Foreign Thank you good evening and welcome to the first of what may be many first things first conversations tonight we’re going to set the internet on fire with a conversation topic we’re all very passionate about the truth about hazing but first I want to take a few minutes to recognize our International presidents
From your left to right National president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated Elsa cook homes and a national president of Sigma gamma rho sorority Incorporated the Liberty International president of Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated Dr Stacy NC Grant an international president of alpha Capital Alpha sorority Incorporated
Danette Anthony Reed now I want to take the next couple of minutes y’all and introduce our extraordinary panel of first vice presidents our first panelist has served as the chair of the international membership committee from 2010 to 2014 providing leadership to her sorority resulting in over 17 000 members reactivating their
Membership she served as the deputy director of government Affairs for the 60th mayor of Atlanta Miss Keisha Lance bottoms from 2018 to 2022 she is the first African-American female to be appointed as the city’s zoning administrator she’s a life member Legacy and Silver Star and has more than 35
Years in service at Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority Incorporated please welcome International first vice president Charlotte Wilson Jax our next panelist she chairs the scholarship and standards committee for her organization overseeing the establishment of chapters orienting and providing ongoing training for regional directors Regional Representatives assisting with the development and implementation of reclamation programs
She has served 17 consecutive years on the national executive board where she’s shared the program planning and development committee and co-chaired the leadership academy she’s a retired educational administrator a golden life member and has more than 50 years in service to Delta Sigma Theta sorority Incorporated please welcome National
First vice president Pamela Smith all right it just keeps getting better our next panelist has served her organization as the first national director of risk management creating their first formalized set of risk management policies and a formal risk management training program which is now a certification program that is highly
Regarded by the organization’s insurance carrier and campus professionals she is an attorney and corporate governance professional she was the first African-American female elected as an officer of southern New Jersey’s gas utility she’s a diamond life member and Centennial founder Society member with now more than 36 years in service to
Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated please welcome International first vice president Gina Merritt Esquire and last but certainly not least our final panelists is responsible for all things membership including intake training member recognition and disciplinary she has served in several leadership positions in her organization on the local Regional and international
Level to include serving as the undergraduate chapter coordinator this has certainly provided her first-hand knowledge and experience in working with risk management training members on the sorority of policies and procedures collaborating with external partners and reviewing disciplinary action reports of members and chapters she is a ruby
A life member and has more than 28 years in service to Sigma gamma rho sorority Incorporated please welcome International vice president Marika Harris all right ladies well we have a short amount of time this evening to kind of peel the layers back on this hazing issue that we’re going to be talking
About that’s impacting each of your organizations our communities at large and quite frankly seems to be dimming the light on the purpose behind each of our existence but before we jump into conversation can we all agree perhaps on a shared understanding of what hazing really is punishment harassment humiliation
Um painful aspects of initiation and any action taken or situation created maybe that contributes a risk of potential injury mental harm a degradation can we agree that that’s really the definition of hazing absolutely yes oh good so given this definition I’d like to kind of start our
Conversation here and talk a little bit about some of the ways hazing may be showing up across your organization in Zeta yeah you know thank you for the definition I definitely agree first of course we have to acknowledge the harm to the individual members of our society irrespective of um our organization but
Let me say this I don’t think everyone appreciates the amount of time in human resources that it takes to address these allegations when they come in and how much it distracts away from our mission you know we have staff that we pay and then volunteers that have to staff the
Investigation process all the way through the appeals you don’t know how much impacts our growth you know those who won’t join or won’t stay active and so we have to reclaim and retain and as we all see on social media we’re starting to see more people talk about
Renouncements and I’m sure that the allegations of hazing definitely show up in people who no longer want to be part of our organization you know it’s difficult to Charter chapter Charter chapters to reactivate chapters you have universities who are eliminating Greek letter organizations the harm to our
Reputation is just you know it’s very difficult to explain and as we look at the legal cases and our insurance and the new theories of liability but let me just talk a little bit about how one act of hazing can impact our ability to get part Partnerships and sponsorships we’re
Going to these organizations saying that we’re the best and the brightest yet we have criminal activity within our organizations the way it’s depicted on the media and I really think that it does also show itself within our organizations we’re saying to people what you have
Done is not enough and if you notice we also treat our own members that way what you did is not enough and so we see hazing after the intake process and it also spills into how we treat our leaders I think there’s a lot of times
There’s a lot of hazing of our leaders what we do is not enough the way that we’re criticized about things so it shows up you know before the process within our organization but I really want to emphasize the amount of human resource and distraction that it takes
Away from our missions that our Founders you know put there for us yeah I I like how you worded all of that and ladies I’m certain that each of you also see hazing rearing its ugly head and your respective organizations as well but yeah what about what do you feel
Um within Delta and how it’s showing up there thank you yes everything is showing up in different ways in fact there’s like a spectrum of hazing hazing going from uh intimidation to harassment to the violence and I think most most of our people think of hazing eyes
