The issue of hazing straddles a perpetually blurred line. On one side, organizations want new members to share special and secretive initiation experiences with older members. Some practices are labeled “tradition” and not generally seen as dangerous enough to be considered “hazing.” On the other side, hazing can damage more than one’s physical well-being; acts of hazing can test a person’s mental state, as well.
Students signed a pledge against hazing on Tuesday September 23 at a candle light vigil. This is one of many events during Hazing Prevention Week.
The University of Tampa defines hazing as “any act which endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a person, embarrasses, frightens, or degrades a person or which destroys or removes public/private property, for the purpose of initiation, admission into, or affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership, in a group, organization/team.”
The state of Florida defines hazing as “any action or situation that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating under the sanction of a postsecondary institution,” according to the 2014 Florida Statute 1006.63.
Because of the nonspecific nature of these definitions, acts of “hazing” can vary from forcing a new member to endanger him or herself to simply calling new members by a degrading nickname.
“Florida has very severe hazing laws. Much more [so] than any other state. If you give a member something that they don’t want, that’s hazing,” said Joey Pawlan, senior and president of the Interfraternity Council. “It depends on what type of organization you’re in and what [the organization] define as hazing. Students think hazing is forcing someone to drink alcohol, giving them drugs, hitting them, beating them up, putting them in rooms, physically harming them. In Florida, having your group of people do a scavenger hunt is considered hazing, [and] that’s two very different things.”
Although many states have lenient laws when it comes to hazing, Florida considers it a third-degree felony if hazing leads to “serious bodily injury or death” and a first-degree misdemeanor if the hazing “creates a substantial risk of physical injury or death to such other person.” Law enforcement may proceed with these charges regardless of whether the victim’s consent was obtained.
The purpose of National Hazing Prevention Week is to stop hazing by offering education on hazing and alternative initiation practices. Last year, Jennifer Allison, senior pre-med major and president of the Panhellenic Council, hosted UT’s first National Hazing Prevention Week, making it mandatory for members of sororities and fraternities to attend. This year, Kyle McGee, a senior and the secretary for Phi Beta Sigma, will take charge of the event.
Because hazing can occur in organizations outside of Greek life, such as sports teams and other societies, McGee is opening the events up to any organization. McGee is also making the event optional to attend, with the belief that things can change only if people choose by their own free will.
“The whole point of National Hazing Prevention Week is to stress prevention and to educate people to [recognize] the signs and to know maybe when they are going down that road that this organization is treating them in ways that they should not be,” Allison said.
Events started on Monday, kicking off with giveaways. National Hazing Prevention Week ends with the girl’s volleyball game against Saint Leo University on Friday. An important aspect of hazing prevention is understanding the signs of hazing – understanding how it can affect one’s demeanor.
“Some people mask it real well. It’s kind of hard, but if you really know them you can get the sense that something is wrong,” McGee said. “It’s definitely hard, but it’s not unrealistic to see the signs.”
Three in five college students are hazed, according to stophazing.org.
“Nine out of ten students who have experienced hazing behavior in college do not consider themselves to have been hazed,” according to Babson College’s website.
Hank Nuwer, a journalism professor at Franklin College Indiana, has dedicated his career and two books to stopping the process of hazing. He has counted a minimum of 37 deaths as a result of hazing in the past decade.
Influenced by media attention to hazing and frightening statistics, the National American Greek Council and UT have zero tolerance policies toward organizations accused of hazing. Once an accusation is made, an investigation begins and the organization is immediately put on suspension.
“Whenever it happens it hurts the whole Greek life community,” Pawlan said. “It’s not just them that are mourning. It’s like a loss of one of our chapters.”
Mark Sugden can be reached at mark.sugden@spartans.ut.edu
Bianca Lopez can be reached at bianca.lopez@spartans.ut.edu