When rites are wrong
Opponents of hazing work to end the abuse.
By T.J. Banes
tj.banes@indystar.com
November 6, 2004
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A scar the size of a dime on Jessica Zimmerman's right hip tells the story of an event that changed her life forever.
She was a freshman at DePauw University, among people she considered close friends. After inducing her to drink alcohol, they branded her with a lighted cigarette as part of an initiation.
The Fort Wayne woman will be among 80 participants in the first National Hazing Symposium on Sunday at Purdue University. The daylong workshop brings together educators and administrators from organizations including the Association of Fraternity Advisors, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Association of Student Judicial Affairs.
The Indiana Greek Leadership Conference will be held that day on the same campus. Both meetings will cover various topics, including discipline, leadership and substance abuse, and how they relate to hazing.
"If I had a daughter or a friend who wanted to pledge a sorority today, I wouldn't discourage her, but I'd make sure she knew how to set boundaries," said Zimmerman, now 26. She has a master's degree in mental health counseling and is four credits shy of her school counseling license.
Hazing, as a rite of passage, has been documented in professional football, the military and other groups. But it is widely associated with college Greek life.
A half-dozen "pledge paddles" line the wall of Sigma Nu's fraternity house TV room at Butler University. But they are for decoration only.
"We don't haze; we don't believe in any of it," says Daniel Walt, a senior at Butler and a fraternity member.
Sigma Nu does not allow hazing, but it does employ a seniority system: Younger members mop the floors more often than the older ones. That isn't unlike a football practice, in which rookies do the grunt work, such as lugging the veterans' shoulder pads from the locker room to the practice field and back. Like Sigma Nu, most Greek organizations agree not to haze initiates.
But the number of incidents continues to make headlines.
Last year, Franklin College professor Hank Nuwer tracked more than 200 media reports of hazing throughout the United States; nearly double the number of reports two years ago. With a grant from the college, Nuwer plans to compile the most up-to-date listing of national hazing incidents. He said his current research shows that more incidents involved fraternities than sororities. But the greatest increase was in high school athletics, said Nuwer.
"Nobody really knows if the incidents are increasing, but the media is definitely more on top of it," said Nuwer. Part of that is making people understand what hazing is, added Nuwer.
"Hazing means different things to different people," says Daniel Walt, who came to Butler from Quincy, Ill.
He advises anyone considering joining a group to learn precisely what's involved in its initiation ritual. "You have to be clear with yourself: 'This is what I'm going to accept; if this happens, no.' Know what your limits are. And if you can't comfortably talk with (the members) about what makes you uncomfortable, then you're best not doing it."
Ritual burning
In Zimmerman's case, she didn't see it coming.
As a condition of a lawsuit settlement between her and members of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, Zimmerman is not allowed to publicly discuss specifics of the ritual that took place in the fall of 1997. The incident, however, was widely publicized at the time, including a national report on ABC's "20/20," and in a book on hazing, "Wrongs of Passage," (Indiana University Press, $13.97) by Nuwer.
Zimmerman's mother, Cindie Shaleen, who is organizing the first Indiana chapter of Mothers Against School Hazing (MASH, Inc.), said Zimmerman was one of six "pledges," or would-be members, taken into a darkened dorm room.
Sorority members entered the room dressed in sheets, chanting, and encouraged the girls to drink alcohol. They then burned them with cigarettes, causing scars said to be "a family sign," "a tradition," recalled Shaleen. The next day, Zimmerman received medical treatment for the burns.
People often think of hazing as paddling, drinking games and other "Animal House" behavior.
Hazing ranges from seemingly innocuous activities such as blindfolding and scavenger hunts to dangerous, extreme physical punishments including sleep deprivation and excessive exercise, according to www .stophazing.org.
Those involved often look at hazing as an unpleasant way of earning membership in a club, team or even military branch.
"Now, part of me feels sorry for (the perpetrators)," said Zimmerman. "They went through the same thing when they were pledges, and I don't think they knew that it was wrong -- that it breaks the spirit."
Indiana is among 44 states with anti-hazing laws, which prohibit potentially criminally reckless acts. The U.S. Department of Education requires colleges to report offenses. However, some psychological abuse such as insults or name-calling go unreported
Some experts say laws and school bans may actually increase interest in hazing as a kind of secret taboo. Others say television shows such as "Jackass" and "Fear Factor" may contribute to the number of hazing incidents across the country.
Changing trends
"It's like a forest fire," says Andrew Robison, assistant dean of students at Purdue University and an organizer of the symposium. "Just when you think you've got it licked, it rears its ugly head."
