The alcohol-related death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) freshman has focused attention on problems in the institution's housing policies and fraternity system, including unclear policy about housing and long-ignored complaints about hazing and dangerous drinking in the Greek system. (MSE)

A common but largely unacknowledged problem in public education in the US is the practice of hazing beginning teachers that leads to low retention rates. Factors that contribute to new teachers leaving high schools and often the teaching profession are presented and how these can and should be mitigated is discussed.

Provides a basis for colleges and universities to develop regulations sanctioning hazing. Describes the types of activities that have caused death. Presents state laws and discusses the legal context leading to civil or criminal liability. (RC)

Reviews the history of pledging and the recent movements for reform of this practice among historically Black fraternities and sororities. Describes the membership intake process that has been adopted and its resultant problems. Suggests that the national leadership should emphasize founding ideals as a means of overcoming resistance to change.…

Institutional responsibility for hazing injuries was called into question in a Delaware Superior Court in the case of "Furek v. University of Delaware." In ruling in the university's favor, the court signaled that universities may move to eliminate hazing without unreasonable fear of creating institutional liability for hazing incidents.…

Recommends steps to eliminate fraternity hazing by developing an institutional policy regarding hazing; developing programs designed to educate alumni, active members, and pledges about the harmful consequences of hazing; requiring prior approval of all pledge activities; and enforcing hazing policies strictly, punishing not only individuals, but…

The persistence of dangerous initiation rituals in student organizations despite administrative and legislative efforts to end them is examined. (MSE)

Theories of organizational development and culture used to diagnose problems and institute changes in organizations can be applied to the problem of hazing in black sororities and fraternities. This requires understanding the group culture's underlying values, as illustrated in stories about the organization. Appropriate interventions can then…

Student affairs professionals recognize that learning experiences transcend the classroom, and they have expanded the range of programs and services available to students well beyond the laboratory and lecture hall. The authors survey judicial opinions involving institutional liability for negligence and conclude that the expansion of educational…

Attitudes of members of Greek fraternities and sororities concerning hazing were studied at the University of North Dakota. A survey instrument was completed by 476 students. Activities considered to be hazing by a majority of respondents were those that are potentially injurious to the physical and/or mental health of the pledges or that could…

The phrase "social movement" typically conjures up images of pickets, massive crowds, and noisy demonstrations. An emerging approach to campus-based change, used in Fraternal Futures and other projects, is tapping into the small, the local, and the personally relevant. The Fraternal Futures deliberation initiative--a collaborative…

Collegiate student athletes are faced with the same developmental challenges and stressors as their nonathlete peers, but they are also expected to deal with the challenges of athletic involvement (e.g., time demands, physical demands, travel schedules). Such additional demands may put athletes at greater risk for experiencing physical and…

Stories are seductive, persuasive, permeable. They pull one toward them and they may even take over. From the tapes and transcripts of interviews, from the pages of journals and student writing, certain stories called out to this author and his colleagues. The narratives they include in their work are not innocently or objectively chosen stories;…

College administrators say, although sorority hazing is more likely to involve emotional/psychological abuse than physical violence, it is a growing problem. On some campuses, because traditionally black sororities pledge members at different times of year than traditionally white ones, their rush periods are not necessarily monitored as closely.…

While college and university officials tend to say they have fraternity hazing under control due to school policies and state criminal laws, critics find the laws have been ineffective, in part because of a tendency to blame the victims. Punishment of some student perpetrators has been minimal. Liability of schools can be substantial, with…