Hazing: any action, taken or situation created intentionally that causes embarrassment, harassment or ridicule, risks emotional or physical harm, to members of an organization or team, whether new or not, regardless of the person's willingness to participate.
The Alpha Theta Phi sorority at the University of Redlands is breaking new ground. In October, the students held a Not On Our Campus week to bring awareness to hazing, pledging to stop the hurtful—and sometimes fatal—practice on university campuses.
Earlier in the year, university and sorority alumnna Lauri Massari stepped forward to conduct an anti-hazing training, as a service to the Office of Student Life. But she took it one step further, offering a $500 scholarship to conduct a Not On Our Campus week of activities, the first of its kind at the university.
"This has not been an easy task for these young women because fraternity and sorority traditions at the University of Redlands are 100 years in the making and do not readily embrace the changes required in eliminating hazing," Massari said.
lauri massari
"Our students have become activists, often times they don't have to tell on anyone for bullying, they just handle it themselves, they intervene themselves. You'll walk around this campus and you'll hear kids saying, 'Hey, not in our school.' It's our theme and they live it."
—Lauri Massari, Del Sur Middle School counselor
Watch "Lauri Massari: How We Started Not In Our School"
Learn how one middle school counselor created an anti-bullying program at her school and spread it to the entire community.
This is a DVD extra from the PBS program, Not In Our Town: Class Actions. For more information on the film, visit niot.org/ClassActions.
Here you will find extended or extra scenes from our film, Class Actions.
Web Video Extras:
One Mississippi: Creating Dialogue On Campus
From Dialogue to Action: Bloomington Unity in the Community Responds to KKK Flyers
Lauri Massari: How We Started Not In Our School
Dr. Donald Cole: An Ole Miss Legacy
One Mississippi: Creating Dialogue On Campus
Leaders of One Mississippi, a student group devoted to bridging racial and social barriers at the University of Mississippi, bring students together for a dialogue meeting about their hopes and fears for the organization.
From Dialogue to Action: Bloomington Unity in the Community Responds to KKK Flyers
After Ku Klux Klan flyers blanket an Indiana University campus neighborhood, Rabbi Sue Silberberg leads Bloomington United as they plan a community response.