Cougs aim to end hazing

Hazing is not a Greek issue, student-focused risk management expert Kim Novak said during her Hazing Prevention Week Keynote speech yesterday evening in the CUB Senior Ballroom.

“If we act on our values,” Novak said, “it’s not possible for hazing to exist.” Hazing is a college issue that the Greek community needs to lead the charge to change.

Interfraternity Council President Adam Crouch introduced Novak as a national leader in fraternity and sorority hazing prevention. Her history with hazing was attributed to experience with multiple fraternity and sorority organizations, student-led organizations, national education boards, and her alumna status with Delta Gamma.

In light of her experience, Novak noticed that hazing, while a focus of concern on college campuses for more than a decade, did not gain national attention until 26-year-old Florida A&M student Robert Champion died in 2011 as a result of hazing in his band.

This occurred about an hour after several wounds were inflicted on Champion by other band members, a report by The New York Times stated.

He was not affiliated with a fraternity or a sorority, Novak said.

Since Champion’s death, responses to hazing have reached a federal level, she said. However, the conversation could focus not only on those who died, but also the lasting effects on living victims.

She emphasized the significance of the act, its effect on individuals, and the need for positive leadership all across campus.

“All we have been given is the rule,” Novak said. “If rules were all we needed, we wouldn’t have programs. The rules are not enough.”

Novak explained the importance of her statement by referring back to her own college experiences and the pressure of friends as a difficult factor.

“I would have been the pledge saying ‘bring it,’” she said. “‘There isn’t nothing you can do my five older brothers didn’t do.’”

The desire to prove something is influenced by individuals within each chapter, she said.

“Think about your values,” she said. “Not just the rhetoric, but what does it look like?”

She stated that an essential element of fraternity and sorority life is the bonds formed within the chapter.

“Membership comes with responsibility to the chapter,” Novak said. “Not individuals.”

This week, Novak has had conversations with Crouch and other fraternity and sorority leaders in regards to measures being taken to prevent hazing on campus.

“It’s been a great week of dialogue,” she said.

IFC and the Panhellenic Council have been following their campaign against hazing with updates on their Twitter feed, including memorial tweets for students who have lost their lives to hazing, Crouch said.

A memorial walk will be held today at 6 p.m. outside of the CUB to remember those lost lives, as well. To track campus activity, search #cougsagainsthazing online.

Correction: This story has been changed to contain accurate information.