Our goal is to provide Insight, guidance, and methods for change to address toxic greek culture
an introduction to the tragedies of greek life
JMU hosts various fraternity and sorority organizations like many other colleges and universities. These organizations are supposedly subject to the same ethical, moral, and community guidelines that the university itself pledges to uphold. However, recent evidence surrounding the practice of hazing suggests that these Greek organizations do not adhere to the principles of behavior mandated by the university. Hazing has spread across the nation's colleges and universities like a plague. JMU is no exception; the university party school image has made the institution a prime target when discussing the impacts of hazing on the student body. However, this precaution is not without merit; JMU has unrecognized multiple Greek organizations from the CMPUS community for violations of hazing and other community guidelines. Furthermore, due to Virginia Adam law, JMU has implemented a new anti-hazing training program for freshmen students. Much like this website, the program is designed to inform, guide, and provide an outlet for students to address and prevent instances of hazing. However, JMU fails to provide proper guidance regarding accessing and dispersing these resources to a broader audience. So, the purpose of this website is to consolidate information regarding hazing and provide easier access to JMU-funded resources like OSARP and hazing prevention training. Hopefully, this site can serve as an amplifier for improving the student body's reception to the vital services JMU provides to combat hazing and other illegal activities.
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world”
what is hazing?
description
There are a great deal of activities which fall under the definition of hazing. However, to consolidate its meaning, the practice is defined as any action which is coerced which results in harm, embarrassment, distress, or danger to the individual effected.
methods
Hazing is conducted as part of a greek organizations recruitment process. Prospective members are subject to hazing as part of their initiation rite into the organization. These recruites are forced to endanger, humilate, and harm themsevles to prove thier loyalty to the organization they wish to join.
reasoning
Hazing methods are used as part of the rushing process. Hazing is a tool used by fraternities and sororities to weed out individuals unwilling to participate in activities which result in self harm or harm to others via dangerous activities like excessive drinking or drug use.
unrecognized greek organization
Alpha Tau Omega (Also known as: The Alpha Society, Alpha Omega, JMU Taus) ‑ Lost recognition in Fall 2015 due to multiple violations of probation
adams law
In response to increasing concerns around hazing in virginia institutions, Virginia lawmakers opted to implement Adams law. The law required univeristies and colleges to provide the student body with hazing prevention training.
Delta Chi (Also known as: Pi Beta Chi, Crosskeys Society) ‑ Lost recognition in Fall 2013 due to hazing (Forced calisthenics and underage drinking)
hazing prevention training
In response to Adams law, universities and colleges around Virginia began to implement hazing prevention training programs. These programs were designed to educate and inform freshmen students on how to identify and avoid hazing practices in their community.
Sigma Chi (Also known as: Iota Chi, Sigma Iota Chi) ‑ Lost recognition in Fall 2015 due to hazing, issues with drugs/alcohol, and multiple risk management concerns
JMU and state response to hazing
OSARP
JMU took its responsibility to the community a step further. The university developed a new program designed to hold bad actors within the community responsible for their acts of injustice. OSARP provides the JMU community with resources and methods to report injustice in the community when it is observed.
what can you do to combat hazing in the JMU community?
recognize and report
The first step to solving an issue as prevalent as hazing it to recognize its existence and take steps to prevent it. Fortunately, JMU has developed resources like OSARP to provide students with a resource to report instances of hazing to organizations with the power to intervene. OSARP encourages students witnessing or affected by hazing to submit their observations to the organization’s various sub-divisions via electronic forms. OSARP offers methods of reporting for sexual misconduct, academic misconduct, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
Link to OSARP reporting page on JMU’s official website:
https://www.jmu.edu/osarp/reportingosarp/index.shtml
intervene or defer
When encountering hazing in the JMU community, assess your ability to intervene and decide whether to confront the bad actors or defer responsibility to other parties. For example, rather than acting as an individual against these behaviors, alert campus police to the crimes using as much detail as possible. The JMU police force offers assistance in cases of extreme emergency; other behaviors are deferred to organizations like OSARP, which are better equipped to handle the situation.
