging the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at West Virginia University, and was forced to consume a bottle of alcohol as part of his pledge process. There are over nine million Greek members nationally and more than half college students are involved in some form of campus hazing (Daley). Hazing is an important part of a pledge process that is based on tradition. Every member of the fraternity or sorority has gone through the exact same pledge process and it is a necessary rite of passage that creates bonds within a group. It is also meant to discipline the new members and maintain a hierarchy. Since hazing is only on the news when someone gets hurt or dies,

Reitman acquires information that in 2010, a first year student by the name of Andrew Lohse, pledged to a fraternity called Sigma Alpha Epsilon which disclosed the traditions of Greek hazing. The article elaborately describes the acts of hazing new pledges must face. “One brother recalls the night some of the pledges were served a scramble of vomit and eggs, known as a ‘vomlet’” (356). Lohse unveiled all of the hazing events that he had been involved with for nearly two years, until it had become clear that

Westat implemented the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct in the spring of the 2014-2015 academic year (Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct, 2016). It was given at 26 AAU schools and Dartmouth. The survey was distributed to all enrolled students, including professional and graduate students. This paper will discuss the AAU Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Sexual Misconduct in detail and also how the University of Wisconsin-Madison has used the data. This paper will also discuss both the positives and criticisms of the survey overall.

With the majority of assaults being committed, are in a sexual manor, the Safety Response Team will direct it focus on sexual assaults. According to a 2016 study released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), “an average of approximately 21% of undergraduate women across the nine schools participating in the study reported experiencing sexual assault since entering college. Non-heterosexual college females reported significantly higher rates than their heterosexual female peers. The majority of rape and sexual assault victims reported being victimized by someone they knew ("Protecting Students from Sexual Assault", 2016). With the numbers reaching close to twenty-five percent there must be strategic action that will manage, cope and adapt to this need for reformation in the Colleges issue on

Hazing is a very serious issue throughout America. Hazing, by definition, is any action or

“Hazing” is a nasty word. It sinks its claws of injustice in schools and societies, often justifying actions typically coined as “bullying” and “harassment” by hiding under a shaky façade of “tradition”iiii. Rather than picking on the excluded, hazing targets people that wish join a groupiiiii, those that seek for acceptance. People feel entitled to perform such actions to not only avoid ostracism but also for acknowledgement as well.

Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an "underground" activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these

Hazing is the imposition of strenuous, often humiliating, tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation or forcing someone to do humiliating and sometimes dangerous initiation rituals, especially as imposed on college students seeking membership to a fraternity or

Hazing in universities across the nation has become an increasingly dangerous ritual that is seemingly becoming more difficult to put an end to due to its development into an “underground” activity. Though a regular activity in the seventies, hazing, a possible dangerous act of initiation to a group, has now become an activity that is banned in thirty-nine states (Wagner 16). However, this ritual has not been stopped or become less severe. In fact it is becoming more dangerous. Since it has been banned, with many colleges imposing their own penalties against those participating in it, many fraternities and sororities have pursued this activity in an underground fashion. Since these groups have gone underground, some victims of these

Hazing often involves activities such as drinking games, sexual harassment, physical and emotional abuse, and forms of public shaming (OI). One hazing incident in Chicago ended with some girls in a hospital after a game of touch football turned upside down almost instantly. "Basically it started out as a fun hazing, like our initiation into our senior year. About 10 minutes into it everything changed--buckets were flying ... people were bleeding. Girls were unconscious," (Stand up against hazing: hazing is a socially sanctioned form of bully you can help cycle, 1). Another incident involved a Penn-State Altoona student who had committed suicide when he had jumped off a New York hotel rooftop a day before he had to return to his fraternity to initiate others. He himself was forced to drink loads of alcohol, fight pledges, endure the pain of being burnt with candle wax, etc., and didn't want to see others go through the same thing. "He struggled deeply with having to witness and participate in the hazing of others," (The Associated Press, 1). In reality, these initiations involving hazing have become brutal and could more or less be seen as a

