Click the link above to the billboard for the program and all details.
Kappa Kappa Gamma Asks Members to Promote Respect–Prevent Hazing During National Hazing Prevention Week
COLUMBUS, Ohio (September 16, 2010) – In the organization’s first-ever global hazing-prevention campaign, Kappa Kappa Gamma will give its members the ability to Promote Respect–Prevent Hazing during National Hazing Prevention Week through a comprehensive physical and viral marketing campaign.
All Kappa chapters were provided with a kit of materials to encourage their participation in and guide them through five hazing-prevention activities and educational programs, including:
· Viewing Kappa’s hazing-prevention public service announcement
· Taking online hazing-prevention courses on Kappa’s Learning Institute, an interactive online learning portal
· Creating a banner to hang outside their chapter facility or elsewhere on campus
· Conducting the hazing-prevention and respect and appreciation “quick programs,†which are part of Kappa’s continuous education experience
· Wearing or displaying the Promote Respect–Prevent Hazing buttons
Members are also encouraged to take part in their campus’ hazing-prevention events. On social media sites, members, alumnae and parents are encouraged to post messages of respect and upload photos and videos of their hazing-prevention activities. One chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma will be recognized for its participation in the Promote Respect–Prevent Hazing campaign.
“Our goal is to prevent hazing from happening in the first place,†said Julie Leshay, Kappa Kappa Gamma’s Fraternity President. “Treating each other with dignity and respect raises the level of self-worth and excellence of all Greek members; we’re thrilled to again be supporting National Hazing Prevention Week.â€
The campaign runs September 20–24, simultaneously with National Hazing Prevention Week, and is expected to reach more than 15,000 collegiate women.
For more information about the Promote Respect–Prevent Hazing campaign, visit www.facebook.com/kappakappagamma. For information on general Fraternity services, visit www.kappa.org.
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About Kappa Kappa Gamma
Founded in 1870, Kappa Kappa Gamma is one of the largest international fraternities for women. With 137 active chapters in the U.S. and Canada, more than 300 alumnae associations across the world and more than 235,000 initiated members, Kappa prides itself on its Tradition of Leadership™. Kappa promotes, through its standards, a broad college experience with a strong emphasis on intellectual development, cultural growth, philanthropy and lifelong bonds of friendship among its members. The Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation delivers educational and leadership training, preserves the Fraternity’s heritage, provides scholarships and offers financial assistance to members in need. For more information on the Fraternity or its Foundation, visit www.kappa.org.
Ashley Moyer
Director of Marketing and Communications
Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity
530 East Town St., P.O. Box 38
Columbus, OH 43216
614.228.6515 (ext. 2119)
614.228.6127 (Fax)
amoyer@kkg.org
Categories
Hazing the topic for WTHR, Channel 13
Updated: Sep 15, 2010 7:00 PM <em>Wednesday, September 15, 2010 7:00 PM EST</em>
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Eyewitness News
Delphi – Delphi Police say they’ve completed their investigation into an alleged assault in a locker room at the high school. School officials ruled the incident was nothing more than locker room play.
For decades, hazing rituals were common at frat houses. Movies like Animal House got laughs on the big screen. But humor found in a scene from a film is lost when the harsh reality of hazing hits home.
“We’re talking about the reality of sexual assaults,” said Hank Nuwer, hazing expert.
Just Tuesday, Delphi school officials ruled an alleged assault on a freshman was nothing more than locker room horseplay.
Delphi Superintendent Ralph Walker called it an “attempted wedgie.” But the father of the alleged victim contends it was much more.
“He’s traumatized,” said the father.
When rites become wrongs is the subject of a book about hazing by author and Franklin College journalism professor Hank Nuwer, who for more than three decades has kept track of hazing incidents across the country.
“We’re in an age of disrespect and an age of a sports culture with an entitlement,” he said.
His advice to parents: talk to your children first.
“You tell your child you deserve respect. You don’t have to go through this to get respect,” said Nuwer. “You teach your child not to run with the crowd. You teach your child in certain situations you go the other way.”
As for schools, many of which he’s helped develop hazing policies, he believes consistency is key.
“We need to have team captains, parents, coaches all on the same page here,” he said.
Greenwood Middle School is one that works to give students the tools to bully-proof themselves.
“I think kids have a pretty good sense of what’s uncomfortable for them,” said Vicki Noblitt, Greenwood Middle School principal.
Students with potential issues are provided with classes that teach citizenship and good behavior.
“It seems to be better all the way around if they can tactfully, carefully handle the situation,” said Noblitt.
“There has to be a sensible way of confronting,” said Nuwer.
Hazing, once a rite of passage, now an epidemic, is something that many hope will eventually evolve into a tradition of respect.
September 15, 2010 12:08 PM
LANSINGBURGH — The school district superintendent announced Wednesday he was investigating a hazing incident related to a school in the district but would not reveal details on the nature of the incident, citing legal restrictions on discussing student disciplinary matters.
In a statement Wednesday, superintendent George Goodwin said the district administration “has received allegations of a school-related hazing incident,” and that officials were investigating the matter.
Goodwin said the district would take “appropriate steps to respond,” saying “[A]ny hazing or intimidation of students will not be tolerated and we will take proper disciplinary action if these allegations are true.”
The school’s athletics director tells CBS 6’s Craig Smith three football players were suspended from the team for violating the athletic code of conduct, but would not comment further.
The coach is trying to find out if anything happened at all, he added.
excerpt
A final judgment signed by State District Judge Bob Wortham in Beaumont on Sept. 1 says the case has been resolved and that Donnie and Katrina Wade, the student’s parents, should take nothing from Washington, D.C.-based Phi Beta Sigma. Such language is often used when the parties in a lawsuit reach an out-of-court settlement.
Marco McMillian, the fraternity’s executive director, said through a spokeswoman Wednesday that he would have no comment. Attorneys involved in the case did not respond to phone messages from The Associated Press.
Donnie Wade II collapsed and died after he and other pledges participated in a punishing series of pre-dawn physical activities on a high school track last Oct. 20. An autopsy later determined that the 20-year-old student from Dallas suffered from several medical conditions that were aggravated by the exercises.
In their lawsuit, Wade’s parents alleged that rigorous exercise was a customary initiation practice of the fraternity and that pledges also were beaten with paddles. The suit described how fraternity members failed to contact emergency medical personnel when Wade collapsed and instead drove him to a hospital 30 miles away, where he was dead on arrival.
Prairie View A&M was dropped from the suit after initially being named as a defendant, according to court records.
In April, the historically black university 45 miles northwest of Houston suspended its Phi Beta Sigma chapter through 2013 for violating the school’s anti-hazing policy. The AP reported in August that Wade’s death was at least the seventh hazing incident in seven years known to school officials.
The matter has been under review by law enforcement authorities in Waller County and is due to be presented to a grand jury sometime soon, according to Fred Edwards, the assistant district attorney handling the case.
The grand jury was scheduled to hear the case on Aug. 26, but officials decided on a postponement because some material wasn’t ready to be presented, Edwards said.
“It’s not a comment on the validity of the case,” he said. “It’s just a matter of me sitting down and going through the transcripts and getting material out that I think the grand jury is going to want to hear.”