In light of administrators' and faculty members' concerns over pledge term activities, Greek leaders were recently asked to re-examine the value of various new member activities, according to Wes Schaub, director of Greek Letter Organizations and Societies. Schaub said he has been meeting with Greek organization presidents on an individual basis since Fall rush began to evaluate if improvements are needed.
"I'm going to look at whether the activity has educational value and ask how we can make it so it doesn't fall under the definition of hazing," Schaub said. "We want a chapter activity that's not demeaning and demoralizing and will add benefits to the group. Sometimes people come up with pretty good ways on how to deal with those kinds of things."
Hazing is prohibited by both the College and New Hampshire law. Dartmouth defines hazing as "any action taken or situation created involving prospective or new members of a group or as a condition of continued membership in a groups ... which would be perceived by a reasonable person as likely to produce mental or physical discomfort, harm, stress, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule," according to the College's Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Office website.
New Hampshire law interprets hazing as any act involving a student that is likely to cause physical or psychological injury and is a condition of "initiation into, admission into, continued membership in or association with any organization," according to the New Hampshire General Court criminal code.
College officials take both Dartmouth-specific and state-mandated definitions of hazing into account when assessing which pledge term activities are acceptable, according to Schaub.
"We have to look at whether [the activity] is disruptive, whether people get hurt, if it is required of one class of members of the organization but not of another class and if people find it offensive or upsetting in some way," Schaub said.
Schaub instituted the review because he was concerned about mandatory public displays of Greek affiliation and their effects on public relations, according to Chi Gamma Epsilon fraternity president Sean Schultz '12, who met with Schaub on Oct. 19.
"At this time, Chi Gam is complying with GLOS requests that our pledges refrain from wearing Chi Gam signs," Schultz said.
No new rules have resulted from the review, which is simply an evaluation of existing policies, Schaub said.
"Technically there are no changes," he said. "We're looking at something that's always been in place but maybe overlooked in the past."
Many Greek leaders have reached agreements with Schaub on how to respond to these issues, which will include the creation of parameters and guidelines for their activities, Schaub said.
"Most Greek leaders [are] people who understand that these are traditions but maybe might not have as much value as they once did," Schaub said.
Inter-Fraternity Council president Kevin Niparko '12 said Greek leaders have been working with the administration to promote safe pledge term activities.
"The IFC takes a very strong stance against hazing, and presidents and the IFC have been in constant contact with the GLOS office discussing these very relevant issues to new member education and coming up with safe practices to make the best brothers in the [fraternity] system," Niparko said.
Niparko is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
Sigma Delta sorority president Dani Levin '12 said that the meetings with Schaub have been "productive."
"I think it gives Greek leaders a chance to re-examine what practices we engage in with our pledges," Levin said. "I think it's a good thing because we should know why we're making them do things they're doing so we can weed out things that are destructive and degrading but that were carried on for tradition's sake."
Greek organization presidents have responded well to requests for review, according to Niparko.
"The Greek leaders and IFC members are very open to discussing and evaluating their traditions," Niparko said. "I think it's a good time to re-evaluate practices and take a critical eye to what we're doing, and ensure we have safest and most welcoming new member education possible."
Levin, who met with Schaub on Oct. 14, said that Schaub was "fair" in his decision to evaluate pledge term activities.
"He's just asking us for a clarification on something that could be construed as hazing, which is a legitimate thing to expect from a house," Levin said. Administrators' and faculty members' concerns prompted Schaub to more closely evaluate pledge term activities, he said.
"I get calls and emails from faculty and staff who are seeing organizations participating in different types of behavior," Schaub said. "They say that it looks like hazing and that [they're] not comfortable."
Potential violence has always been a factor in considering the benefits of pledge term activities, but a recent increase in thefts of Alpha Chi Alpha "sirens" red baseball caps marked with the fraternity's initials that are worn by new members at all times did not directly cause the review, Schaub said.
"When somebody gets hurt we have to step up and ask why the activity is worth it and what other things we can do to reach a solution for this situation," Schaub said.
Despite its positive intentions, the review may be failing to address the more harmful effects of hazing, such as binge drinking, according to Levin.
"I'm worried that it's tough to address the actual truly destructive results of hazing because those are things you can't see or touch," Levin said. "I hope that we see progress in that realm, and I think that it needs to come from student leaders, to take it from administrators as a sign that harmful behavior isn't acceptable."
Schaub led an education session with Greek leaders on Sept. 26 to discuss new member admission and to define hazing, he said. Meetings with individual leaders followed on a case-by-case basis, and each situation is judged on its own, Schaub added.
"We have a policy and a judicial process, and some things could be handled as a hazing case judicially," Schaub said. "I would like to sit and talk about better ways to do this, what the benefits are, and how we can change it. Our goal is to make good members, not good pledges."
Schaub said he will continue to respond to incidents as they arise and when administrators and faculty voice concern.
"I think we have lots of room to be a stronger and better community, and it's always important to evaluate and examine the little things that are going on," he said.
Schaub acknowledged that some students take pride in wearing symbols of their house and do not consider mandatory new member activities to be hazing.
"If they wear something only for a pledge term and never touch it again, what that says is, I've met my obligation," Schaub said. "In reality, they earn their letters every day, and I hope that people will want to show their membership permanently and that it means something to them, not just the term they're trying to get in but for the rest of their lives."
The presidents of Alpha Delta fraternity and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority declined to comment. Presidents of other Greek organizations did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