And it’s not only that in fact when you think of about it intimidation our people think this is meaningless or harmless but it’s still hazing things like calm me every day at a certain time um things like clean my apartment or come and clean out my car
Um also social isolating don’t talk to anybody else don’t don’t see anybody else during this period of time or I take someone’s laptop or take their cell phone their clothes that is hazing and so many people think that’s not that that’s not hazing that’s meaningless that’s that’s harmless that’s fun no
It’s not it’s hazy and then the middle kind of way of hazing where you’re dealing with her mint that kind of causes people’s stress and anguish they pretty much people do understand and then some do verbal abuse they understand that they’re tasing but they still don’t think it’s as bad as the violence
Sleep um uh sleep deprivation deprivation excuse me as well as um just things like asking for rights or you you missing someone’s diving and I think we’ve got to get that definite the whole definition and many many examples so people truly understand yeah I absolutely agree with all of what
You just shared and I am certain that we all have those same sentiments Charletta what about for you what are you seeing across AKA as it relates to how hazing is showing up in your organization watch Cami the one thing I can say starting off is that hazing is not
Unique and we’ve heard that from our other vice presidents that it is very pervasive in those organizations as well but we find hazing showing up in the culture and I know our younger generation now are talking about for the culture but it’s not for the culture this hazing it goes against our policies
Of respect it goes against our mission it goes against our core values but primarily we see it showing up in our member experiences as some of my sister vice presidents have said particularly in the new experience when someone is interested in our organization they have the feeling that they have to be
Subjective to certain standards in order to be made by some made up regulations as opposed to understanding who we are and whole suite are and then we also find that showing up in member sustainability ability a sister Gina talked about renouncements you know yes I am sure that hazing is at the bottom
Of that those who were subjected to that are those who actually conducted some of the hazing so sustainability of our members is being challenged by hazing and I will also say in existing as a member for example on some campuses if you were not initiated in a chapter and
You transfer to a chapter then you are not welcome and literally you are Haze or you you are prevented from participating in homecoming activities or other things and these things are becoming more prevalent so and that’s a form of hazing that’s isolation so we have to understand that none of our
Founders participated in hazing we were founded on principles of Sisterhood principles of service and if we are going to be here and represent those values now for all of us over a hundred years we have existed we have to understand that hazing is not for the culture of any of our organizations
I like that I like that I certainly agree with that sentiment and what each of you have expressed Marika what about with you and what you’ve seen across Sigma gamero yes thank you I find it very interesting um that we’re having this conversation because over 30 years ago our Collective
Group decided that we were not going to stand for pledging and hazing within our organization so here we are in 2023 having these same conversations again so it’s quite telling of the work that we did not do from 1990 until now but for Sigma gamma
Row it shows up as um Gina has said when people reach out to our International corporate headquarters and Report concerns about possible hazing and pledging uh what’s very serious to me is when parents contact us contact our headquarters contact our regional leadership team to express concerns about their child that they sent to
School participating in illegal activities um activities that may harm them that are going to prevent them from graduating especially with our legacies is very concerning um it’s also embarrassing when it shows up when the college and universities reach out and contact us to talk about the concerns that they have were on
Their respective campus and we’re supposed to be helping them sustain their um their students that are coming to their campuses but when we get those calls it’s quite concerning as we a couple already said it shows up when we’re working to reclaim members of our organization we’re reaching out to them
Asking them to return to The Sisterhood and yet they’re sharing their experiences of being hazed um of being being abused within their respective process and last but not least we’re seeing an increase in the renouncements uh where members are wanting to disconnect and disengage with The Sisterhood because of that same
Experience so it’s showing up and it’s not showing up in positive ways seems as I listen to each of you all speak about this particular issue that it’s showing up in some of the same ways amongst all of your organizations and we have to have ways of kind of dealing
With this issue and so I kind of want to stay right here with you Marika and just you know maybe talk about some of the strategies what strategies you know is uh Sigma gamma rho working on and implementing to effects change around the prevention of hazing
Yep thank you for us it our goal is really to protect and preserve our organization uh we’re still celebrating 100 years of service and we want to ensure that we are around for a hundred plus more years training in education um telling our members like talking about what hazing is being transparent about
It what it looks like the impact on hazing um how it shows up on campuses how it could show up in a respective membership intake process um we take a deep dive in looking at our risk management policies uh making sure that we review them and update them
Annually we also made sure that we added The Hazing hotline to our national website to provide another resource for interested women or or so Awards reach out and contact us to let us know that something has happened or there’s something that potentially is happening um our legal team we send them to the
Fraternal law conference to make sure that they are updated with all of the current legal issues and trends that are out here so that we can kind of get ahead of it and know what to prepare for for our upcoming intake season so we try to make sure we educate our members
Okay sounds good I like that I like education Gina what about you are there strategies that Zeta is working on implementing to you know sort of do the same thing affects change around the prevention of hazing if for me I think it’s very important as tonight’s event I hope demonstrates is
