NEW ORLEANS (Sept 27, 2018) – Seven Greek organizations will conduct intake of new members this fall, and everyone was encouraged to “see something, say something” to prevent hazing.
The announcement that four fraternities and three sororities would have pledgees this year was made at the annual anti-hazing workshop recently, sponsored by the National Pan-Hellenic Council in Lawless Chapel.
The fraternities are Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi and Phi Beta Sigma. The sororities are Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta.
Interested students were required to attend the workshop to be eligible for intake. They learned about the Greek organizations on campus, the requirements to join the organizations, the definition of hazing and how to report it.
Joseph Caldwell, president of the Beta Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, said, “The purpose of this event was to really inform students about what hazing is, and how to report hazing… hazing could happen in different forms… a student could be getting hazed and not even know that they are being hazed. So bringing this awareness to let them know if they are being hazed, who to properly contact and what is the proper chain of command to help with that.”
Courtney Williams, director of student engagement and leadership, warned: “Hazing is a pervasive issue at a lot of colleges and universities around the country (18 colleges in the last seven years), and here at Dillard, we absolutely do not tolerate it. So we want to make sure we are educating our students on the front end.”
A 10-minute video described hazing’s detrimental effect on students academically, physically, and mentally. It showed how students, like Maxwell Gruver, a student at LSU, who died from hazing in September 2017, were affected by the hazing as well as how it took a toll on their families. After Gruver’s case, the state of Louisiana passed several anti-hazing laws, one of the bills being named the Max Gruver Act.
A list of guidelines was touched on throughout the workshop, and students had to sign and turn it in at the end of the workshop. It was handed out along with a copy of the eligibility requirements and program.
Quinton James, assistant director of programming and recreation, provided the criteria for eligibility: Students must be fulltime with 30 academic hours completed (classified as a sophomore) and a 2.75 GPA minimum; must be registered for at least 12 credits; and have completed at least two consecutive semesters at Dillard, one of which must be the semester prior to intake.
A few signs a person is being hazed are:
• Forcing, requiring or encouraging an individual to drink alcohol or any other substance.
• Calisthenics, such as pushups, situps and running.
• Throwing anything at an individual.
• Forcing or participating in theft of any property under any circumstances.
• Assigning or endorsing pranks, such as harassing another organization, panty raids or setting off fireworks or other incendiary devices.
• Defacing trees, grounds or buildings on or off university property.
• Awakening or disturbing individuals during normal sleeping hours.
