Link and story: Gauging our Progress on Countering Hazing Culture: An Interview with Hank Nuwer

by Dan Bureau, Indiana University; September 2007
Dan Bureau, former AFA president

Hank Nuwer never set out to become the world’s leading hazing expert. He was not a victim of hazing, at least not the kind that may force someone into action. Within his own fraternity at Buffalo State, Hank does not identify pledge activities as contributing to his current activism: “[becoming an anti-hazing advocate] certainly did not occur from joining a fraternity.”

It was not the actions done unto him that catapulted him into the anti-hazing arena.
It was his lack of action almost 30 years ago at the University of Nevada Reno that defines his work today. “At the University of Nevada Reno, I watched the athletes participate in very public hazing activities... administrators, faculty and students walked by. How many stopped? No one... we watched this several times... I could have broken this up, probably without a fight... I thought ‘so we’re all aware of this and no one is stopping it.’”

In particular, Nuwer remembers Wolfpack Football Player John Davies, who died in an alcohol-related initiation into the “Sundowners”, a sub-rosa club primarily consisting of athletes. “Would Davies be alive if I had taken action?” Nuwer says, “Damn straight!”

Three decades later, his commitment to halting hazing continues. As the fraternal movement prepares for the fourth annual National Hazing Prevention Week, I had the opportunity to talk with Hank and gauge his impressions of the progress made to counter hazing culture. It was a meeting grounded in both praise for the progress made as well as fear that enough has not been done.
Nuwer is quick to point out that his crusade to end hazing is grounded in an intellectual and scholarly research approach.

When he first became interested, Nuwer found that early research was focused on abnormal psychology, not higher education. There was obviously an awareness of hazing in other fields as “a bizarre collision of an everyday ritual.”

Nuwer

He goes on to address the challenge he has found in studying how people approach hazing activities: “The premise of hazing, that one group can put another group through this type of behavior, is wrong from the beginning.”

Nuwer’s books share many stories about the consequences of hazing. In addition, his Web site is a frequently updated reminder of the role hazing is playing not only in the fraternal community but throughout society. His tracking of hazing deaths reminds us of the negative impact of these practices on not only fraternities and sororities but on society.

During his time as both an anti-hazing advocate and examiner of hazing culture, Nuwer has interacted with the families and friends of victims as well as lawyers addressing how rites of passage for fraternities, sororities, athletic teams and other organizations went horrifically wrong: “Everyone of these [interactions] takes something out of you,” he states, “I can’t explain it... There is something about a hazing death that is especially hurtful for families.”

His early days in combating hazing were largely not met with open arms.“


Eileen Stevens


At the time, the mothers such as Eileen Stevens... were the activists,” Nuwer states. “Today, the activists are in the fraternity/sorority system.” Curious about the change, I ask why the shift has occurred: “In some cases it was people seeing things first hand,” Nuwer says. “They are driven by their conscience.

It is also people like Chuck Eberly [of Eastern Illinois University), who are looking at hazing in an intellectual way and challenging the
fraternal world to address the issue. The other group is those who have been brought up in a supportive system of the fraternity and sorority world who know it is sometimes embraced to be an anti-hazing advocate in the fraternal world.”In 2002, Nuwer put forth a challenge for the fraternal world. Since then a united effort by AFA and CAMPUSPEAK, along with representatives of national fraternities and sororities, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), and the Association of Student Judicial Administrators (ASJA), has helped make some progress. AFA’s recent efforts, beginning with the Hazing Think Tank at the 2003 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, have helped tackle the issue on a larger scope. “In a very collegial way, we have been able to strip apart this problem and tackle it from different directions.”

Nuwer has worked with inter/national organization such as Phi Delta Theta and Beta Theta Pi who he acknowledges have impressively tackled hazing. He states, “It’s not behind closed doors anymore.”
Indeed people are accepting the appropriate authorship they need to in order to address the issue.

“Fraternity people have been able to see this is a larger issue (high schools and athletes). Realizing it was societal made it less threatening to the fraternal world. We’ve begun to tackle this as a societal problem and target hazing more than just within the fraternity/sorority system.”

So what is Nuwer’s legacy in the battle against hazing? Most notable is his research and monitoring of hazing activity which has provided the foundation for some state anti-hazing laws. Michael Gordon, past Executive Director for the National Pan-Hellenic Council, stated “Many laws against hazing in states across the US can trace their origins to the solid research of Hank Nuwer. It would be safe to say that his contributions to the field have saved lives and injury.”

Michael Gordon, former Pan-Hel president and Indiana U. dean

But Nuwer knows the approach to improving how the legal system addresses hazing is going to have to be more than just a response to incidents: “Good law is not going to come after a tragic incident.” Nuwer indicates that research and good thinking are going to have to be considerations in anti-hazing legislation and adjudication of cases.