That we need to stop tiptoeing around the issue it’s criminal behavior and you know for those of us that do criminal background checks before we bring people into the organization and then we turn around and don’t have that supposed Zero Tolerance against what again is Criminal and sometimes Savage behavior and so I
Think that I’m you know I know that I’m very proud of our final women don’t Haze team that you know came up with this event glad to share it with everyone but until we stop you know half talking about it half enforcing it and call it what it is Criminal Behavior
By people who are supposed to be the best and the brightest in our society I think what was important for me for tonight was to make sure that this was education beyond our organizations to invite the public so that the community understands our stance and I hope that everybody appreciates the unity here
Tonight this is not just about one organization and you know borrowing from uh Rasheed Cromwell from Harbor Institute you cannot dismantle what you don’t understand so the education that Marika talked about about how pledging began how maybe our Founders did not go through a pledge process how that
Evolved into hazing some of the hazing of students at universities is very important and so you know we are looking at Partnerships with the organizations like Harbor Institute or for our finer women don’t Haze initiative it’s not just an international committee there’s a rep at each region and we push it down
Of course to our chapter and our state levels and as Marika indicated your risk management policies this is beyond National hazing prevention week and for us and for me in particular it is personal and until we stop acting like it’s not an issue and pull the blanket
Off for the issue and talk about the criminal Behavior we’re going to impact the very sustainability of our organizations yeah I agree I agree with that and I really want to just kind of go back to you know Marika you had mentioned one of the strategies is that hotline I really
Like that idea as a strategy but Pam what about for Delta are there strategies being implemented to affect change in the same area Reimagine our membership intake program uh to some of the Hallmarks are education we wanted to educate and educate and educate about what how should you manage what is a whistleblower how can you become a whistleblower are you safe and whistleblower Etc I wanted to be transparent about what does it
Mean to become a member of the sorority and so we put something on our website specifically saying how to become a member and it was for students for parents for anyone who wanted to know more information about the becoming and that again without you putting much see something say something
And I you know I believe that the more you repeat things maybe they thinking I gotta say something so we really try repetition as well one other thing that we’ve tried is we have a teach program that was instant that was uh created by our undergraduate and University Affairs Taft
Program uh teach actually stands for time nine um and it’s kind of amazing and to prevent hazing because it teaches them not only about hazing and sexual assaults and all that but and the piece I like I stand in strategies what strategies can you use when you see them
And I think it’s it’s effective way um I would say that we are also trying to um do more training so that they’re very much aware of what’s going on and and what’s the latest trends that we see so that they can then um Implement those kinds of things with with
The knowledge of what’s Happening definitely the last thing I would say is we also have contracts signed by the Sorrows about anti-hazing and about those wishing to be sorrows and uh the contract says I will not Haze and I will not allow myself to be Haze so we really
Are trying a number of strategies as everybody is it seems like it yeah I like all of the strategies that I’ve heard from each of you um and it seems there’s some even shared pollination if you will so given the seriousness of this issue that we’re talking about I’m certain that each of
Your organizations has anti-hazing policies because I’ve heard a couple of you mention that but policies you can agree are just documents unused if we aren’t sharing that information out right so I’d like to kind of talk a little bit about how we’re disseminating that information to the broader communities Charletta what measures
Um does AKA have in place to communicate his anti-hazing policy you’re on mute thank you thank you for that question let me start off by saying that all of us each one of us has experience I know game-changing incidents that have caused us to put in place our anti-hazing
Policy so collectively we’re all on board with that but I firmly believe that in order to communicate in order to educate you have to communicate and we have to over communicate first and foremost most Alpha Kappa Alpha has put on its official webpage our anti-hazing policy so that those who are interested
In becoming a member of our organization are those who are currently members of our organization are aware of where we stand on our Zero Tolerance hazing policy and we have defined hazing we have also given examples of unlawful Behavior so that we take it down to the granular level so someone is not
Mistaken that pre-pledging or or financial hazing or financial abuse is a part of hazy the other thing that we do is that we have conferences as we all do and we invest a lot of time in educating our members on what that looks like what impact it is to our Traditions what
Impact it is to the perpetuity of our organizations and those workshops are held as members come in the organization as members stay in the organization and as they try to transition to higher levels because our leaders have to also understand that their position and their conversation on the Zero Tolerance of
Hazing will translate and trickle down to those of us who are working on the ground I would also say that it’s important that we take advantage of social media it’s our world today and so many of our members really don’t read books they don’t read the manuals the
First thing they do is they go to the Internet they go to the social media page they believe everything’s sometimes it’s on Facebook Instagram Tick Tock so we have gotten to you know show how these things impact the perpetuity of our organizations you know we say these
Pearl Stone Haze where all of us are wearing pearls tonight and our pearls cannot shine if we don’t communicate our anti-hazing policy and how important it is for us to continue to belong because we all know that there are people in this Society who are trying to dismiss
Us dismiss our history even on the campuses where we are serving our communities so it’s important that we educate educate and over educate I agree I agree and I like the fact that there is that zero um tolerance in your policy and I kind of like to just see across the board maybe
