September 21-25, 2020 is National Hazing Prevention Week (NHPW), as organized by HazingPrevention.org (HPO), a national organization dedicated to empowering people to prevent hazing, by providing education and resources, advocating on hazing prevention, and building partnerships with others. As a Platinum Level sponsor of HPO, Tri Delta is proud to support NHPW.
As Tri Deltas, we must be brave, bold and kind to create a culture that focuses on member development, not hazing, and promotes the safety and well-being of all members, including yourself. There are a number of ways we can act against hazing:
- Be brave and speak up when you hear or see other members in your chapter or fraternity and sorority community encourage or promote hazing. Hazing is emotional, mental and physical abuse.
- Be bold and say no if someone asks you to join them in hazing activities or activities that make you feel uncomfortable. Do not give others power over you or allow them to make you feel less than. You are not weak for saying no. You are strong and bold. Feel empowered to say no to participating in these activities.
- Be kind and don’t haze. Hazing may be the least kind thing you can do to another human being – let alone a brother or sister. Hazing is not part of our Founders’ vision of sisterhood. As Tri Deltas, we must take bold steps to ensure the safety and well-being of our members and preserve a culture of kindness. Hazing is any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule and risks emotional and/or physical harm to members, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.
Educating yourselfand your sisters is an important step toward eliminating all hazing from the fraternal experience. To assist chapters in discussing this topic, Tri Delta has created six peer-led modules to help members engage in meaningful conversations about hazing, the effects of hazing and how we as Tri Deltas can prevent it. To view our resources, go to the Resource Library > Member Development > Chapter Programming > Hazing Prevention Resources.
Tri Delta believes the safety and well-being of our members is everyone’s responsibility. Together we are one of a kind, and stronger than we could ever be alone. Let’s join together and make hazing prevention and risk reduction an everyday activity – not just one week out of the year.