In an effort to combat hazing among non-Greek organizations and athletic teams, the Collis Center for Student Involvement and the Athletics Department implemented new policies at the beginning of Fall term requiring student organizations and athletic teams to submit new member activity proposals before holding events with newly inducted members of their groups, according to Collis Center Associate Director Anna Hall and Deputy Director of Athletics Robert Ceplikas.
Under the Collis Center's new policy, student groups must submit a form that includes a description of the activities they have planned, the goals they are trying to achieve and how news of the event will be communicated to new members, Hall said. Members of the Collis Center staff then evaluate the proposal to ensure groups are abiding by the new hazing policies instituted by Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson this term. Student organizations are notified of whether their proposal has been accepted within one or two days, Hall said.
"For the past couple years, we've always asked them to acknowledge and accept the hazing policy," she said. "This is just taking it to the next step and asking them for more information on what they're doing."
The athletics policy requires captains of varsity teams to submit new member activities to their coaches and sport administrators for pre-approval. Athletic Director Harry Sheehy has also addressed hazing through personal meetings with captains, according to Ceplikas.
"[The new hazing policy] reinforces the same principles we've stressed with our coaches and student-athletes for many years but also serves as a valuable reminder that hazing has devastating consequences for individuals and teams," Ceplikas said in an email to The Dartmouth.
There is potential for hazing to happen in any organization, and the new policy has encouraged groups to think critically about the way in which they welcome new members, Hall said.
"It has made groups really think about what they are planning for their new members and what it is that they're doing and why they're doing it," she said. "It's good that we're having these conversations."
Student organizations have made positive changes in response to the new policy, Hall said. Popular suggestions for new member activities this year have included apple picking excursions, dinners at local restaurants and bowling trips, she said.
A cappella groups and other Council on Student Organizations-recognized groups were informed of the new policy at a meeting with COSO early this term, Rockapellas business manager Anoush Arakelian '14 said.
"It was very sudden, and the rules had already been decided," she said.
Arakelian said that the new policy has negatively impacted the a capella group's initiation ceremonies.
"It's extremely frustrating we have to explain why we want to take them to breakfast and how we're going to wake them up," she said. "Every time we do something we have to ask, Are you comfortable?'"
Arakelian said that while she understands the reasoning behind the policy, she questions its applicability to all groups. The Rockapellas have not violated safety regulations in the past, she said.
Max Gottschall '15, a member of the Dartmouth Aires a capella group, acknowledged the importance of the new policies because hazing is an issue throughout campus. Gottschall said, however, that the new policy defines hazing too broadly.
"Unfortunately, I think that line has become so blurred with the new policies that a lot of times what are really great traditions of welcoming the new people into groups that are completely innocuous and that no sane person would call hazing have been lumped in," he said.
The Aires have made several adjustments this year in light of the new policy, including having all the members instead of just the new members wear odd jackets during the first week the new members joined. Having everyone wear the jackets helped build solidarity within the group, Gottschall said.
"The culture in the group is to maintain the traditions we have and make sure they are beneficial to the whole group," he said.
Lucia Pohlman '15, a member of the women's varsity volleyball team, said that the hazing policy defines many harmless activities as hazing.
"If you look at classic hierarchical things that every organization has, they are against hazing policy because not everyone does them," she said.
The volleyball team had to cancel Freshmen Sing, an event in which freshman listen to music through headphones and must sing aloud without being able to hear themselves, because it was considered hazing, she said.
The new policy had little impact on the women's club rugby team because it did nothing that could be considered hazing, according to captain Emma Vance '13. The only change the team has had to make is registering the office hours they hold for rookies, she said.
Hazel Shapiro '13, captain of the women's club ultimate frisbee team, said that her team has not been prohibited from doing anything that it normally does and that the change is "more of an inconvenience" than anything else.
Special duties are still commonly given to freshmen and underclassmen on the men's soccer team. Underclassmen have jobs such as pumping up balls, bringing water to the bus and cleaning up pinnies and cones after practice, captain Kevin Dzierzawski '13 said.
