It is National hazing prevention week and Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated and we are proud to participate in this important initiative to emphasize the importance of anti-pledging and anti-hazing this is our power hour with filmmaker and activist Byron Hertz and I am Gina Merritt Epps and I am the first
Vice president for membership of zetophy Beta sorority Incorporated it is our hope that our Founders are proud of us tonight as we take this very proud public and bold stance against pledging and hazing and at this time it is my honor to turn the floor over to our International president Dr Stacy NC
Grant to bring greetings on behalf of our amazing organization Madame Graham the floor is yours thank you so much to our International first vice president Gina Merritt Epps Esquire for organizing this with our entire membership team focused on the prevention of hazing which leads to sometimes death and this is a critical
Stance that we are taking a national hazing prevention week to honor the vision of our five Founders who were Trailblazers who understood what it meant to add value to the community when they set out a path to be able to create this Sisterhood founded on the principles of scholarship service
Sisterhood and finer Womanhood so final women don’t Haze I’m excited about our partnership that we have with Mr Brian hurt for this opportunity use this film as a teaching and training device that we can just talk about the real opportunity to grow past the pain and the trauma that hazing has caused many
Across this country our organizations are too important the work we do is necessary now more than ever so we can’t get distracted by engaging in activities that don’t promote the qualities of who we are as members of the divine nine and as members of Zeta Phi Beta sorority
Incorporated so I want to thank the finer women don’t Hayes team for their work under the leadership of our national first vice president and I want to thank everyone for tuning in tonight for the watch parties that you’ve had to just look at the documentary and to
Engage in conversations that help us to show up in the best version of who we are called to be as finer women so I hope tonight’s conversation continues to bring out more opportunities that we can save lives prevent The Hazing The Bullying all the other areas of
Challenge that come out of one act that is not thoughtful and that could harm someone’s life this is person know for me because of experience of losing someone to hazing When I Was An undergraduate so it’s not just finer women don’t Haze as a hashtag or as a national hazing prevention campaign this
Is literally about being at the Forefront of saving lives and focusing on why we were founded as an organization to ensure the next 103 years and Beyond will be viable and continue as our first vice president said to make our Founders proud so enjoy tonight’s conversation and thank you for
This opportunity to address you tonight thank you so much Madame grant for being with us and as our International president has indicated this is a team finer women don’t Haze at the international level it is Our intention to be the thought leaders when it comes to anti-pledging and anti-hazing so I
Would like to take this opportunity to thank the directors of the finer women don’t Haze committee Dan bishop and Cheryl Henderson and to acknowledge the team members Andrea James Bria Joseph Brittany Harris Nelson Cami McLean Darcel norwoodball Jerica Watson Kimberly Eton Melissa Williams Renee Wilson Dr Rhonda Harrison and verdetta
Turner I would like to give a special shout out to Cami McLean for coordinating this event also to our regional and state finer women doing his coordinators like Madame Grant indicated thank you for all of the watch parties we’ll share more information because there is still time to access the
Documentary again we are committed to anti-pledging and anti-hazing through our finer women don’t Haze initiative it is my honor to introduce our speaker tonight Byron Hurd who is a filmmaker and fellow Greek and this is what he says about himself who am I am I a filmmaker a writer a speaker or
An activist well I consider myself to be all of those things mostly I am a humanitarian who cares about the voiceless and the oppressed Byron my storyboards are so impressed by your documentary they say that it should be required viewing and you did in fact give us a fascinating look at identity
Belonging group think control Power dominance bystander intervention race and gender and violence and we are blessed to have you and thank you so much for agreeing to this town hall My Hope Is that through this conversation we can increase awareness and so I’ll start with this first question
In may we have the opportunity to do a first things first session about hazing and it was uh moderated or participated in by the international first vice president of the D9 sororities and we were able to agree that hazing is punishment harassment humiliation or painful aspects of initiation and any
Action taken or situation created that contributes to a risk of potential physical injury mental harm or degradation so tell us what you think about that definition and what was your impetus Behind The Hazing documentary well first of all thank you so much Madame Meredith for
Um inviting me to be a part of this conversation and I want to thank uh Madam Grant and the final women Don Hayes team everyone responsible for putting this together um for hosting this event for hosting the screenings that have been held regionally Across the Nation uh so that
Your sorority members could have access to the film and could have conversations about this very topic the definition that you just um laid out is a general definition that is consistent with many anti-hazing organizations who have been working to sort of codify or to uh create a a national definition
Um for what constitutes hazing in this culture and so um I think as part of national prevention prevention hazing week it’s really important to spread the message about hazing what constitute constitutes hazing and to really stand up as Leaders um to help change the culture that we live in
Um you know I was really inspired to make the film as a result of you know watching and reading news stories about tragic deaths that did not have to happen that were completely preventable um and so it just spurred my internal compassion um that and and I recognize that I could