Um Marika and um Pam maybe you can follow on top of Marika but what measures do you all have in place to communicate your anti-hazing policy and I’ll start with you Marika yes as sword Charlotte has said training training training educate educate educate for us I like for us to have an
All hands on deck approach from our regional leadership team to our regional legal legal advisors they are presenting information about risk management at all of our area meetings our conferences we also have included our regional membership team and our area coordinators and state directors for them to also be actively apart in making
Sure that there are no hazing or pledging activities going on we do a quality check for all of our membership intake processes where we just show up you’re never going to know we pop up we want to see what’s going on we want to make sure you’re following the
Curriculum that’s outlined in our policy so that has been helpful for us to kind of stop things if we notice something is going on we also have the interested women they have to read and sign our terms and condition if you’re under 21 we send it to your parents as well
Because we want them to know what’s going on and what you’re about to participate in we want them to know in advance we also teach them we have a workshop for them to learn about our hazing policies we participate in hazing prevention week we want to make sure our
Undergraduates are involved in this process as well to include a mental health component because hazing is more than just a physical it’s the mental health issue that really has a greater impact in this hazing in this Haze excuse me in this hazing problem yeah I agree and I like that whole um
Mental approach because it does impact um people’s mental and behavioral psyches Pam what about for you anything that you want to add on to that discussion as it relates to anti-hazing policies and what you all have you’re all mute foreign policy your own mute Pam it still seems like your own mute
I can’t am I still no ma’am technology works when it works and when it doesn’t it doesn’t and now we can hear you we can hear you oh now you can hear me something goes me out but uh okay great great let me say that um on our website
We have our code of conduct it’s right there for read to see exactly what kinds of sanctions are given what kind of behavior we also have a Delta Eternal development workshop on the code of conduct we you know everywhere we can we put that code of conduct that the rush party
At the orientation I mean every place possible both for or candidates you have to pay information that’s on right uh we have video to have at home every sort of gives specific examples and details about what hazing looks like so anybody who’s in question can see examples of it
Um we again anti-hazing contracts um the other thing we do belong to the anti-hazing uh prevention The Hazing prevention Network and that’s a network that allows anyone who report as a whistleblower and uh that we it is being used and so that’s a good thing and we do
Communicate with that that you call that work no one will ever know you are but they will get your report so we try a number of things um to just get the information out yeah um I know one of your roles Pam in your organization is kind of serving as the
Chair of the scholarship and standards committee kind of overseeing the establishment of chapters within Delta as we’re coming off the heels and I and I just thought about this question you know Marika brought up the um social and mental aspects um as well as um Gina but
Coming off the heels of the pandemic I’m just curious what impacts do you believe the pandemic has had on hazing for newer Soros as we’re talking about that community oh I think it is had a neck back on our Circle I’ll tell you a number eight the Saurus who went through the
Virtual processor and have been given the title of digital Deltas or verb Deltas that’s not a label and so what those sorrows are feeling is that their process was knit and that uh they are it’s in some ways they were not made the right way so what they have done some of them
Have allowed themselves to be Haze after they become sorrow so they can really prove that they can you know be good Sorrows another things it is that those songs the Star Wars made during the who did intake during the pandemic they uh are seeking to prove that they can make good sorrows
So they were inventing some ways to Haze that they are uh good Star Wars that they’re strong that they were that they can make others and that is really uh a problem because what happens is because they feel less sir they’re using their power and then it’s the vision you know
And it just continues and then the last thing I would say about it is um that during hazy uh excuse me during the pandemic so many of our young people especially had difficulty connecting and so we see that there are sorrows who have difficulty connecting as a part of the sorority
They were isolated they did they really did not know their line sisters and so that it’s playing itself out in our uh sorority now yeah I and I I can agree with that and I’m sure you know just kind of thinking about that last comment you made it it brings me to
Um Marika just because of the nature of the pandemic period with your studies in the field of psychology and social work on this new trend that we’re seeing has to be alarming for you as well are there impacts that you believe the pandemic has had on hazing for newer sorors also
As as Pam was talking I was like is that me because the same thing that is you know that she has shared about Delta Sigma Theta applies to Sigma gamma rho as well I mean we’ve our swords that came in through the pandemic they’ve been labeled as the pandemic poodles so
Everything as far as wanting to be connected to be involved um the same cinnamon I was like she’s taking the words right out of my mouth um for us we saw a decrease in some of the physical claims but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen it’s just been under reported
Um with some of the virtual hazing like the cyber bullying going on um with some of the chapters and then what was really concerning is that you know all of us had covet um policies we’re finding that people were intentionally violating those policies to go out into communities and
And participate in illegal activities so that didn’t really stop anything we thought maybe it would get you know some type of hold on it it would settle some people down but they’re going to do it regardless whether it’s in person or virtual we found
Yeah I can agree with that I and I kind of want to just stay right here for a few more minutes on this issue of the pandemic because we are just coming off the heels of it and it has just you know had a significant impact in all of our
