Saginaw Valley State’s President Eric Gilbertson hasn’t clue on definition of hazing; lets players return after alleged sexual hazing http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/20295825/saginaw-valley-prez-calls-sexual-assault-claim-a-case-of-bullying/rss
Thank you, Mr. Dobson–Moderator
A’im Akbar, a Tallahassee native and nationally recognized clinical psychologist, bluntly reminded the crowd that brutal hazing is an offshoot of what slaves endured and how that practice has misconstrued perceptions about power and dignity.“We let someone else define (our) worthiness by that person’s standards,” he said of the abusers.
Hank Nuwer, one of the country’s leading researchers on hazing and author of four books on the subject, called it a human-rights abuse and an “equal-opportunity disgrace” perpetuated today by influential pro athletes to fraternities and sororities, including those at other elite universities. He ran down a list of predominantly white universities that have struggled with hazing. He drew strong applause when, in responding to a Twitter-submitted question on what FAMU could do about it, he declared Thursday’s forum a milestone as the “largest gathering of anti-hazing speakers in the world.” http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20120923/OPINION05/309230009/Byron-Dobson-FAMU-freshmen-get-message
Months or years go by, and another student drowns, overdoses or is savagely beaten. And we repeat ourselves all over again.
Remember Chad Meredith?
The 18-year-old pledge at (Miami) drowned in 2001 after fraternity brothers told him to try to swim across Lake Osceola on the UM campus. Meredith had been drinking. It was cold. And he never made it.
His death inspired state legislators to pass in 2005 the toughest hazing law in the country. Hazing convictions suddenly carried the potential of prison time.
“There is an incredible arrogance with these fraternity guys,” David Bianchi, the attorney who represented the Meredith family, told the Sentinel in 2005. “If they find out that the law in Florida has changed, they will not want to subject themselves to a felony. Going to jail — that will stop them.”
If only it were that easy.
“We thought that at the time,” Bianchi told me last week. “Yet these incidents continue … I think it’s worse today than ever.”
Since Meredith died, more than 30 other people have also died in hazing or pledging-related incidents across the country, though Champion’s is the only death in Florida.
The tough new law in 2005 was accompanied by tough talk. Consider this Democrat article that year about hazing, which reported: “Florida A&M University will declare an assault on hazing this fall, and students will be expected to attend seminars on the subject twice a year.”
That was in reaction to a band member paddled so hard he had kidney failure.
Last week, in response to Champion’s death, FAMU suspended classes to hold a meeting on hazing for students. The same day, a congresswoman proposed denying federal financial aid to students who haze.
And so the scenes play out again.
Make no mistake. The hazing deaths and near death at Plattsburgh and Geneseo were not the only SUNY campuses with issues. See below for Binghamton’s Greek investigation.
Excerpt: Hank Nuwer, a professor at Franklin College in Indiana who has written four books on hazing, said the difficulties of enforcing anti-hazing laws are not unique to Binghamton.
“There’s a lot of frustration,” Nuwer said. “We’ve got 44 laws out of 50 (states), but you’re looking at a handful that actually have any clout at all. The others at the bottom are symbolic.” http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120922/NEWS01/309220030/E-mails-show-Binghamton-U-city-police-struggled-stop-hazing?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Please take a minute to learn the story of Tom Plotkin. It made me aware, and I was able to at least give a heads up to a student contemplating a NOLS trip–Hank Nuwer, Moderator
http://www.dailyiowan.com/2012/02/16/Metro/27043.html
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