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Hazing Still Widespread at Colleges, Survey Finds

11,000 students respond; most don't think of their behavior as hazing

PORTLAND, Maine - Virtually every college bans hazing, but more than half of college students belonging to campus organizations say they have experienced it in places from the glee club to the fraternity house, according to a new study. Academic clubs and social and cultural organizations all haze new members, students told professors Elizabeth Allan and Mary Madden from the University of Maine's College of Education and Human Development. "It's far more widespread than many people would've assumed," Allan said.

How to define hazing?

Gary Powell, a hazing expert in Cincinnati, said defining hazing is a potential problem with any study. Drinking to excess and physical abuse clearly are hazing, but the line is blurry for activities that don't put people at risk of injury, he said. Many people define hazing the way Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously defined pornography: '"I know it when I see it,"' said Powell, who dealt with liability issues while working for a law firm that represents fraternities and sororities.
Allan and Madden didn't try to recommend solutions, but Madden said it's clear there's plenty of work to be done when a strong majority of students who are hazed don't realize it.
"They'll call it something else, team-building, or say 'I gave my permission to be treated this way.' It's a challenge for college administrators," Pollard said.