Lives but um just wondering Pam are there some strategies that you would recommend we use uh as it relates to ameliorating the impact of the pandemic on hazing new Soros I think we may have lost Pam she hopefully will be coming back in well maybe we can just go on while we
Wait on her Gina um just being a trustee for the Atlanta Care Health System and you know maybe even having an understanding of the behavioral impacts are there some strategies that you could potentially recommend for us to use in in terms of ameliorating the impact of the pandemic
On hazing new swords you know definitely I think you know we’ve all heard the names now you know that were given to our store Wars digital Deltas pandemic poodles I’ve heard Zoom Zetas I think that has to stop we’re all members um when I teach risk management and when
The team does risk management the first thing that we do is we go through stats of hazing during the pandemic to let people know that it’s real that like Marika said it didn’t go away but you know I really want to talk about the
Fact that we all need to do a better job with onboarding whether it’s post-pandemic or not some of us you know we go through the process we bring people in and so with trying to be more intentional however about teaching people how to be members of our
Organization and we have to be even more intentional with that intentional integration because of the pandemic piece and so again in continuing with that exclusion now it really with the pandemic you really aren’t enough you really haven’t done enough to the point where as people said they’re being
They’re volunteering to go through some type of process that is really harmful physically as well as the people’s psyche and so when we do our MIP certification one of the things that we emphasize is that when you induct people into our organization they are now full members with all rights and privileges
And that really has to be brought home very um poignantly with respect to those who were brought in through the pandemic and for everyone when it comes to you know anti-pledging anti-hazing just please remember that we’ve always been anti-hazing organizations that in 1990 we stopped the pledging but we all need
To stop the storytelling you know that I I was online for 1920 days you know because my question is are you active what are you doing for the organization and so we just do a lot of things in our organizations to separate ourselves from each other and I don’t understand the
Point of the separation and then of course it spills over into the separation between the organizations so we just have to be more intentional about the onboarding worrying about how people came in and just stop the name calling and the separation and I came in this time and all of these things are
You paying dues have you done community service what are you doing about social action I can agree and I see your sister VP snapping and giving you the the thumbs up on that that seems to be a statement that’s resonating with all of you and I
See that Pam has come back in and so Pam I’ll give you a couple of minutes here just to you know kind of close us out on the whole pandemic and share with us any strategies that you would recommend that we use as it relates to ameliorating the
Impact of the pandemic on hazing of new Soros you’re unmute Pam okay I think we have to can you hear me yes ma’am um this is just going in and out so I’m not in control but I think you have to reconnect uh our Star Wars
I really do I think that we have to be an advocate for the bonding uh activities in their service projects to try to figure out how they can bond together because they didn’t have that there was social isolation and um one of the things that we’ve done is
We have a Live Well program as a part of our physical and mental health thrust and that live well program does deal with mental health and we have Wellness Wednesdays some of which are meant for Collegiates some of which are for everybody who will Who will join whether they’re part of the
Sorority or not and the whole idea is let’s uncover like Gina said the whole idea that mental health is a problem that is okay is okay to talk about it it is okay to get help and we’ve got to take the stigma away so that people will access
The resources that can help them with what has happened over the pandemic and uh I I think we’ve got to uncover um and make things make it okay to be able to say I need help I I need someone to talk to I I think
That would be a big deal in how we can assist others because we really have to face some facts there were social isolation our people struggling with stress with depression with anxiety all of which were as uh just accelerated during the pandemic so I think we Face some facts we say it’s
Okay to get help and we help people we take them to get help um yeah and I think that will help to address look I think Charlotte is like chomping at the I you look like you want to respond to this question so I’m just gonna say you have anything else you
Want to add to to this conversation yes I want to give a snap snap to my sister vice presidents as well but I really think that we have to focus on what uh sister Gina said is that we have to be intentional about our membership if I
Think back to when I chair the international membership committee the theme was membership matters you matter so if we pay attention to our sisters and let them know that they are important that we do these refresher courses make them understand why they became a member or make them remember
Why they became a member and really put that fire back in their hearts that may help it the other thing I want to add on and so Regina said this as well is stop the storytelling that’s how it’s showing up in chapter tradition chapters stop the Traditions stop telling the story
Stop telling the story about your experience that doesn’t meet with our current situation and then I’m going to bring it home for those of us who are legacies mamas grandmamas you got to stop telling your story to your legacies as well because your story is not the
Current story just pass on the vision the history the purpose and that’s enough for your legacy to know that they want to be a part by your actions by your service and by how you treat other people and I’ll end this with a personal story I have a granddaughter who every
All my friends know I love and I took her on a campus so she can experience Spelman College and a Sisterhood and she came back and she said they were so nice to her but she said Mimi you know the most important thing they were nice to
Each other and that’s when she walked away with and that was the last Sisterhood that I wanted to share with her and she got it that day so we have to continue to tell the story of Sisterhood with new members with current members and with people who just want to be like us
Yeah I agree and let me tell you you just seem so passionate about that and as you talk about um educating you know you all definitely uh have some helpful strategies to consider and I like the fact that of using education as a strategy as well so letter you’ve been sought after to
