In light of a lawsuit brought against the University by former football player Aidan Howard, Student Council held a discussion on hazing at the University during its Tuesday meeting. Members considered the problem of hazing, how to define the term and potential solutions to reduce occurrences in the future.
Student Council President Emily Lodge, a fourth-year Batten student, opened the discussion, asking the group how they view the problem of hazing at the University.
Third-year College representative Luke Williams said he thinks while most people would agree that hazing is dangerous, it still happens — and often goes unreported — because students do not know what qualifies as hazing or may feel there is a way to justify the practice.
“I think it might be helpful to remind people of what the University’s definition of hazing is — it’s very stringent,” Williams said.
Other members agreed that some students may not know what experiences qualify as hazing.
Darden representative Buzz Becker disagreed with that interpretation.
“I think they generally know and they’re protecting the organization,” he said of both perpetrators and victims of hazing. Becker said it is “naïve” to say that students do not know what hazing really is.
Student Council members offered up a variety of potential solutions to the issue.
Third-year College representative Brian Kelley said the recent incident with the football team should be addressed by the coaching staff, adding that younger athletes on the team may have felt as though they had to go through hazing to become part of the group.
“It’s kind of a cultural change that the coach should try to instill,” Kelley said.
Second-year College student Zaakir Tameez suggested the Stall Street Journal publication as a potential resource.
“I was thinking of the Stall Street Journal — if there was an entry there about ‘What is hazing?’ ‘What should you do?’” Tameez said.
Lodge agreed this could be a valuable resource, and offered to reach out to the producers of the publication about the idea.
Third-year Nursing representative Katie Yung noted presentations and information sessions about hazing that fraternity members often attend, and suggested this could be beneficial to all CIOs and sports teams.
Brett Curtis, third-year Curry student and representative body chair, explained Student Council’s potential role in working to combat the problem and how they could implement some of these solutions.
“We do have the right to put stipulations on organizations” and could implement new policies if needed, Curtis said.
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