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Hazing News

University of Maryland shutters many Greek groups: The Diamondback

Excerpt from the Diamondback of March 1, 2024

The University of Maryland placed a cease and desist order Friday on IFC and PHA fraternities and sororities after it received notice of chapters conducting activities that posed threats to community members’ “safety and well-being.”

The cease and desist order impacts all Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association chapters at this university, according to a letter obtained by The Diamondback. James Bond, this university’s student conduct director, and James McShay, this university’s assistant vice president of engagement, sent the letter to new members of IFC and PHA organizations.

The letter said all new member activities for the organizations will be suspended indefinitely. This university’s student conduct office plans to conduct “a thorough investigation” into the matter, the letter said.

Bond and McShay urged IFC and PHA members to review the university’s hazing and student conduct policy in both letters.

“Our goal is to have students honestly and openly share their experiences with our office so that we can uphold the mission, values, and expectations of the University community,” the letter to new members read. “Any attempts to deceive University officials, falsify information, or retaliate against individuals who share information will be subject to disciplinary action.”

Senior staff writer Marijke Friedman contributed to this story.

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Hazing News

Stop Campus Hazing Act (S.2901, H.R. 5646) was introduced into our 118th Congress

From Security on Campus founder Connie Clery:

Dear Hank,

I am so pleased to share with you that the Stop Campus Hazing Act (S.2901H.R. 5646) was introduced into our 118th Congress last week, as well as a resolution (S.Res.360H.Res.717) to name September 25 – 29 National Hazing Awareness Week. Clery Center, StopHazing, and families affected by hazing are in Washington, DC, right now meeting with legislators to urge them to support this monumental amendment to the Clery Act.

 

The Stop Campus Hazing Act will require colleges and universities to teach students about the dangers of hazing and hold organizations that engage in this harmful behavior accountable. We must get this bill passed; it is imperative to the safety of our children on college campuses.

 

Did you know that more than 55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing at colleges and universities throughout the United States? Over 200 university hazing deaths have occurred since 1838, and since 2000 there have been more than 50 hazing-related deaths.

 

We need your help. Please reach out to your representatives to tell them to support the Stop Campus Hazing Act. The StopHazing team has put together an easy form you can fill out and it will send a letter for you. If you represent an organization related in any way to college students, higher education, or campus safety, please sign on to endorse the bill with this form. You will help save lives.

 

With Gratitude,

 

Connie Clery

Co-founder & Chairwoman Emerita

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Hazing News

2023 Athletic Business interview with database keeper Hank Nuwer

Story Link

Excerpt: copyright Athletic Business

Though never hazed as a college athlete or team manager himself, Hank Nuwer has had an interest in hazing ever since he, as the University of Nevada-Reno’s graduate student president, witnessed a student frothing at the mouth under a pool table from excess alcohol consumption. It was an episode that Nuwer didn’t report to police and, subsequently, the same group of perpetrators hazed and killed a football player. It was 1975, and Nuwer began compiling a database of hazing-related fatalities — the Unofficial Hazing Clearinghouse — that he still maintains today. A former Human Behavior and Inside Sports reporter and the current managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska, the 77-year-old has also authored five nonfiction books on hazing, one fictional novel, and too many book chapters and articles to count. AB senior editor Paul Steinbach, having posted two unrelated hazing accounts to AB Today on July 19, talked to Nuwer — who was working on an introduction for the forthcoming scholarly book Hazing In The New Millenia — about the persistence of a practice that can ruin careers and end lives.

Are you noticing any trends in your data?

In terms of deaths, there hasn’t been one for a while, which is good, because it had been every year from ’59 to 2021. It’s not long enough to say that’s a trend and it’s ended, that’s for sure, because there have been so many close calls. If I could go back, I would have kept track of the close calls. The problem is a lot of the close calls never make the paper.

How do you monitor hazing cases for the Clearinghouse? Does it take a headline about a fatality?

Or, and very commonly, even before it hits the paper, an email — because of the database. Not every parent, but when there’s a death, nearly all of them will be on the phone or calling hazing prevention to get my number.

Continued at Athletic Business site
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Hazing News

Ragging (hazing) death in India draws nationwide outrage

India “ragging”-connected death draws calls for end to hazing and bullying. Stripped, bullied and abused with homophobic slurs: The two-hour ordeal that ended in a student’s death
“Police have arrested 13 people over the so-called ‘hazing’ incident that resulted in the death of a 17-year-old first-year student and could bring charges under India’s tough child protection laws.” Namita Singh reports. https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/jadavpur-university-death-student-ragging-case-b2399178.html