Educate on a large scale in your community with engagement and impact in your field and all too often I think many ladies interested in our sororities consider hazing to be minor offenses if you will can you help us out here and maybe share submits and corresponding correcting facts where that’s concerned
Yes certainly and it goes back to for the culture goes back to showing up and it goes back to that storytelling so this is a number one myth that hazing is a painless act oh it’s just a part of the process it’s silly acts of fun it
Doesn’t matter you have to go through it in order to be real so you won’t be paper the fact is hazing is abuse and if you allow yourself to be abused in your professional world and in your personal world then that’s a statement that you need help hazing is not tolerated
Because I go back to the fact that we were founded on the principles of Sisterhood also if you are not initiated via a certain process or within a certain time period or in person that you are not official that’s your paper well I’m here to tell you each one of us
Has a piece of paper that says that we are a member of our organization so if it’s being paper then everybody in this organization and in all of these organizations divine nine we’re all paper because the paper signifies that we are an official member so the fact of
The matter is it’s abuse it’s abuse and abuse is not necessary to serve to be sisterly or to be brotherly I agree I agree Marika what about for you being responsible for membership intake training recognition and even disciplinary actions within your organization um are there some myths maybe that you
Can share with us and then the corresponding correcting facts as well yes I have two at you know as I review disciplinary action a lot um they’ll say if um hazing is just physical right if you don’t touch the person it’s not hazing well it’s more than that there’s a
Mental health component to it you don’t know what someone else’s trauma was like before they came to this campus you don’t know what was going on in their family you you have no idea and putting your hands on people um forcing them to do things that impacts their psyche as well you’re
Going to create additional traumas for these women or these young men that come on this campus and you can’t even have the support provide the support to them to lead them to additional counseling because you don’t believe that that was hazing um the second one is very big for me too
Is if they agree then it’s not Haley what we all know is first vice that there’s laws throughout the United States that does not um agree with that that consent may be forced um it’s the pressure related to it of you wanting to be connected wanting to
Belong so just because they agree to it of course they’re going to they want to be a part of something that they think is greater um they want to be a part of something that we’re saying we’re sisters about um I know for me even as a child if I
Did something wrong I didn’t want my my parents to um um you know pull out the belt or switch or anything like that and I find it very interesting that we lose that when we go to these college campuses that um women are being women are you want to physically hit someone
Or women are allowing other people to do that when they didn’t even want to have it in their own childhood experience so those are the two for me that I quite here um that I hear a lot yeah I mean you all have my wheels spinning with your
Responses and I know Gina has already talked about some of those same things that you just mentioned but Marika I want to stay here for just a minute because I you know there’s some things that that I think can be done on college campuses you know as it relates to
Eliminating and reducing hazing related matters particularly you know it seems like despite all of our efforts being made towards educating the broader communities we really seem to be falling short in that area with our undergraduates and I think the audience would be interested in sort of hearing
What some of the things are that we can do or that we are doing or planning to do with the colleges and universities and eliminating and reducing that risk yes so I know for Sigma gamma row and I’m sure we all do it because we all attend AFA Association for Fraternity advisors
Um but we invite our College Partners to a webinar in the fall where we talk about our current policies and procedures we share our contact information for our regional leadership team um again attending AFA we want to make sure we go there so that we have that in-person experience with them
And that they’re able to share the good bad and ugly about what our chapters are doing as well um we invite our College Partners to participate to provide trainings to our members um so that they can understand especially for the advisors so that they can understand the expectations from our
Advisor role and how we support and stay engaged and connected with our College Partners um our regional leadership team they partner with our campus professionals as well and then we have members who work in higher education so we value their feedback so that they can share some of
Their experiences while working with our soil Wars on their campus nice nice so you know being the first of what was to come by way of other female organizations with similar intents Charlotte I’m just wondering what about for AKA how are you all partnering with colleges and universities to eliminate
And reduce hazing related matters well thank you so much again Cammy first of all I just want to be sure that all of the audience understands that we are only on the campuses and universities the campus of the colleges and Universities at their pleasure they determine whether we exist there so it’s
Important that we work in accord with their policies and we work with their programs every chapter every undergraduate chapter in Alpha Kappa Alpha has an advising graduate chapter and together they make an addition intentional effort to make sure that they understand those officials who are in the Greek life organization we also
Have on-campus advisors or members who serve in those capacities we want to make sure that even if they are not member of a member of a chapter that they understand uh the policies and principles of Alpha Kappa Alpha because they’re there and there are eyes and our ears and I will
Also say our 10 Regional directors in Alpha Kappa Alpha make it one of their daily practices to ensure that they have a working relationship with the colleges and universities that are within their region they encourage the undergraduate chapters to be a part of the panhellenic
Council and to be sure that any kind of hazing activity hazing education is done in a collective manner because it’s not unique to one organization and we have to pool our efforts with others on that campus to be sure that they know that one we can work together we’re all in it
