As the issue of hazing has caught the attention of the media, students at Ball State are trying to raise awareness.
The last month of September is nationally recognized as Hazing Prevention Week. Greek Life students and the Office of Student Life have offered programs throughout the week that concludes with a guest speaker tonight.
At 6 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, Zach Nicolazzo will be the guest speaker at an event centered around introducing students to the risks and effects of hazing.
Nicolazzo is a full-time doctoral student in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program at Miami University in Ohio.
Before arriving in Ohio, Nicolazzo worked in the areas of greek affairs, sexual violence prevention and residence life at Dartmouth College and The University of Arizona.
"Nicolazzo offers a lot of interesting information, with a lot of experience working with fraternities and sororities as well as gender differences in hazing," Brandon Cutler, assistant director of student life, said.
Culter said Nicolazzo offers a perspective on the gender dynamics of hazing, which is what he will focus on tonight. His research has focused on the several differences between the actual acts of hazing and the differences of effects and harm caused between men and women.
This event is the wrap up of the National Hazing Prevention Week.
Student life handed out 300 hazing prevention pledge cards Tuesday and showed the 2010 documentary "Brotherhood," which focuses around everything that can go wrong in a fraternity when hazing is taken to the extreme. Olivia Catey, a graduate student in student life, said 475 people attended the movie showing.
Nicolazzo's speech is not just focused on students who are participating in greek life, Catey said, it should be attended by students who are part of any student organization.
"The majority of students who attend are going to come from greek life because hazing is an issue there, but every student organization can be affected by hazing," Catey said.
This is the first year that Hazing Prevention Week has been a major focus at Ball State.
"It is positive that students are interested [in hazing] and definitely a topic that is important to educate students about," Cutler said.
Student life saw that hazing education was something that it was missing out on, Cutler said, but "we are doing everything we can to provide a safe and positive experience with education as a focus."
Whitney Hamblin, president of the PanHellenic Council, expressed the need for more programs that educate people about hazing dangers and prevention.
"This is part of our community and an unfortunately, part of our culture," Hamblin said. "You can only expect so much from people, but we should be discussing [hazing] and making people aware of it at the very least."
Read More
Ball State’s Student Government Association (SGA) President Noah Poole delivers the state of the student body
By Shelby Anderson / YesterdayBall State’s Student Government Association (SGA) also welcomed Student Trustee Hope Churchill and Chief Administrator Hunter Case to its weekly senate meeting Jan. 22.
TikTok restored in the U.S. by Donald Trump 12 hours after the effective national ban
By Katherine Hill / YesterdayThe app has a controversial history, its Chinese origins posing a presumed threat to national security.
Indianapolis Party for Socialism and Liberation holds rally on Monument Circle
By Olivia Ground / 2 days agoBracing in the freezing cold, ralliers gather at the steps of Monument Circle in the heart of downtown Indianapolis to discuss topics such as American occupation in foreign lands, immigration, workers' rights and more.