In spite of the work of Nuwer and other anti-hazing advocates, challenges persist. 2006 was originally thought to be the first year in 30 that a student did not die from hazing; however, a case emerged in Texas indicating a fraternity member’s death at the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 may be linked to these activities.

Also, the death of a Rider University Phi Kappa Tau member in March 2007 has brought to the forefront the concerns about how institutions address hazing. In August, it was announced that not only three undergraduate members of the institution would be indicted for their involvement in the incident, but also two university administrators faced criminal chargers.

Nuwer cannot recall case law where an institution was cited in this manner. Posting on his blog, he writes, “The Rider University criminal case involving the Dean of Students and Greek Adviser (with housing responsibilities) will be watched by every administrator at every college in the country.”

Nuwer is not sure things have changed as much as they need to: “When I started out, I thought for sure it would change in my lifetime... For a time, I thought we could, but [now] it doesn’t look like we can do it.” Immediately though, Nuwer informed me that this does not mean we should not try. Of particular importance is how fraternity and sorority professionals can learn from not only incidents in the fraternal movement but also incidents outside of the fraternity/sorority community.

As the fourth annual National Hazing Prevention Week approaches, what are possible trends and what can be done to shape future initiatives against hazing?
Regarding emerging trends, Nuwer states, “You’re going to see fraternities have to tackle the area of sexual hazing which has been increasingly prevalent in high school and athletic hazing.”

Nuwer believes college hazing may be influenced by the experiences of high school athletes who join fraternities and sororities. “People are looking at fraternities and sororities as a substitute for the camaraderie students had in high school athletics. This is more so now than in the past.” Over the course of the last five years, numerous high school hazing incidents have been highlighted in the media.

Fraternity and sorority professionals must pay attention to this issue.
Technology has also been increasingly used as a way to promote hazing. “YouTube and other sites are encouraging people to post their dumb pranks to be viewed as funny,” Nuwer states. “If it wasn’t so appealing to such masses, we could laugh off some of this stuff and disregard it, but it’s turning into hazing.”
A recent visit to Myspace.com allowed Nuwer to find several hazing incidents. He states, “Do we have an obligation to find these sites and act on their content? It’s kind of creepy. Very voyeuristic, yet we need to deal with it... If we can prevent a death, such as with John Davies, [it would be worth the time spent monitoring these sites].”

As far as the solutions, Nuwer has many ideas as to how fraternity and sorority professionals can influence the future and address hazing. First and foremost, it is going to require a united approach with awareness at more than just the college and university level.Nuwer states, “At least some involvement at the community level to see what is happening at the high school level [is necessary]. All of the [secrecy] we had in the 1970s with fraternities is now prevalent at the high school level.”

Nuwer reminds me of the need for continued research to intellectualize hazing in order to improve state and possibly federal] legislation: “More scholarship and more studies must be embraced. The fraternity has contributed over time to society. It needs to be studied. They are an important part of the educational system and must be studied.”

In an effort to improve research efforts, Nuwer has established the hazing archives at Buffalo State College. When asked why this was an important initiative, Nuwer states, “I hope to create a forum for others to intellectualize hazing and study it in a way so that a graduate researcher can create new knowledge out of one place.”Association of Fraternity Advisors anti-hazing initiatives over the last four years have included increased attention to research. Important progress for the fraternal movement could be made if persons involved in this research were to send materials to the archives.


Nuwer believes that increased discourse is needed: “We talk all the time about returning to our founding roots,” he states, “addressing hazing is one way we can do this. We need to make our organizations anew. We need to see them in a way we have not seen them before and then all of us together are better than one of us.”The efforts of the Association of Fraternity Advisors over the last four years, as well as the work of CAMPUSPEAK, NCAA, and many other organizations have helped us to begin to solve the problem using the approach of a coalition. Recalling the meeting in San Antonio at the 2003Annual Meeting, Nuwer states, “Everyone came to the task force with a goal to address hazing. It was a very unselfish group. These groups have the propensity to change hazing. People involved in countering hazing everyday need to take the active role.”

Finally, there is a need for fraternity and sorority professionals to become engaged in the profession for more than simply a year or two and then “up or out” to something different. Nuwer states, “As long as fraternity/sorority advising is reviewed as a temporary position, we’re going to have a problem. By the time you’re mentally able to deal with the reality of hazing, you have decided to move on from your role (of fraternity and sorority advising).”

So what is next for Hank Nuwer?

For 30 years he has worked tirelessly for those who have been victims of hazing. Challenges continue and progress has been made. Nuwer cannot do this alone. The work of countering hazing must be adopted by each of us invested in the fraternal movement. National Hazing Prevention Week 2007 presents an opportunity for all of us to become invested in this movement by doing something big or small to address hazing culture.