Educational Block 3 | 1:55-2:55 p.m.

In January of 2024, students at Ohio State University were asked a series of questions about hazing as a part of an annual Student Life Survey. Topics explored in this survey included student recognition of hazing behaviors and willingness to disrupt and report hazing. This session will share the findings of this survey and discuss implications for practice for student conduct, student activities and sorority and fraternity life offices.

During orientation and recruitment efforts our institutions promote safe and healthy learning environments with zero-tolerance for hazing, sexual violence and other forms of harm. Behind the scenes we know that too often this responsibility falls on the shoulders of one individual who also has other job-related responsibilities. Finding the time and resources to move beyond awareness raising efforts into upstream approaches is an evidence-based practice, but campus administrators struggle with capacity to implement. Join Ann Brandon and Kerry Soller as we talk about moving away from compliance only and awareness driven strategies taking place in a silo towards strategies which support collaborative, multi-faceted approaches to creating healthy campus communities.

Colleges and universities have adopted numerous strategies to address hazing and educate students about hazing prevention, but staff and administrators do not always deliver programs or educate on policies in ways that students receive positively. As a result, students may view hazing prevention programs as chores rather than valuable educational opportunities. Further, students may perceive that administrators are ''out to get'' their organizations if the institution implements hazing prevention policies without offering assistance or support to students.

This session will explore research-based strategies for building trust with students to create collaborative, effective relationships between students and administrators to talk about, understand and prevent hazing. Strengthening these relationships can increase student support of hazing prevention initiatives and ensure that staff and administrators devote resources to programs that students find meaningful and engaging. The presenters will also identify opportunities to increase student input into hazing prevention initiatives.

House Directors play an important role in the sorority/fraternity community. They are in a unique position to provide early intervention to potential cultural problems in a chapter, including hazing. It is important to recognize the opportunity for partnership with this housing partner by building relationships and trust with college and university staff.

This session will provide information on how to help house directors understand their role in hazing prevention, including training and reporting.

Parents and families can be valuable partners in preventing hazing on your campus. In this session, you will learn about incorporating hazing education and prevention in your parent and family messaging and get ideas from other institutions around the country. You will also leave with tools to help educate parents and families about the warning signs of hazing and how to support their student in choosing organizations and through the new member process.

The priorities for student engagement on university campuses are increasing daily. In a post-pandemic environment, staff members are asked to plan events, increase engagement and provide prevention programs. Some staff members feel like the asks are at odds with each other. However, the presenters of this session have identified how priorities can align. A key component of comprehensive prevention programming is the assessment and understanding of data. In this session, presenters will discuss a beyond-compliance approach to hazing prevention. In addition, they will share how they collect data and use it to discuss student engagement and success. Attendees will be able to reflect on their prevention programming, identify assessment or data-gathering strategies and articulate how their prevention initiatives contribute to student engagement and success.

Are you feeling the pressure to implement restorative practices in your organization hazing cases? Do you want to create a culture of accountability on your campus but do not have community support or buy-in? Join us as we talk about the steps Ohio State has taken to identify and enhance its restorative practices to build a culture of accountability in organization case management.

Like it or not, some institutional staffing models may lead individuals to serve in a single investigator set up. For those who work solo, it is important to consider strategies (what works, lessons learned and what’s in the research) as learned by colleagues who handle other categories of challenging investigations, such as our Title IX colleagues. Participants will gain a blend of research-based information with an opportunity to develop a network among session attendees to provide post-summit support for solo practitioners working with student organization conduct.