Do something to be a part of the solution and not be part of the problem uh especially being located as a member of a black Greek letter organization and with my background and my training and violence prevention specifically gender violence prevention my knowledge around masculinity and the culture of violence and
Um uh with boys and men around the country I just felt that I could use all of my skills as a filmmaker as an activist as a leader to create a national conversation about this topic and it really warms my heart it really and truly warms my heart I’m so humbled uh by
Zeta phi beta and your efforts to create awareness within your organization the stand up as Leaders using the film as a tool to get your membership talking I I can’t I can’t thank you enough I can’t express how humbled I am by it how valued I feel uh by your support and how
Um and how the work that you’re doing helps to amplify the voices of young people who have died or have been scarred emotionally and psychologically by this issue you know we we are honored again to have you and we really um in terms of the leadership of this
Organization really wanted to take some next steps as to what do we do about this problem and so we really wanted to use experts and we’d have used other people but we really review you and regard you as an expert in this area to help us solve this problem and so we
Know that we’re not going to solve it tonight and you know we may not solve it tomorrow but I think that we are well on our way as being the thought leaders to moving this forward and you talked about you know how you thought this could be something that aligns with your
Profession and everything but let’s be honest as a member of a D9 organization this was a really bold step for you you know and so how did you come to terms with exposing secrets and rituals that so many of us hold dear because as part of our background our history right that
Discretion and keeping everything internal with that and being a member of a D9 fraternity how’d you come to peace with that and and also say all right I know this is our culture but I also want to make this documentary well you know it took a long time for me
To make the decision to move forward with the documentary because I knew that there was going to be a lot of backlash um to someone like myself a member of Omega Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated addressing this issue in the way that I um wanted to address it in the documentary film
Um but you know just like you said that your organization um acts as Leaders um and not followers I’ve been trained on how to lead when it comes to violence prevention and when it comes to bystander intervention I have I have deep training and a lot of experiences doing that kind of work
Um and so all I did really was score to fortify myself personally and mentally and spiritually um to prepare myself for you know what may come as a result of making the film but I felt like it was uh it would be intellectually dishonest for me to make
A film about hazing culture and not include my personal connection to the topic um and I also knew and understand understood excuse me that part of the reason The Hazing continues is a silence that surrounds it and by me sharing my story and the story of other people
I hope and I believe that we achieved it on some level that by sharing my own personal story and sharing the deeply emotional and Powerful stories of those that we featured in the film that it would create space for other people to open up and share their stories and sort
Of break that barrier that that Code of Silence um you know when people are afraid to speak out about it and I know that that was one of the outcomes of the film being released and put out into the world because once the film was released was released I received so many emails
Text messages phone calls DMS from people that I knew and people who I did not know who were impacted by hazing or some level who shared their personal stories with me some of those stories were very heartbreaking you know I I you know I just learned tonight that you know your International president
Um Dr Grant uh know someone personally you know who died tragically as a result of hazing most of us have stories you know especially if we are a member of a D9 organization um have stories of someone that we know who has been deeply impacted or touched
By it it’s just that we don’t talk about it openly and publicly and I think that there’s a fear that people have that if you talk about hazing publicly that it’s going to make us vulnerable to um you know outside scrutiny potential lawsuits and things like that but I’m of
The belief that by talking about it you increase people’s awareness um you demystify um you know um the the consequences that come along with speaking out about Hayes and culture publicly um and so I think that’s how you advance the culture moving forward and that’s what you say that your organization is
All about which what your Founders were all about I think on some level I think all of our Founders were about the same thing um you know we we want to we want to attract the best and the brightest and the most committed people to our organizations
Um but we want them to we don’t want them to be harmed we don’t want them to be killed we don’t want them to be permanently scarred with psychological damage and so talking about Hayes and publicly um is just a way to um take steps forward to begin to
Eradicate it and root it out of these organizations because it’s harmful to us I mean many people think that hazing serves us and that it’s beneficial that it adds to um you know the bonding and um you know the commitment to the organization but in many ways it does the exact
Opposite it leads to mistrust it leads to um harmed feelings harm bodies harm psychological and mental States you know and people’s well-being and so I think when we begin to frame it as a mental health issue and a a health issue I think that’s when we begin to take it more seriously
You know you talked about that mistrust and there was a point in the film where you were so vulnerable with one of the brothers that came in after you and you actually apologized to him I thought that moment was so honest and bold and courageous for you to be able to say to
Him I said I wasn’t going to do these things and I didn’t and this was the last time that ever did anything and you know changed your name in terms of our you know your nickname and the fraternity that was really an amazing amazing part of the of the film and I