Together and we’re here to prevent it from happening not only within Alpha Kappa Alpha but within other organizations as well yeah and I definitely have a few things you know just kind of thinking about that I really want to tease out with Gina giving her legal background again
The wheels are really spinning here but I want to round out on this conversation about young people because my fear is if we don’t get a handle on this it’s going to trickle down if it hasn’t already too much younger audiences Gina what is Zeta doing in terms of partnering
Um with colleges and universities as well you know we we also have the webinars with our campus Professionals in the fall um there are years when we do it in the fall and in the spring at the top of the Springs um semester as well but it’s really about changing our perspective and
Charletta’s um said it as well we are guests on the campus and we can all be very chapter-centric particularly those of us that came in undergrad I love my undergraduate chapter but as guests on the campus at any given time and it is happening they can decide they don’t
Want Greek life anymore and it doesn’t mean that something has to happen we are viewed as a liability and so when it comes to investigations we can’t be the enemy we can’t put up that blue wall we need to partner with them on investigations we need to know what we
Are willing to do to the chapter whether it’s suspension that we are willing to revoke chapters that we aren’t you know back in the day when there was an incident and you would just you know to use use old terms take the line over no if people participate in a process that
We told them that they are not to participate in they can be barred from membership and when I think that when you share with them the links that we are willing to go to to stop this criminal Behavior they will partner with you and will say can you do this
Investigation with us they will pick up the phone and talk to you perhaps before they will talk to the Press you know one of the things that we like to talk to the schools about is if the issue is the alums of the chapter we are willing to
When that chapter comes back after their discipline to change the name of the chapter to something else so that the alums who can be tied to that undergraduate chapter are no longer interested so it’s that constant communication it’s about being Innovative it’s about collaborating with them but until we change our perspective
That no matter when we were founded on the campus of whatever in 19 whatever they can make a decision that they know longer want Greek life they can make it harder for black Greek life and they can also just decide we don’t want your organization on the campus any longer
Yeah that’s interesting and I know you know I have to believe that being an attorney a corporate governance professional as well as being your sororities SME on risk management Gina there has to be some concern for you in terms of the legal impacts can you talk
To us maybe even describe some of the legal trends that impact how our organization should approach anti-hazing you know I think Kimmy is is a great um topic and it’s something that we could probably talk at a whole another hour about but what I will say is this our
Members are very good for going around saying that you know there are anti-hazing laws and 44 states in the District of Columbia but through our risk management training when you take the test after our certification we ask you and require you to download and upload your State’s anti-hazing law and
That’s because you need to know how the laws are evolving and a lot of the laws are evolving so that it is coming after us quite frankly so when you look at the law in Louisiana where they are saying that failure to report by officers and directors and they specifically say
Including any officer or director of the national or parent organization that’s a crime if you look at the law in Ohio where they talk about administrators again alumni volunteers if we permit hazing it is a crime in my own state of New Jersey they have amended the law to
Specifically include alumni AI in Kentucky they are now talking about visitors to the campus Delaware and Alabama if you look at the law they talk about hey it’s beyond the campus and they’re really reaching out beyond the campus um South Carolina very subjective their law talks about Behavior being shameful
Abusive tyrannical insulting or humiliating so that’s very subjective and you know as a lot of these laws are untested if we have to go to trial and we have this bad reputation in the community going to be very easy for a Germany to believe our behavior is shameful or tyrannical
Um I think Mariko or someone talked about consent not being required well guess what actual harm is not even required a lot of the laws are focusing on just the mere potential in Florida and Arizona there’s that focus on mental health and dignity on isolating new members one of the laws actually speaks
To whether or not you are going to maintain membership or leadership if you’re treated poorly that that is um hazing and then of course in States like Texas and I think a lot of our organizations of course under various laws are going this route where there’s immunity for reporting so as you can
Tell I keep up on these laws there’s Federal legislation to normalize and equalize the definition of hazing so I think it’s very important for us to continue to have risk management training not only at our conferences but virtually so we can walk through all of these laws and let people know it’s not
Just the physical but the law is catching up with our Behavior absolutely absolutely thanks for sharing that information Gina and Pam I know you as well have had experience with governance having served as a board member and governance chair in your own organization so I’d like to maybe give
You an opportunity to weigh in here as well and share or build upon what Gina has shared in terms of legal trends that impact how our organizations approach anti-hazing yes thank you Gina mentioned uh the whole idea of Ohio and Ohio where I reside is supposedly one of the
Broadest and most restrictive of the new laws and I’ll just tell you a little bit about Ohio’s law it increases the penalties on the educational institution and the advisors it also deals with a duty to to report hazing immediately immediately so in one case where a young man drank
Too much and and they called the hospital the day after no immediately also uh they have learning modules from the state of Ohio four campuses four campus Collegiates to take before they become uh interested even in a sorority or fraternity um the other thing about Ohio is there
Are many of The Hazing behaviors that are felonies so this for us what does this say to us it says that everybody is taking this more seriously and we have to do all we can to inform our folks in whatever state they’re in what their laws are and make it clear