Since he joined the university's administration in 1991, Robison says he's seen the following trends:
• Hazing has spread to younger grade levels. The Avon High School football team made news in 1999, when upperclassmen were accused of hitting younger players with socks stuffed with tennis balls. A powder puff football game among suburban Chicago high school girls turned ugly last year, sending five girls to the hospital.
An extensive report on hazing released in 2000 by Alfred University estimated that more than 1.5 million high school students in the United States are subjected to some form of hazing each year.
• New laws and education are making it more popular to take a stand against hazing.
"The eradication starts with student leaders," said Robison. "I can open my window and shout at the rain all day, but if I reach five student leaders who will stand up and say, 'Stop. You can't treat people that way,' then it will go a lot further."
Robison said college and high school administrators have been in a reactive mode for too long, dealing with grievances and complaints. Now, they are becoming more proactive, seeking to prevent incidents like the one involving Zimmerman.
She received threats
"In actuality, as horrible as the hazing was, the aftermath was worse," said Zimmerman's mother. "She was ostracized and threatened. She had to go through counseling for severe anxiety attacks."
Eventually, Zimmerman transferred to Purdue, where she completed her college career; the offenders were given one-semester suspensions and social probation. The sorority chapter also was placed on social probation. Up to that point, it had been considered exemplary. Its 129 members included the student- body president and the campus Panhellenic president. Twenty members were on the dean's list, and 12 played varsity sports.
Of all the issues facing college-bound students, hazing is rarely a focus, said Tracy Maxwell, of CAMPUSPEAK, a Denver agency that provides speakers and programs to college students and educators.
It's important, though, "because it involves so many issues, such as self-esteem, alcohol and trust," said Maxwell, whose organization will present speakers at the hazing symposium.
"The fact that we are having this symposium says that we are involving a broad coalition to fight the problem together."
As a follow up to the symposium, CAMPUSPEAK will organize a National Hazing Prevention Week, Sept. 26-30.
Zimmerman believes that educating students about hazing will help them recognize it.
"Everyone experiences trauma differently," she said. "One person may be in a hazing experience and think it is no big deal; others may look at it as something traumatic. If I were to talk to anyone new to the college experience, I'd tell them it's wrong if you feel uncomfortable and there is nothing you can do to stop it."
Hazing incidents
Some recent incidents of hazing in Indiana:
December 2003: Former Attica High School basketball player Travis Kirby, a top player on the team's 2001 Class A state championship team, was sentenced to one year of probation after being convicted of battery charges in connection with locker-room hazing of younger players.
April 2002: Purdue University banished Delta Sigma Theta sorority after seven pledges (prospective members) reported being forced to perform strenuous late-night calisthenics, eat unhealthful food concoctions, run errands and buy food for members (spending more than $1,000 of their own money) in a three-month period.
January 2002: Theta Xi fraternity was placed on probation by Purdue University after an investigation, spurred by an anonymous tip, found that pledges were deprived of sleep, given alcohol and told to run several miles.
November 1999: Several Avon High School football players told the school newspaper of ritual beatings, with older players pummeling younger players as a sort of initiation during overnight, pre-season football camp. Players told about beatings with chairs, electrical cords and tennis-ball-stuffed socks. The school principal, Joan Schafer, dismissed the incidents as "youthful horseplay." The following year, the overnights were eliminated, and John Acton, the team's new coach, took a firm stand against hazing.
Late 1998: A 15-year-old member of the Carmel High School boys swimming team was sexually assaulted with an object in the locker room. The boy told his parents in February; they complained to his coach. The coach later was charged with failing to report the alleged abuse, a misdemeanor, but charges were dropped after he completed a diversion program. He also resigned. In 2002, the youth filed a federal lawsuit against the school district, school officials and three alleged assailants.
How to stop hazing, bullying
Mothers Against School Hazing Inc. (MASH), a nonprofit national organization, describes hazing as bullying, a negative act or words to hurt, embarrass or humiliate another person.
Following are some tips the organization offers for parents and their children to stop bullying and hazing:
• Refuse to be a spectator.
• Report incidents. Tell school or university authorities.
• Use distractions to stop the incident.
• Befriend a lonely student who may be vulnerable to bullies.<
• Talk about hazing and bullying with friends, school counselors and parents.
• If you or your child is subjected to bullying or hazing, seek medical attention and counseling.
• Understand that feeling threatened is a form of hazing.
• Educating children and young adults about hazing is the first step in stopping it.
To learn more about hazing, go to:
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www.mashinc.org: Mothers Against School Hazing
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www.stophazing.org: Provides definitions, laws and resources about hazing.
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www.hazing.hanknuwer.com: The Franklin College professor has written four books on hazing.
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www.campuspeak.com: The Denver organization provides educational speakers and programs for college students and administrators. _
-- Compiled by Will Higgins
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