Did appreciate that moment well thank you and you just brought up what I what I tried to um the point that I tried to make earlier about leading to mistrust I mean he was a young brother who was also an athlete who were both athletes within the athletic department at Northeastern University
And he trusted me and I violated his trust in that particular way and um you know he shared some other stories about how that led to um his General mistrust you know once he became a member and and you know long-standing issues that he had you know afterwards and so that’s what I
Mean when I say that you know hazing whether it’s physical or emotional psychological it does have a really huge impact the issue is that we don’t really talk about it out loud especially men we don’t we don’t talk about a lot but the way in which we talk about it is
Vis-a-vis uh War Stories right and we laugh about it we Bond over those those moments but what we’re really bonding over is trauma you know so you have to get underneath that and we have to talk about it we have to call it out for what it is
Um and so hopefully the film will enable us to do that and you talked about the founders and one of the people that you interviewed was your fraternity brother Rasheed Ali Cromwell and I’d share with you when I was a regional director my region partnered with Harbor Institute just to
Start exactly what we’re doing now on the international level moving these discussions and so he talked about and you talked about our Founders did not do this the initial initiates of our organizations didn’t even have a pledge name or you know pledge clubs in the
Beginning so how is it that you think we got here if we didn’t start out this way what happened what was that Turning Point well there’s a lot of debate about what that turning point was but I I agree with you you know I’ve gone back and I’ve read articles where you know
Founding members of some of our organizations um did not Advocate any sort of hazing or physical beatings at all um I’ve read early members who expressed dismay and concern about some of the hazing that they have they have the gun to see um in some of their later years
Um some people suggest that um as these Pros as these processes uh evolve over time that there were these uh you know new practices I’m not going to call them rituals I’m going to call them practices um that became tradition some people point to the Vietnam War we have Dr
Kimbrough Dr Walter Kimbrough in the film who talks about the impact of young black men returning home from the Vietnam War and bringing back with them some of the trauma that they experience with some of the hazing practices that they picked up or learned in the military and Incorporated that into our
Processes I don’t know exactly when it began but the the point is that at some point there has to be some sort of intervention and we must return to our past and know and understand and have trust that we could we can bring in new members to our organizations who are deeply committed
Um who have extremely high standards and um people who pursue Excellence without beating them down without breaking them down in order to build them back up yeah and I don’t remember which um journalist you interviewed and it was a little disturbing because he said we have to go through something you know
Everything in life it you know you have to go through something and you know that speaks to that whole thing of the sacrifice that you have to be made and you know I’m of the mindset of a lot of people who were made who aren’t active
Today you know and I always talk about you cannot like the intake process but you have to you know love the organization more so this this intervention what does that look like what is it that we should be doing as Leaders to move us back to how our organization started with attracting
Quality but not beating people or demeaning them to become members of our organizations well that’s an interesting uh point that you made and interesting uh story about you know people who were made and who are not active they’re not financially they don’t contribute they may go to parties they may wear a paraphernalia
But they’re not really contribute to the organization I agree with that statement um and and I’ve thought a lot about that because there was once a time where I felt that way you know I felt like if you didn’t really go through what I went through then I’m not going to respect
You you’re not credible you’re not a credible member in my eyes um but my education around masculinity and violence and the roots of violence and masculinity and the whole notion of what makes somebody a real man and what makes somebody uh have credible masculinity and all those different
Things made me sort of rethink my own values around that and I came to the understanding that you know someone’s ability to take a beating or to with to endure or withstand um psychological emotional abuse is not what makes them a good and valuable member to the organization you know I
Had a really close friend and teammate um who started out in his process we started out together in our process back in uh 1990 and he decided not to continue with this process um but later you know came through a graduate process which was very different than mine
And I didn’t I didn’t really show him any love in any respect um when he became a member because of that whole notion that he wasn’t made right and that really disrupted a like a really important relationship and friendship in my life and years later I actually
Apologized to him for treating him in such a way because he he was actually a really good member of the fraternity he was Financial um he was committed he was he was active he was everything that an Omega Man was supposed to be but because I have been
Indoctrinated with this idea this notion that in order to be a good bra you had to go through what I went through um that was um that was that was wrong on my part and I also apologized to him you know about my behavior toward him so a lot of this for
Me has just been growth and evolution and um you know just Awareness on my part that I’m hoping to share with other people but not everybody agrees with me not everybody agrees with the film that I made um but there are people there are a lot of people in my fraternity and other
Fraternities and in your organization and other sororities um that do see the value and having these conversations and so that’s what I kind of look toward that’s that’s that’s what keeps me hopefully that change is possible because there are people out there who resonate who identify with the
