Resources
What You Can Do
Stay connected with friends outside of the group. Groups that haze often try to isolate their new members from others.
Talk with others about what you are going through. You do not have to keep it a secret. Demanding secrecy is a common practice designed to protect people who are abusing others.
Seek guidance from your parents/guardian or other family members.
Refuse to participate. Others before you have done so.
Join together with other new members to refuse to be hazed. There is power in numbers because groups depend on getting new members to join. Hazers don't want new members to realize how much power they have, so they work hard to keep them subjugated.
Leave the group. This is hard to do, but is always an option. Walking away from hazing takes strength. Don't believe it if anyone who tries to tell you that it is sign of weakness or that you weren't tough enough to hack it. Quitting when you are being hazed takes character.
Talk to a Counselor to help you sort out what to do.
Report the hazing, confidentially if you prefer, to any Athletic or Student Affairs Staff Member.
Normal Reactions Hazing
- Anger
- Confusion
- Betrayal
- Fear
- Resentment
- Embarrassment
- Humiliation
- Hopelessness
- Helplessness
- Anxiety
- Depression
Some individuals have become suicidal.
Physical Consequences can Include
- Exhaustion
- Headaches
- Hangovers
- Illnesses
- Injuries
- Scars
It's common to believe that things won't get worse, though they often do.
You may want the hazing to stop, but don't want to get the group in trouble.
You may want to leave, but fear the consequences or feel like you've invested too much already to walk away.
Self-blame can occur and is fueled by hazers who tell new members that they will let others down if they leave or tell anyone what is going on.
Campus Contacts
Health & Fitness Center
Upper Level (434) 395-2409
Longwood University Police Department
Dorrill Dining Hall (434) 395-2091
Order of Omega student honorary organization for fraternity and sorority members organizes Hazing Prevention Week each September.
Student Conduct and Integrity Office
Eason Hall G-08A (434)395-2490
University Health Center
The Landings (434)395-2102
Impact of hazing
Love, Mom & Dad: Parents of Tim Piazza, Max Gruver and Marquise Braham, who tragically lost their lives to fraternity hazing, share their stories in an effort to end hazing in any student organization. The discussion was part of the A.D. White Annual Summit for Sororities & Fraternities on Nov. 2, 2019.
Bystander intervention
Intervene: Produced by the Skorton Center for Health Initiatives in collaboration with the Cornell Interactive Theater Ensemble, Intervene uses brief scenarios to demonstrate ways in which student bystanders can successfully intervene in problematic situations. Seven different situations are addressed, including sexual assault, sexual harassment, intimate partner violence (emotional abuse), hazing, an alcohol emergency, emotional distress, and bias.
This film is 19.47 minutes long. The hazing-specific scene begins at 3:17.
Additional Resources
Hazingprevention.org
HazingPrevention.Org is a leading national organization dedicated to providing current information related to hazing and hazing prevention to individuals and organizations. Resources offered on their website include information about what you can do, links to videos, personal stories, newsletters, and National Hazing Prevention Week initiatives.
stophazing.org
StopHazing.org provides accurate, up-to-date hazing information for students, parents, and educators and a list of hazing laws by state. It includes informative articles on hazing in various contexts, including high schools, the military, athletic teams, and fraternities and sororities. The website also provides information about the National Study of Student Hazing and the Hazing Prevention Consortium, a multi-year research-to-practice initiative led by StopHazing to build an evidence base for hazing prevention on college campuses in the U.S. and beyond.
Inside Hazing: Understanding Hazardous Hazing
Provides practical information on all aspects of hazing as well as the theoretical perspective of Susan Lipkins, Ph.D., author of "Preventing Hazing: How Parents, Teachers, and Coaches Can Stop the Violence, Harassment, and Humiliation."
Unofficial Clearinghouse to Track Hazing Deaths and Incidents
Composed by one of the nation's leading experts on hazing, Hank Nuwer, this website compiles new hazing stories and reports on hazing incidents.
Information in this section was used/adapted with the permission of the Skorton Center at Cornell University.