Monday, Sept. 18 marked the first day of National Hazing Prevention Week (NHPW). This week-long event was created by HazingPrevention.Org, a national nonprofit organization that empowers individuals to prevent hazing and to not be a bystander. On Spring Hill College’s campus, all of the women’s Greek organizations came together to support the “These Hands Don’t Haze” Campaign, started by the National Panhellenic Council.
The awareness week this year happened to occur right after a major hazing event came to light on Louisiana State University’s campus. Freshman Maxwell Gruver was found unresponsive after a night full of intense binge-drinking. It is suspected that it was an act of hazing from Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, where Gruver was a new pledge member. His body was found in the organization’s house.
Events such as those at LSU are one of the many reasons Spring Hill has a strict no-tolerance policy on hazing—and not just for Greek organizations. “I think hazing used to be about the physical health of somebody,” stated Mike Freyaldenhoven, Director of Student Development, “now it’s about both of them—the mental health, and the physical health.” For the 2017-2018 school year, the Spring Hill student conduct handbook has reformed its hazing policy in a small, but extremely significant way. “In the last year, we just approved language that held people responsible, or equally responsible, if they didn’t report hazing” stated Freyaldenhoven. “We wanted to up the accountability piece to bystanders to say we want you to be active. If you are not active, and you choose to be silent, you are as responsible as the person doing the hazing.” The bystander effect is an extremely important asset to the policy, as reporting any suspected incidents could even save someone’s life.
According to Babson College, over 40% of college students admit to having known about hazing activities, and 36% of students say that they would not feel comfortable reporting them. NHPW encourages a change from this culture on all college campuses. This issue does not only impact Greek organizations, but as well as all clubs across college campuses—over 50% of female NCAA athletes nationwide report of being hazed.
To support NHPW, Spring Hill Panhellenic hosted a table in the back of the campus cafeteria. They had information and answers to any questions in regards to our campus hazing policies and procedures. In addition, there was an interactive activity where campus club members could sign their name and group on a paper hand to show their support of These Hands Don’t Haze. “We had people from whatever organizations were willing come pledge to stand against hazing,” stated Caroline Cusick, president-elect of Panhellenic. “It wasn’t just Greek life that was involved in this—if you’re a part of athletics, if you’re apart of just a club on campus, then hazing can happen in any of them. We want everyone to be able to stand up against it.”
For more information on Spring Hill’s Student Conduct policies, visit http://www.shc.edu to read the Student Handbook.