Film and the message with the film is trying to convey yeah and I was going to ask you to talk a little bit more about that you know specifically what has been the impact across not just D9 or all organizations because one thing about the film you were very fair in referencing all
Different types of situations you know whether it was my alma mater I’m a graduate of Penn State University so you showed pwis you showed um students of color who were in historically white organizations you really made sure that you looked across the board you know so when you what has
Been feedback maybe specifically from a Penn State from Northeastern from different organizations you know what has been the impact if you can give us some specifics in terms of the the areas that you talked about in your film yeah well I haven’t really gotten a lot of
Negative feedback from Penn State or any of the institutions that were mentioned in the documentary everything that we talked about every statistic that we used every case that we uh featured in the film was fact checked we didn’t make anything up we had a fact Checker who
Went through every single stated fact in the documentary to make sure that it was accurate um and that we were being fair to the individuals who were being um accused or had who had been accused of hazing um and so we had a lot of legal
Oversight you know um for for this for this documentary but not every organization was happy and some organizations did approach me I will not go into detail but I was approached by you know a couple of organizations um that felt threatened by what the film was going to say
Before they had even seen the film so my experience with this film has been that there are two different types of reactions there are reactions by those who have watched the film and have had a reasonable response to it and those who have not yet watched the
Film or did not take the time to watch the film but formed a very strong negative opinion about it because I’m an Omega and I decided to talk about the history of hazing and including my own personal story which happened over 30 years ago um
I did my best we did our best as a team to be as fair and as balanced as possible um initially when I first started the film there were many people some of my funders who wanted me to focus only on black regulator organizations and I decided that it would be
Completely unfair for me to make a film about hazing culture that only focused on black people other organizations because that’s not the only place where hazing exists right so I felt like if I was going to explore this issue then I had to um I had to put hazing into a much
Bigger broader social context and explore as much of it as I could you know and that meant going outside of the divine nine and even outside of Greek life so we explore hazing and marching bands um in in clubs or sports teams in various places where um hazing uh happened so um
You know I I think that we do a good enough job I wish I wish that I could have been included more stories I mean we had a couple of military stories that we had to cut from the film there were a couple of Asian uh men and Asian stories
That we wanted to include in the film but we just simply didn’t have enough time um so that was the goal was to be fair and balanced or as balanced as we could possibly be and I’m just glad that you were able to recognize that thank you
Yeah absolutely you know one of the things that you brought up was the victim or the prevalence of victim blaming so holding the victim responsible for you know their Misfortune and what happens and one of your experts talked about that and it reminded me almost of rape culture where
You know you talk about you know what she had on or where she was or what he may have said and that kind of thing can you talk more about that because I don’t really hear us talk a lot about that piece in our discussions in our D9 organizations
Well we live in America we live in a blame the victim Society it’s really easy to punch down as opposed to punching up and it’s easy to um point the finger and almost who are most vulnerable as opposed to those who have power right so we don’t really look at the power Dynamic
Um as much as we should or that we can I’m I’m glad that you made the analogy to rape culture because that’s that’s it’s very very similar to that you know when I first started working on the film you know I would I would go to various colleges and universities and I would
Show different Cuts different like you know I would say participant or character development scenes to different audiences and this these are audiences that were multiracial they weren’t some sometimes they would be all black audiences sometimes they would be all white audiences sometimes they would be very mixed race audiences and one thing that
I noticed the most is that people always tended to blame the victims of hazing and and and essentially dehumanize them because they made the choice to join these organizations and people felt like well they knew what they were getting themselves into or they could have just walked away
Um and so that really speaks to the level of victim blaming that we have in our culture but when it comes to hazing you know people don’t really fully understand or appreciate the power Dynamic nor do they really understand the legal definition of hazing hazing can occur regardless of a person’s
Willingness to cooperate or not because there’s a pun there’s a power Dynamic that exists and you know the caveat is that you have to participate in certain activities or at least um acquiesce to or submit to certain activities in order to gain membership or entry into that organization
So you know what that led me to do was to focus more on the human stories and to really try to humanize the people that’s why we start out with these really powerful stories and we show these images of the people who died from hazing um Acts or hazing um uh practices
We show them as babies we show them as children we show them growing up we show them being loved by their parents or their siblings right because these are these are real people and you know I think that you know anytime we see a story on the news or read a headline of
Somebody being deeply affected by hazing that’s all it is to most people it’s just a headline it’s not a real person who is affected or we think that it was a young person you know who um you know who who acted stupidly made a bad choice or was the organization you know who