Link to JMU’s police departments resources:
https://www.jmu.edu/police/index.shtml
Recommendations for actionable change at JMU
Petition the board of education to improve the monitoring of recognized greek orgnazations
possible outcomes:
increased police presence/response time to instances of hazing
improved safety for students participating in greek party culture
improved surveillance of greek organizations to facilitate identification of bad actors
reduce instances of hazing within the community
possible consequences:
a reduction in the popularity of greek organizations
a shift away from JMU’s party culture
a reduction in admissions as part of the universities rebrand
difficulty in acting on information obtained via improved surveillance
organize boycotts of the greek rush process to demand a radical overhaul of the recruitment system
possible outcomes:
a shift in recruitment methods for greek organizations
increased popularity of alternative organizations like clubs
a reduction in rush related hazing incidents
reduced exclusivity within greek organizations
possible consequences:
further disconnect between JMU and greek organizations
increased secrecy surrounding greek organizational activities
even greater instances of greek exclusivity
creation of independent greek organizations which are not beholden to JMU guidelines
WHy should you care?
your responsibility to your fellow students
neglecting your responsibilities as a JMU student to uphold the values of the university no only harms your experience but the experience of others within the community. The rules and rights which protect students from acts like hazing can only be effective if the members of the community act upon their responsibility to not tolerate these behaviors. A failure to act upon this responsibility weakens the communities overall ability to uphold community values and prevent injustice. Therefore, if you consider yourself a member of the JMU community you should care when bad actors harm the community.
your duty to uphold the standards of JMU community
Your actions not only effect your outcomes but also the community and the universities overall reputation. If the community opts to ignore these pressing issues, the community will become desensitized to the injustices being committed. At that point, true sweeping change becomes massively difficult as the unjust behaviors become ingrained in the greek communities culture. The longer we wait to address these issues the less opportunity we have to remove them all together. If practices like hazing are not punished and reprimanded, the ones perpetrating this injustice will only be emboldened further.
who has the power to change the community?
STudents
naturally, students make up the most significant portion of the JMU community. Being the most considerable portion of the community gives the student body a great deal of power when it comes to enacting change in the university. After all, the university couldn't exist without the finances provided by the student body to attend the university. As an essential part of the university structure, students hold much leverage over the university direction moving forward. However, if fundamental change is to be implemented at the student level, it needs to be a united effort. only together can the student body enact change.
faculty and staff
The faculty and staff are arguably the glue that holds the university together. They share just as much responsibility to the community as the average student. Their conduct and response to conflict serve as a model of behavior for the student body. Therefore, the faculty and staff must use their positions to address injustice when it occurs. Otherwise, like the student body, they are inadvertently setting a negative precedent for behavior as JMU role models. Like the student body, members of the faculty and staff can utilize resources like OSARP or even recommend services such as JMU counseling to help students impacted by toxic greek culture.
president and board of education
The president and board of education have the most obvious responsibility to the student body to address concerns of hazing. The president and board hold the most amount of power when it comes to the universities direction moving forward. Students may be able to sway the opinion of these individuals yet the final decision lies in their hands. That being said, if any of the recommendations made above are to be heeded, the other stakeholders within the community need to apply pressure to the leadership of the university. Only through the actions of these stakeholders will the university undergo actual change.
closing remarks
This website aims to provide the JMU community, including students, faculty, and staff, with a highly accessible resource designed to inform, guide, and offer recommendations for actionable change in the community. I want this website to serve as a consolidation of vital information regarding JMU’s Greek hazing epidemic. I want to give the community a more superficial understanding of the issue and direct them to valuable resources that might not have been discovered otherwise. Lastly, I want to provide possible solutions to the problem and how implementing these changes might positively and negatively affect the community. Overall, I want to make it known that this issue exists, it affects people's lives, and if we work together as a community, it can be solved. Before delving into this topic, I was woefully unaware of the scale of JMU’s and other universities ’ hazing issues. This semester project has been both fascinating and disturbing as i deleved deeper into the history. That being said, in order for issues like these to be solved, they first need to be addressed and brought to light. I only hope that this resource I’ve created can help guide those passionate about the issue, like myself, towards methods that might truly change the community for the better.
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, And a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.”