Starting this year, every Tulane student who is a member of a student organization will be required to complete two hours of anti-hazing training, one hour more than the baseline required for all students. These new requirements were added by the Louisiana House Bill 279, originally known as the Caleb Wilson Act.
Rep. Delisha Boyd proposed the act after Caleb Wilson, a pledge of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity at Southern University, died after being repeatedly punched in the chest in a warehouse during a hazing ritual. Southern University said all campus organizations were required to undergo anti-hazing training.
What the state of Louisiana believes an extra hour of anti-hazing training will accomplish is anyone’s guess. Louisiana already has very strict anti-hazing laws in the nation, enacted following the death of Louisiana State University pledge Maxwell Gruver in 2017, who was forced to drink copious amounts of alcohol after failing to recite the Greek alphabet and then left unconscious on a couch for over six hours.
Under Louisiana law, hazing, even if it does not result in or risk death or injury, is punishable by up to six months in prison.
It is hard to believe that individuals and organizations that haze are not already aware that what they are doing is wrong. If they thought it was ok, they wouldn’t hide it. Are we supposed to believe Caleb Wilson’s hazers would not have punched him in the stomach until he collapsed if they had completed an additional hour of online modules?
At LSU, three members of Tau Kappa Epsilon, who are required to complete the second hour anti-hazing training, were arrested in October and charged with criminal hazing and simple battery after beating pledges during an initiation ritual.
At Tulane, since Gruver’s death, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Phi Kappa Sigma, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Sigma Delta Tau and Kappa Alpha Theta have all been accused of or investigated for hazing.
In each case, both perpetrators and victims were required to complete anti-hazing modules, yet hazing still occurred.
When victims don’t report being hazed, it’s not because they are unaware; in 95% of hazing cases, students who were aware they were hazed did not report it. Reasons for victims choosing not to report include not wanting to punish or ruin the group, groupthink, a need for esteem and obedience to authority.
The new Tulane requirements differ from the mandatory Vector Solutions modules in that they target entire student organizations. According to a letter from Dean of Students Erica Woodley, the responsibility for enforcement rests with the officers of student organizations.
How the seven executive board members of TUSTEP, Tulane’s largest student organization, are supposed to ensure compliance among over 1,300 members is left up to interpretation. Should they fail, TUSTEP may lose university recognition and funding.
Large student organizations like TUSTEP, the Green Club and the Pre-Medical Society are not the ones typically hazing their members, and yet they face the greatest burden because of these new requirements.
Last year, Laura Osteen, the assistant vice president of campus life, said 74% of students are members of a registered student organization. At that point, it would just be simpler to require all students to complete the extra module.
Hazing is not unique to Greek life; Tulane Emergency Medical Services was suspended for hazing in 2015, but Greek organizations account for the worst abuses. Increased efforts to stop hazing should be focused on those most at risk, not universally applied to every single organization.
The Canvas module offered by Tulane doesn’t contain any more information than the mandatory Vector Solutions module every student is required to complete. The course offers explanations of why hazing occurs, and it features case studies. This information could be easily integrated into the first module.
Instead of providing students with an extra hour of modules to click through, we need transparency and accountability. Hazing thrives in the shadows; it relies on anonymity, fear and a culture of silence.
A step in the right direction is H.R. 5646, the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which requires schools to add hazing to their annual campus safety reports and create hazing transparency pages.
One problem with how hazing is reported is how it is defined. Examples of hazing on Tulane’s hazing prevention page range from “carrying an object solely for the purpose of carrying the object” to forced drinking or paddling.
While being made to carry an object is demeaning and could cause psychological harm, 82% of hazing deaths involve alcohol. Despite what the anti-hazing modules would have you believe, these activities are in no way equivalent; to claim so is an insult to the victims of hazing.
It’s important for universities to be transparent about what incidents specifically occurred, so an organization that makes a student carry a plank of wood and an organization that risks the lives of its pledges through copious alcohol consumption or physical violence are not treated as equals.
A good model to follow is that of LSU, where every single Greek organization has a community scorecard. This scorecard shows violations, including alcohol violations, hazing and sexual misconduct. Even better, the scorecard details what happened, what rules were violated and the penalties issued.
These community scorecards allow potential new members to be fully aware of the conduct history of groups they could join. Tulane’s hazing transparency page, which includes no details beyond what rules were violated and what consequences the organization faced, does the bare minimum to comply with federal law.
Tulane should make proceedings involving hazing as transparent as possible, within the bounds of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA should be relaxed at the federal level when it comes to hazing disciplinary hearings. If pledge masters knew future employers could see what they got up to, they might think twice before torturing their brothers.
In Louisiana, prosecutions should be stepped up using the tools in the Max Gruver Act, while amnesty protections need to be strengthened to encourage perpetrators and victims to seek medical attention when hazing goes too far.
Since 2000, 123 hazing-related deaths have occurred. Since Max Gruver died, there have been 34. Thousands more are victims of hazing every year. An extra hour of online training won’t change that. Better accountability might.
Cameron Young is a member of Phi Delta Theta. This article reflects his personal opinions and not the opinions of his chapter or national organization.