Just happened to be like you know uh just didn’t do things they didn’t Haze right you know what I mean or right just you know what I’m saying you know we say these things to be dismissive you know I had I had somebody say after watching the film that you know it’s only
Effective four or five people per year so it’s really not that bad you know I’m like for four or five children to be sent to college and not come home because of hazing that’s for too many right it should be zero people who go to college and who
Who come back I mean we have a statistic in the film that said in 2020 there was Zero deaths now you know leading up to 2020 there were eight deaths seven deaths you know four deaths five deaths three three deaths excuse me but in 2020 during the height of the pandemic there
Was Zero why because people weren’t on college campuses because of the pandemic and they didn’t have the opportunity to Haze people right so I believe that many of these debts if not all of them are preventable and so are the um the cases where people are you know emotionally abused or are harmed
Physically where they have lifelong damages I know I know half fraternity brothers who they’re walking around with uh you know injuries that they sustain many many many many years ago before 1990. right you know your statement gets to that point of we ignore the fact that we
Like to belong there’s a natural thing of wanting to belong to organizations and when I teach our certification for our intake process I emphasize they want what we have and that’s where that power dynamic dynamic comes from so to tell a student a 19 year old who wants to be
Long and we all want to belong to something to just walk away is really it it really demonstrates the ignorance around the whole power Dynamic so I’m glad that you brought that up is that’s a really important point and I have one more question before we shift to the
Audience questions because I want to give them a chance to you know hear and learn from you but one of the interview is in your film stated that our organizations don’t want to stop hazing or we don’t know how which do you believe it is you know I have my own
Personal thoughts and and trying to struggle with this just as a member of the organization not just because I’m the first vice president for membership which is it did we not know how to do it or we don’t want to do it anymore or is
It both I think it’s both I think if I think for some it’s both but I think the largest issue is that we don’t truly know how to prevent hazing we don’t know how to educate around it we don’t know how to address it from an honest place
Um we don’t know how to um create forums and platforms and uh settings and quite honestly a curriculum that is designed to increase and raise awareness about the roots of hazing culture and all of the Dynamics the complex Dynamics at play and you mentioned you just mentioned some of
Them you know the power dynamics the need to belong um the idea of legacies and how important it is for children of members of bjlos and other organizations other organizations become members of those same organizations um the culture of masculinity which I believe contributes greatly to the level
Of violence that we see in um in fraternity specifically I mean the the physical abuse and the physical injuries and deaths far among men far outweigh and outnumber the number of girls and women who die from hazing or physically injured from hazing and that is because boys and men grow up in a
Culture where we are socializing conditioned to use violence as a way to control people right and to threaten people and to intimidate and intimidate people and so we have to we we have to have a prevention and education program and strategy that is going to be far
Reaching it cannot just be a check the box activity that you have for one hour out of one year that have to be ongoing discussions and trainings with qualified facilitators who can you know who can who can address these issues um who have the credibility to address
These issues that get to the heart of the matter and until you know organizations take that level of a commitment it’s only going you know hazing is only going to continue yeah I like the use of the word curriculum I mean you’ve heard about our structure we’ve got our international
Team that um has a representation from all of the regions and then Regional coordinators and hopefully State coordinators and but I like that piece of the experts I know that a lot of the organizations unfortunately have people you know not necessarily focused on the black Greek letter organization so I’m
Glad to see you and Rasheed and of course uh Dr Kimbrough who has really you know really in the 80s started to have these discussions but again none of this that we do of course in Zeta is is not by myself it’s not you know just my
Vision I have an amazing team and they’re going to present to you the questions from the audience I’ll come back for closing remarks from you myself and we’ll close out with our International president so I will turn it over at this time to Cami Cheryl and
Jan ladies the floor is yours to present the audience questions thank you madam International first and Mr hurt that was an awesome awesome conversation I want to take a minute to thank the audience for sending in questions the team has been busy backstage kind of combing through what
We have coming in and we wanted to just take a few questions from audience members who have taken the time to complete the documentary it’s impactful Journey exploring the culture of hazing our first question sir is this in the documentary you talked about the impact of hazing not just physically and
Emotionally but also mentally do you think this creates a cycle of abuse mentality yes I do I think that when people experience violence or trauma many people’s response to that trauma is to reproduce it and so we see people including myself who may even make a vow
To never repeat what is happening to them actually repeat that very same behavior because they’ve internalized it and now they are projecting it outward in a way that is destructive rather than interrupting the violence or interrupting the abuse the mental or psychological abuse and um choosing
Another route you know when I when I was uh when I first started doing gender violence prevention work uh one of my mentors said to me that when people are abused they can make two different choices they cannot they can identify with the abuser or they can identify