That as Gina said they are coming after our Behavior and that’s what we have to make clear and soon there will be more federal laws and you know what happens with that absolutely absolutely and I know we’re running pretty close to the top of the hour I definitely want to make sure that
We have time for a round table closing thought but I just have to ask this Burning question for me and that is what impact if any do you think hazing has on your organization’s insurance coverage and because we are running up on time Charlotte I’ll ask you
Um if you can you know maybe share a little bit on that and then Gina if you can follow on to her response as well again the impact of your insurance um to the organization okay so so let me just say that a hundred years ago there
Was no need for insurance for our organizations then we experience each one of us game-changing incidents which caused us to have insurance to cover who we are to cover our existence so I would say the flat answer is yes it’s just like your car insurance if you encounter
Too many car accidents your insurance will go up or they will drop you it’s like your homeowners if you have too many incidences home you’re going to lose your insurance so we have to understand that the more we are exposed to hazing incidents the more we put our
Organization at risk not only through undergraduate hazing but we have to start talking about graduate level hazing because that’s becoming and rearing its ugly head then we’re going to put ourselves more at risk so yes it is going to it has impacted our insurance coverage and it will continue
To do so as long as we feed into the culture of hazing absolutely Gina yeah I definitely agree 100 with Charlotte and just remind folks it’s not just about the coverage but it’s about the payouts and the legal fees and what that does is it impacts our ability to find coverage
Right so you had a lot of accidents you go to Allstate they look you up I’m not covering you and so what’s going to happen is our chapters are not going to be able to afford the insurance because the premiums are going to go up and then
That invoice that you get you’re either not going to be able to afford to pay it or you’ll pay it and it’ll impact your programming which is what we’re all supposed to be about in terms of the organizations so we really have to make sure that we understand the business impact of that
Um the day-to-day operations of our chapters absolutely and so there you have it guys there you have it from the mouths of our own sub dramatic subject matter experts in their own rights listen I have to put a pin right here because we are running
Out of time we still have so much more to discuss on this topic and I’m certain the audience is just as interested as in this topic as I am I’d like to maybe work on getting some more time on you all’s calendars ladies uh because I
Believe we still have a lot more to talk about as well as being able to work some time in to allow us to engage with the audience because I’m sure they have questions for you all as well would you be open to that absolutely absolutely absolutely perfect All Right audience
There you have it you hear them so if you have something that you’d like to hear about from these ladies in our upcoming topics around hazing pledging the impacts drop it in the chat on whichever platform you’re on we have a team monitoring the boxes and we’ll capture that information and make sure
We get that on the agenda ladies I have had so much fun and have enjoyed our conversation this evening I really would like to give you all just a minute if I can for some final thoughts on this closing question and that question is uh and I thought about this because I heard
You all talk about it early on do you believe that hazing is going to become a risk to the operations of our black Greek letters sororities and I’ll start with you Charlotte yes so hazing is not unique if if the audience hasn’t heard anything else it’s not unique to one organization it is
Pervasive in all of our organizations and if we don’t put a hold on it if we don’t grab it and start focusing on the main thing let’s make the main thing the main thing which is service and Sisterhood and it’s not strolling and it’s not stepping it that’s important
But the main thing is the main thing so I want to say that if we don’t understand who we are and who’s we are hazing is going to be here and if we don’t deal with hazing hazing is going to eradicate us thank you thank you Marika
Yes as I started out and I agree with with all of us here and I like the partnership because it’s being transparent about what’s going on collectively in all of our organizations not just one focus on Sigma gamma row um as I started 30 years ago our organizations collectively decided that
Um we brought an awareness to issues that we needed to eradicate and yet here we are in 2023 dealing with the same issues if not worse at some point we are going to have to decide if the risk is worth the reward if we want to continue
With our Traditions with our Legacy with our history if we want to defame and put in the ground with the founders of each of our organizations have worked so hard in the times that they were in which is also looking like what is going on in
Today as well but we are going to have to decide individually collectively if the risk is worth the reward and I love The Sisterhood too much to see it go down so I need us to get it together yep I agree Pam closing thoughts oh I totally agree with what’s been said and
The other thing I would say is the act of hazing is at odds with who we are and if we just remember who we are founded on Sisterhood loving each other lifting each other up that is where we are and and and that is who we are in addition hazing is at odds
With the educational institutions students are there to learn not to be harmed but to learn and and so it’s against everything that we are for and so if we want to continue who we are on these campuses and also in our alumni chapters we’ve got to go back to the
Basics Sisterhood founded on Sisterhood principles back to loving on each other Gina last thought yeah I have to say this you may not like our current intake process but I need you to decide that you love the organization more than you dislike the intake process and I can’t
Change your personal activity or your personal Behavior but what I am is a fierce advocate for Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated and the D9 and I will continue to do all that I can do to protect our organizations whether or not individuals change their behavior
Man I love it I love it I love it you know what they say human behavior has the power to change lives so we not only have to preach it we have to practice it as well and this conversation tonight I think was a really good start towards
That end so stay tuned to you all for our next episode of first things first a conversation between first good night good night everyone thank you so much for joining us
source