On January 22, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the Presidential Memorandum, forming the ‘White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault.’ This task force was established to help decrease sexual assaults in college campuses and create awareness of this little talked about topic. Many college students don’t believe sexual assault is an issue until it happens to them or someone they’re close with. Sexual assault affects the victims by making them feel helpless and causing serious negative effects on their emotional health. Many of these incidents don’t get reported due to students feeling unsafe or feeling like it isn’t that big of a deal. Even those that are reported, sometimes aren’t taken seriously by the school’s administrators. College should be a fun learning experience, where safety shouldn’t be a concern.

Not too surprisingly, Richardson and Shields found that sexual assault rates are “3.1 to 4.4 times higher at the most permissive colleges and universities than their more restrictive counterparts”. The strict enforcing of alcohol bans can reduce sexual assault incidents. Socially regulated environments such as those found in religious schools do in fact keep the incidents of rape and sexual assault down. However Richardson and Shields points out that this is not because these schools effectively condemned rape, but rather the restricted environment keeps students in check. However, effectively enforcing alcohol bans as well as bans on overnight guest stays between males and females reduce rape and sexual assault rates “only modestly”. The two researchers stressed that educating students on the links between alcohol and sexual abuse. Coupling well enforced alcohol and overnight guest bans with effective education, security and counselling can dramatically bring down the numbers and incidence of rape and sexual assaults on campus.

The risk assessment for a campus must include both internal and external threats to safety. A holistic approach must be taken in order for all aspects of danger to be addressed and ultimately limited in its exposure. Faculty, students and staff must be aware of specific risks that are more common on a college campus, such as hazing, fighting, date rape and general misbehavior through pranks and jokes. The assessment must also be presented in a way that helps bring the

College freshmen are so excited when they enter the campus with a hope of enjoying their freedom. They also expect to be safe on their college campus but dangerous incidents on colleges campuses have increased in recent years. In one situation, an 18-year-old freshman student at one of the Chicago’s university could not forget her Friday night at the university dorm when she was attacked (Schulte, 2014). She said she was being watched couple times around campus by other man from a distance. After few days she was introduced to that man at her friend’s birthday party. That man asked her if he could drop her off to the dorm since her friends left her after party without letting her know. The girl was drinking all night and she did not want to be alone with that man so, she asked him to leave the dorm immediately. But he did not leave, and instead he took advantage of the situation. Later, the girl found herself without clothes and in awful condition when she woke up. She immediately contacted campus police and asked for help and to find that man who did this cruelty to her. Her problem was she did not get justice yet as police are still investigating to find that attacker (Schulte, 2014). There are still many underage students like this girl who are sexually assaulted after parties every day. And many of them abuse other drugs because they are heavily drunk. However, these kind of harmful behaviors are creating problems in students’ life, but it could be stopped.

Hazing can take place anywhere whether it be high school, college, sports, or fraternities. Other terms used for hazing are “hell week”, “help week”, and “initiation”. When one is trying to determine whether or not the situation is considered hazing there are many signs he/she could look for. Some examples include the following questions: is alcohol involved?, are there any risk of emotional or physical abuse?, and is there a risk of injury? (University of North Carolina Wilmington). If the answer to any of these is yes, then it would be considered some form of hazing. A study taking place at Alfred University shows that 1.5 million high school students have experienced some form of hazing. Forty-eight percent of students who belong to groups have reported to experiencing hazing behavior. These incidents can range anywhere between alcohol abuse to forcing one to commit a crime. Victims of hazing may hide the truth, whether they be embarrassed or they risk the chance of getting in a lot of trouble. While you may not notice it at first there are always signs to look for when searching for hazing activity. Some signs include excessive fatigue, wearing odd clothing, isolating themselves, skipping or missing class, and feeling depressed. Many parents are not aware of their child experiencing hazing activity. Although, now many of victims have decided to speak out about there encounters.