By Adonia Wade | November 1, 2021
At least one student has died each year on a college campus from hazing since 1970, according to Hank Nuwer, author of “Hazing: Destroying Young Lives.”
This statistic is the reason the University at Albany’s Fraternity and Sorority Life department is preparing a hazing module on Blackboard.
The module isn’t being implemented because of cause and effect, or damage control. Hazing has not been a concern among the university’s fraternities and sororities. The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life is taking a hazing prevention standpoint. The goal is to inform and educate the fraternities and sororities so that hazing is never an issue at the university.
“Our module was inspired by the national statistics surrounding fraternity and sorority life since the 1970s,” said Sari Khatib, the Associate Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UAlbany. “We want to equip our fraternities and sororities on the topic of hazing.”
The Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has always had information about hazing on its website that they would refer to Greek Life leaders, but the implementation of this module is an advancement.
Hazing is not just a concern for fraternities and sororities; other groups such as athletic teams, clubs, and other organizations also haze. As of now, the hazing module will not be used by other groups on campus because it is still in its early stages.
Khatib added that the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life hopes to work collaboratively with other organizations to provide access to the module to use as prevention for hazing by all groups on campus.
The hazing module is still in its first stages and will be doing a soft launch in the spring of 2022.
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