With the abuse the person the victim in that situation and most people particularly men I have to say tend to identify with the uh the abuser that’s why you see male children of male abusers you know their fathers or father figures who also then go on to abuse people so it is cyclical
Um but it’s it’s one of the reasons why interventions are very very important I think that speaks to that whole thought process of hurt people hurt people and so thank you thank you so much for that response Cheryl foreign for turning it over and so now that
Um Mr hurt some time has passed since the documentary has um come out it’s been some time have you seen where the um backlash has lessened for you well I would say about two weeks about a week and a half prior to the film being released I vote for the national
Television broadcast there was a tremendous amount of broadcast excuse me there was there was a tremendous amount of backlash excuse me once the film came out and people had time to watch the film and have conversations about the film uh some of that backlash started to diminish
Um and I haven’t really been facing a tremendous amount of backlash at this point because um you know a lot of the the fewer has passed and um you know time has elapsed um but you know I think it took people who wanted to and were willing to give
The film a chance and also I have to say there were many people who strongly encourage people to watch the film don’t just make a judgment before you even take the time to watch it you know watch the film and you’ll see that the film is not indicting all black Greek letter
Organizations or you know disclosing secret rituals you know from from these organizations um so I want to I want to thank many of the people who advocated for the film and told people to watch it and as I said earlier there are two different groups of people who have spoken about
The film those who have seen it and those who have not and those who have seen the film um you know have been able to judge the film’s failure yeah thank you for that um brother hurt and that’s why we ask our source to watch the documentary before we so we
Could have an educated conversation right sir Bishop thank you so much Cheryl brother hurt what would you say to someone who’s afraid uh afraid to come forward to report hazy I can understand why they would be afraid you know I understand the fear you know I’m I’m
Far removed from you know my process back in 1990 and it took a tremendous amount of Courage for me to even make this film and expose my own story so I totally identify relate to anyone who may be fearful or have the anxiety around coming forward you know I was
Saying one then it takes a tremendous amount of courage to use your voice and to speak your truth um I think the best thing to do is to find someone who you feel you can trust um someone who you think will Advocate on your behalf someone who you believe
Has Integrity someone who you think will um either take action at the very very least will validate your experiences and not diminish them I think that’s one of the reasons why people fail to come forward is because you know whenever someone does come forward even like someone like myself
Who made a film about this topic and talked about his own experiences you know there were people who got shot shouted down and shouted out because they spoke in favor of the documentary just spoke in favor of the documentary you know people are very concerned about what other people think about them yes
Um and and whether or not they are in good standing with other members of their organization so I I really firmly believe that in addition to the education and awareness that we need to spread about hazing culture I think we also need to um really create permission create space and Grant
The mission for people to use their voices and and that’s to be honest with you that’s one of the reasons why I did include my story because my Hope Was That by me sharing my story and them seeing the other stories that it would Empower them to use their voice so you
Know speaking up and speaking out about things that are um harmful that are abusive and that lead to long-term you know um they have long-term effects Um they require courage to speak out so that’s what I would say absolutely thank you so much for that cami awesome sister I I can can really uh that what you just said resonates the the trusting uh environment having an advocate for you and you talked a little
Bit a few minutes ago about uh not an indictment on all black Greek lettered organizations and that’s so befitting for this next question from the audience and that is if we can’t get a handle on hazing changing the Paradigm Shifting the mindset do you believe that the black Greek lettered organizations will
Find themselves banned from campuses altogether well you know it’s a possibility you know fortunately the problem with hazing and especially death is not as large as the problem the problem with whites Greek letter organizations I think that they’re more in Peril of being banished from uh college campuses than our black
Letter organizations I think the issues that we Face are mainly about suspensions and penalties the loss of insurance and those sort of issues that come up um you know I know that there is there have been some efforts to eradicate black letter organizations by non-members of black wheat letter
Organizations but in terms of the institutions Banning black regulator organizations I’m not I don’t have any evidence that that is a real threat or a real possibility um but I I think the way to ensure that that doesn’t happen is to is is for black Greek letter organization to
Continue doing what you’re doing what your organization is doing and that is demonstrating leadership prioritizing the issue addressing it head on taking it seriously not just in word but indeed and changing the culture of the chapters one chapter at a time and I think that that is that is the
Best perfect that’s the best prevention you know that’s the best way to uh prevent our organizations from being um eradicated yeah and in the film I think you even spoke to a few individuals that talked about uh not being able to sort of um get rid of The Hazing on the college
Campuses because of donors and so I think um that’s absolutely prevalent Cheryl you have the next question yes and and this audience they are sending in some good questions and so I really appreciate them keep them coming and so Mr hurt they want to know what do
