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Many of the things that ya'll have mentioned that are now considered hazing, but were once fun, have become hazing because some didn't keep it fun, and turned it into harassment. Some of them wrecked it for the rest. It's a shame, but it's what happened. As for having NMs attend chapter meetings, I think dirty laundry can be shared in front of NMs because they need to know what they're getting themselves into. Going along, thinking sorority life is a Cindarella story, then finding out, after initiation, that everything isn't rosy leads to a lot of disillusionment on the part of the newly initiated members. Perhaps it can lead to more mature levels of conflict resolution as well.
The "switch days" would not be allowed for AGD either. When GLOs first started cracking down on hazing, the groups started doing "switch days" so that others could haze their pledges and they could say "we didn't haze them!".
The "rules" didn't come out of nowhere.. they were created after "fun" activities were abused, sadly.
Scavenger hunts are also a risk management issue, beyond hazing. Even our alumnae club can't have road rallies anymore because of the risk of a car accident. If teams are rushing to get somewhere to be the first team done, to meet a deadline, etc, they are less likely to be cautious.
As for good activities, I just posted some of these in the AGD forum and I'll repeat them:
Divide the chapter into teams (intermixing NMs and Initiated Members). Give each team some ingredients and have a cook off. Award prizes for best tasting, most creative, etc.
Tee shirt making
Make overs: Get a reputable make up artist to come in and ask for volunteers (don't force anybody!) for an "extreme" makeover.
Trading Spaces, Scrapbook edition: Swap scrapbooks and make pages for each other
It is definitely sad when a small number ruin things for others, as we are seeing in the risk management forum often, with alcohol related deaths leading to huge slams to the whole greek system at a campus, etc.
Dee
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