In a continued effort to stamp out coercive behavior, LSU will be employing a number of strategies to combat hazing for the fall semester, including a

bystander intervention program designed to better prepare students and staff in the event of incidents of hazing. 

Campus life will also continue a required Moodle course for members of registered student organizations, as well as a continued focus on conversations between Greek Life and Greek organizations, explains Jacob Brumfield, Director of Campus Life.

All members of registered student organizations are required to complete a hazing prevention education module on Moodle. This module informs students on the university’s policies and the state law surrounding hazing. It also informs students on procedures related to reporting hazing incidents.

Brumfield explained that new members of Greek organizations receive additional training on hazing prevention, in addition to the Moodle course. 

“Students can help prevent hazing by being better educated about hazing, warning signs, and reporting options — and challenging their friends to be educated and prepared,” Brumfield said. 

Greek Life staff have regular conversations with these organizations on hazing and how to prevent it.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the latest fraternity to be suspended for hazing, was removed from campus in April and is barred until May 31, 2023. The group was found to have kidnapped and assaulted a pledge in 2020 while also forcing pledges to engage in various forms of servitude for other members, according to Brumfield.

As a result of similar incidents, the state legislature passed the Max Gruver Act in 2018. The law, named after a Phi Delta Theta pledge who died due to hazing, provides state-wide definitions for hazing and mandates schools to provide anti-hazing education.    

Across Louisiana, most universities, private and public, have adopted similar policies to that of LSU as a result of legislation like the Max Gruver Act. The Louisiana Board of Regents, the state’s top higher education management board, has made it its goal to “ensure that uniform hazing policies are fully implemented.” 

“Regents supports the adoption of robust in-person and electronic training modules, and will coordinate the possibility of statewide modules for all campuses to use in order to ensure the uniformity of content and fidelity of delivery to students, faculty and administrators,” the Board’s website reads.

Currently, students can report hazing incidents to the Division of Student Affairs on their website. The Title IX office will also be slowly rolling out a program tentatively referred to as the bystander intervention program. Title IX Coordinator Joshua Jones said that the program will be slowly rolled out over the course of the semester and will encompass both students and staff.

Jones said the program will aim to encourage individuals to intervene in the event they witness suspicious activity. It will show students why it’s important to intervene, and how to do so, Jones explained

Students and staff members can either intervene directly in a harmful situation, create a distraction which defuses it or by finding help, Jones explained. This will primarily be focused on preventing sexual assault but can be applied to other situations, like hazing.

“So, the bystander intervention program is really trying to move us from, ‘oh it’s not my business, it’s not my problem, I’m an individual here at LSU’, to ‘I am part of a larger community, I can play a role in helping keep all of campus safe,’” Jones said.

Jones said that there are multiple avenues for students in Greek Life to report hazing.

They can report to the executive council of their organization, as well as directly to Greek Life. Instances of sexual hazing or gender-based violence can be reported to the Title IX office. These reports can be done anonymously. 

The increased focus on hazing prevention, including bystander intervention programs and the Max Gruver Act, is a trend seen especially within Greek Life that Jones feels is incompatible with the ideals of fraternities and sororities. 

“If we talk about the values of Greek organizations, it’s so easy to see how hazing and sexualized hazing do not align with those values,” he said.