You think about the amnesty programs and how um they’ll help increase reporting what are your thoughts around that well to be quite honest with you I’m not really familiar with the amnesty Four Winds that are in place I do know that many campuses have um secret hotlines or Anonymous hotlines
That young people can use in order to um to ship to share what’s going on with them but again there has to be a trust level that is uh that is maintained with these amnesty programs in other words you can’t come forward um with the promise that you are going to be protected
Um but still made vulnerable because you you uh you shared your experience and I know that that has been the case I mean I know a young white man um who used to use a Anonymous hotline to share what was going on and then that information was used against them it was
Disclosed that he was somebody who quote unquote snitch and it became a much larger problem for him I know of another young man who’s confided in a a college professor um about his hazing is the fact that he was being hazed consistently on a daily basis his Professor did the right thing
And reported it to you know her uh superiors at the University and she was not protected nor was he protected in fact you know the the organization uh sort of circled the wagons and um you know did not protect the young man they did not they did not look out
For his best interest so there has to be a high level of trust I don’t know how we get to that place um I think it’s important for those these these programs and these reporting um you know sort of hotline hotlines and programs uh should be available
But they have to be fortified by people who have the best interest in mind of the young yeah yeah like like we say in my profession it you you need to come forward with with good intentions right all good intentions and um trust that the process that you’ll be protected
Um I know Zeta has a reporting mechanism to protect our source so is that is that what you is it is it called the amnesty program it’s not the amnesty program but it’s a way that soars we definitely want them to come forward and speak up um in that process yeah
All right sir Bishop brother hurt this question has come through several different ways but um death and physical harm mental trauma they’re all the ultimate price the ultimate price a person pays just to try to fit in and belong in the world of Greek them as we
Know it what are your thoughts and what do you think if there’s any real hope to eradicate hazing uh in the black regulator organizations well what I mentioned um earlier is that we have to we have to remove the stigma that is associated with talking about hazingly hazing publicly
As I say in the film it’s the culture of Silence that fuels pains and culture and that our silence is an act of betrayal right when we don’t stand up when we don’t speak up when we don’t use our voices it only continues to happen so I
Think that we have to you know create a culture where we are allowing young leaders to actually lead and not not stigmatize them or punish them for being true leaders I think that’s one thing that has to happen and I think that that has to coincide with really strong well-developed educational curriculums
And guides that of perspect that that can be facilitated in many of our chapters around the country in a way that is going to Foster Real awareness um real dialogue and better understanding about all of the Dynamics of Hayes and culture yes absolutely as we are all charged
With upholding the legacy of our Founders and we must do our part to to eliminate that Code of Silence and uh as they say in my profession if you see something you must say something so thank you for that you’re welcome Mr hurt that concludes our questions and I think our first
International president or vice president is standing by waiting to uh offer closing remarks the two of you madam first yes thank you so much and thank you everyone for the questions Byron I don’t know if you can see the the comments that are coming in through YouTube and
The questions we could spend all night um as you can see Zeta is really really engaged and we’ll make sure that we continue this and and move this forward because we are committed Beyond National hazing prevention week but before I um give my thanks and have our comment my
Final comments and turn it over to our president I really want to turn it over to you to say maybe something you didn’t get to say something that you think we need to know that wasn’t asked you the questions something that you want to get across before we do our final uh closing
Statements well I think one of the things that um tons of film put in question was my loyalty and my love for black newsletter organizations including my own organizations and I just want to say that I love my organization I love when making Sci-Fi fraternity Incorporated I’m an active member I’m a financial
Member of the organization I love uh the chapter that I’m currently a part of on The Chronic High chapter based in Plainfield uh New Jersey and I have to say that many members of that chapter really held me down when the film first came out and they stood with me and they
Supported me and they were strong advocates for me and they they told me to Stand My Ground um and to continue doing the work that I was doing with the film and so I am I am forever grateful to the brothers of all my Cronk High chapter also members of my
Home chapter gamma chapter who many members students support with me um some publicly most privately and so so um I feel the love and I feel the support by many of my fraternity brothers who reached out to me to tell me that uh the film was uh was was
Courageous and an act of leadership and that they supported me um many times you know you know I sometimes I may have focused on some of the negative voices but the positive voices were the ones that um that that really kept me going and I would have to
Add your organization and you in particular as a leader of your organization um because you you identified and you saw the value of the film and you recognize me and the work at one of your uh award ceremonies in New Jersey and I was just so moved
Um by by your support and by your validation of the film and it really spoke volumes about who you were as a person and who your organization is um you know the your your organizations Xavier Phi Beta sorority I know there’s a chapter near Montclair New Jersey they
Were the first chapter the first um black Greek letter organization to show the film publicly just a week after the film broadcast on National Television I was so impressed by that and so I’m just I’m really really inspired by what you all are doing um you’re taking leadership on this
Issue and I hope that it pays dividends for your organization and if you create you know new members who feel valued and welcomed into the organization and ready to give back to the organization that has done so much good you know um throughout the years so I think you I
Think Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated I think everyone involved who participated in this event who helped to organize it who showed up who did the work and who um presented you know this uh question and answer discussion tonight but also who helped to organize all of the screenings
Nationally I can’t again I can’t express how much it means to me um you know it warms my heart and uh you all will forever be in my heart because of your support for me in this film thank you so much oh thank you and tonight is one of those
We have a saying called Zeta proud I am so proud of my sorority that I’ve been a member of since I was 19 years old I am so proud of the finer women don’t Haze initiative that started under our International uh president Mary bro Wright and her first vice president uh
Scarlett black I want to make sure that everybody knows that screening the week after um the film came out was by the state of New Jersey state Director tyticia D Smith held at Montclair State University I want to shout out Omega museeta chapter which is the chapter that
Honored you they’re seated in Middlesex County and that was where I met you and had the opportunity to express from the microphone how much an awe I was of your work and I want to thank you for really working with our organization and partnering with us to make sure that my
Vision our vision the revision of the finer women don’t Haze team is to make everybody know that as Leaders we are tired we’re tired of the lawsuits we’re tired tired of the filings we’re tired of the claims this has got to stop and this is just the beginning as you know
We we do this all year long not just at uh National hazing Prevention Week time period so my sore horse thank you for joining you should have the tool kit which has ideas for you to implement anti-pledging and anti-hazing initiatives if not please reach out to our directors I want to thank Aquila
Tompkins Robbins Robinson for her help our ihq staff uh Reggie Knox Chris Fleming of course Cami thank you so much for your work uh the regional directors everyone for making sure that you have the screenings and we will get information to you for the remaining time that we have access to this
Important film I will talk to Mr heard about all the emails and text messages I got about Gina this needs to be required mandatory as part of our course of study or MIP or whatever it is the form that it’s going to take I heard you saw Awards and will definitely be following
Up as I always do when you have an issue you want something to be heard so thank you again so much and so close us out I will turn it over to our International president Dr Stacy NC Grant Madam Grand the floor is yours thank you so much
Madam first vice president Gina merits Esquire another historic day for Zeta Mr Byron hurt thank you I truly am Saint a proud like this is who we are at the core to be courageous enough to have the conversations that matter and to the entire final woman who don’t find a
Women don’t Haze team you did an extraordinary job tonight and all the members of our organization who’ve supported our first vice president just acknowledged all those who’ve been working behind the scenes to make sure that all of these screenings were happening and the conversations and tonight for all of our members who
Showed up to be here and a part of this broadcast as well as many of the divine nine who I see have been commenting and appreciating this conversation this program as you said Mr hurt is not an indictment but rather I see it as an invitation for our organizations to
Always be the best representation of who we were a call to be by our Founders and focus on the value that we have been adding to communities all over this globe for over a century this conversation I pray is an intervention that saves lives for us to really be
Sensitive to the effects of hazing and that we go beyond just the hashtag and the national hazing Prevention Week material that all of our organizations are sharing but listen to the heart of the film and your courageous spirit in being able to create this platform so
That nobody else has to suffer at the end of the day that was not the vision of Zeta Founders or any of the divine nine Founders their Vision was that we make communities better because we exist that we amplify the power of Sisterhood and Brotherhood that we focus on the
Scholarship that lends itself to the undergirding of the service that we give and we leave our mark on the world and making it better than how we found it this conversation is necessary it’s needed and for anyone who has suffered in silence we hope that you can find
Your voice through watching this film and leaning on the courageous nature of those who did share their stories and ultimately knowing that conversations like this expand our brain capacity and it can never return to its original form so you can’t unhear or unlearn what this process has done with showing and
Screening and having the conversation about this film so congratulations to you Mr hurt on following your dream and making sure that you didn’t just turn a blind eye but you took a courageous stance and thank you madam first vice president for your Innovative way that
You said we need to have this as a part of more than just one chapter’s acknowledgment but for us to share this throughout our Sisterhood and the response has been overwhelming so I am hopeful that we will have yet again another chance to have a conversation about the success of this particular
Moment and that your film is required watching for not only members of Zeta Phi Beta sorority Incorporated but the entire D9 so that we can always be the best version of who we have been called to be so thank you again everyone for joining have a wonderful and safe night
And know that finer women don’t Haze yeah thank you madam thank you everybody good night good night thank you
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