Discusses approaches to relations with college/university alumni members of fraternities and sororities in the context of widely reported incidents of serious accidents, hazing, and alcohol abuse. Offers examples of ways to reach out to Greek alumni from Hamilton College (New York), Bowdoin College (Maine), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire),…

Reviews 1998 cases of discrimination against students, focusing on discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and disability and on hazing. Cases did not usually involve the blatant discriminatory acts that inspired antidiscrimination legislation. They involved increasingly complicated and subtle forms of discrimination and required more…

Because of the discriminatory practices and lack of appeal of many predominantly White Greek-letter organizations, students of color sought the development of their own. Alpha Phi Alpha, Rho Psi, MALIK Sigma Psi, Lambda Theta Phi, and Alpha Pi Omega set the stage for later African American, Asian, African, Latino and American Indian Greek-letter…

Anthropologists have documented the importance of rites of passage rituals for marking the successful passage from one position in the social structure to another. The characteristics and importance of rituals and rites of passage to mark the transition high school to college will be presented. It is proposed that colleges and universities utilize…

While studies by Stanley Milgram have shown that obedience to authority influences subjects' willingness to engage in behavior potentially harmful to others, Drout and Vandler (1992) found that observers consider an authority figure who harms or commands another person to harm someone more responsible and punishable than the obedient subordinate.…

At the annual meeting of the National Interfraternity Conference, the national presidents of 59 fraternities voted to study alternatives to pledging. Some think that pledging has become synonymous with hazing, and that eliminating pledging would reduce the chances for abuse. (MLW)

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)

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…

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.…

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…

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…