Hazing

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A time for preparation, not perfection.

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*This blog was originally written as part of "The Road: The Journey to Excellence," Delta Tau Delta's comprehensive member education program.

Most men who will join the fraternity this year are 18 years old right now.On average, they will live to be 75.6 years old.This means they will be with Delta Tau Delta for approximately 57.6 years, or 2,995 weeks.They will be alumni for 53 years, or 2,756 weeks.They will be chapter members for approximately 3.5 years, or 182 weeks.And for the next 6 to 8 weeks, they will be your new members.

Discussing Hazing from the Outside-In

Most conversations about hazing are inside out:

  • They start with a narrow set of behaviors banned by state law.
  • Then they expand to include additional behaviors outlawed by university and organization policies.
  • From there, they can extend indefinitely in multiple directions to include things that are potentially harmful, ethically questionable, impractical, or more.

This approach inevitably leads to a dead-end conversation with students asking, “What else can’t we do?”

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Change the Target

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On a recent hazing prevention project, we asked students how they felt about a series of situations commonly associated with hazing. To our great surprise, 75-98% of students found each situation to be unacceptable.

The lesson? We don't need to preach about the perils of hazing. Or hammer home the rules. Or argue about what's ethical. They get it!

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A Time for Preparation, not Perfection

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Most men who will join the fraternity this year are 18 years old right now. On average, they will live to be 75.6 years old.

This means they will be with Delta Tau Delta for approximately 57.6 years, or 2,995 weeks.

They will be alumni for 53 years, or 2,756 weeks.

They will chapter members for approximately 3.5 years, or 182 weeks.

And for the next 6 to 8 weeks, they will be your new members.

Your job as a new member educator is not to achieve the pinnacle of fraternity within 8 weeks. It is to help new members lay the foundation for a life of excellence. Consider what this means for your education program:

To view the rest of this blog, please visit the original post on Delta Tau Delta's site.

 

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Respect My Authoritah!

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"They have to respect us!” This phrase comes up time after time when we are coaching fraternity and sorority leaders on how to improve their new member education programs. They insist that ‘respect from new members’ be listed as one of the goals.  Every time I hear this, the voice of Eric Cartman starts shouting in the back of my head, “Respect My Authoritah!” For those who may not remember, here is a refresher: In season 2, Cartman becomes the sheriff of South Park. Despite constant efforts to be taken seriously, no one gives him the respect that he believes he deserves. In one scene, Cartman rides up on his big-wheel, pulls over his friend Stan’s dad (who was driving the speed limit), and begins challenging him:

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Will the Real MVP Please Stand Up?

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Two weeks ago, Dallas Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant refused to carry pads for veteran teammate Roy Williams, and then later changed his tune.  More recently, Tim Tebow accepted a ridiculous haircut in order to gain the respect of his teammates.  A number of sports reporters then brushed off this poor example of role modeling as an ‘age old tradition’ which should be celebrated and upheld.  (Read Searching for Heroes to learn more).  Yesterday, Peyton Manning chimed in with his take on the issue and told a very different story.  So, are haircuts, errands, and pranks really hazing?  Should we be so concerned?  Are they truly harmless?  Which athlete’s example should we follow? The answers range dramatically depending on whose opinion you ask.  This is one of the great challenges in overcoming hazing practices: how can these seemingly insignificant incidents fall under the same policy which targets alcohol abuse, sexual assault and physical attacks?  We need some clarity here.

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Bringing Sexy Back ... to Policy Training

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Last week a colleague called me to ask for help. Apparently, a handful of chapters are showing a pattern of violations and confusion around risk management policy and the NPC unanimous agreements. She has now been charged with creating and presenting a policy training session for each chapter. She was concerned, because the program could very easily turn into the typical pain-filled policy reading. Instead, she wanted to do something more meaningful and interesting that might actually work. If she had done what most people do: