Northern Star
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Since 1899
Thursday, Sept. 8 , 2016
Volume 117
Students enforce anti-hazing Kristen Lookingland Staff writer
DeKALB | Freshman Zack Higgins sends a text to his friends on the afternoon of Aug. 31 with news that him and two others were just given bids for the Delta Chi fraternity. As Rush Week approaches, bids, an invitation to join a fraternity or sorority, are offered; potential new fraternity or sorority members attend socials during recruitment; and initiation, a ceremony where a pledge becomes a full member, seals the deal.
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What occurs during initiation varies among fraternities and sororities. Steps are taken by members of Greek Life and Fraternity and Sorority Life to ensure that the night of 2012 isn’t relived. On the night of Nov. 1, 2012, 19 pledges were questioned in the Phi Kappa Alpha fraternity house during a non-sanctioned initiation event. They were told to drink after each question, then brought to the basement where they vomited on themselves and each other and were later left unconscious on the floor throughout the house overnight. Freshman and pledge David Bogenberger was found dead the next morning with a blood alcohol content of 0.351 percent, according to a Aug. 22, 2013, Daily Herald article. “I didn’t know anything about it until I came here and rushed, and [members of my fraternity] talked with us about it and gave us the story,” said Trayvon Williams, recruitment chair of Phi Sigma Kappa. “We were like ‘alright, now all of these [hazing] rules are starting to make sense. Someone died from alcohol poisoning.’” Williams said members of his
Northern Star file photo
Members of Phi Kappa Psi sign students up to rush for the fraternity Aug. 31 at 924 Greenbrier Road.
fraternity inform new recruits each year of the anti-hazing policy at NIU, and to explain why, they tell them the story of Bogenberger. Phi Sigma Kappa students who see signs of hazing are encouraged by their fraternity to tell a member on their fraternity’s chair, Williams said.
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If [hazing is] not reported, there’s no way I can know.” Morgan Brickley Associate Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life
In the past two years, four cases of hazing out of the 300 student clubs and organizations at NIU have been reported. Of the four cases reported, none were believed by Fraternity and Sorority Life to be true incidents of hazing after investigations were conducted. “I don’t think anyone is going to actually tell you if hazing happens,” said rushing freshman Kayla Major. “I think you need to rush and go through initiation to find the honest truth.” If hazing does occur, students can file a report to the Student Conduct office in the Campus Life Building, Room 280. Morgan
Brickley, associate director for Fraternity and Sorority Life, defines hazing as any action that could cause physical or psychological harm to an individual. “If a student reports hazing to me, I ask them about the situation, help them submit a report to Student Conduct, and we will actually do a full-scale hazing investigation for any report of hazing that is received, for any student organization,” Brickley said. In an attempt to prevent hazing and raise awareness, Student Involvement and Leadership Development offers new member training to NIU’s Greek community for students who are joining a fraternity or a sorority, Brickley said. “We talk about hazing, the definition, how to report hazing to the university,” Brickley said. “We talk about sexual assault and consent. We talk about alcohol drug use and abuse.” The Student Association will host National Hazing Prevention Week Sept. 19 to 23 which will include anti-hazing and courageous leadership Keynote Speaker Jordan Fischette and the promotion of social media campaign #HuskiesDontHaze. “You can pull up Google and find
Report hazing Hazing includes but is not limited to: • Fear of intimidation • Embarrassment or ridicule • Physical exhaustion or harm to any part of the body • Mental fatigue, harassment or duress • Destruction of property To report hazing, call the NIU Police at 815-753-1212. that hazing is occurring in universities all across the United States, and that could be physical abuse, psychological abuse, whatever it may be,” Brickley said. “I believe that the work we’ve done in this fraternity and sorority community is leading us to a place where hazing is not occurring at NIU.” Although training is offered to students in raising awareness and preventing hazing, whether or not it continues in student organizations at NIU today and goes unreported is unsure. “If they’re not reported, there’s no way I can know,” Brickley said. “So I don’t know. I don’t have an answer.”
Anti-hazing week Taylor Rosenberg, Student Association director of greek affairs, set up a week of events to promote anti-hazing Sept. 19 to Sept. 23. During both Huskies Don’t Haze Pledge events, members of SA will attend to sign the pledge and be available to talk to students. Email trosenberg1@niu.edu with questions regarding anti-hazing week.
Sept. 19
Sept. 20
Sept. 21
Sept. 23
Huskies Don’t Haze Pledge
Privilege Walk
Courageous Decisions event
Huskies Don’t Haze Pledge
Time: Noon to 2 p.m.
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Time: 5 to 7 p.m.
Time: 10 to noon
Location: MLK Commons
Location: Duke Ellington Ballroom
Location: Carl Sandburg Auditorium
Location: MLK Commons
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Madison Kacer News Editor
I don’t think anyone is going to actually tell you if hazing happens. I think you need to rush and go through initiation to find the honest truth.” Kayla Major Rushing freshman
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DeKALB | Enrollment at NIU is down by about five percent because of Illinois’ continued population decline and the level of state support for higher education, according to a Sept. 7 campus update. The expected decline puts NIU enrollment at about 19,000 students. The freshman class took the biggest hit, along with transfer and graduate enrollment numbers. However, enrollment is up for a number of programs, including undergraduate and graduate engineering, undergraduate computer science and graduate public administration. “We are working aggressively on a variety of fronts to get back to where we need to be,” NIU President Doug Baker said in the update. NIU hopes to combat the decline by focusing on marketing to high school students who plan to pursue higher education in-state, as Illinois is the second largest exporter of high school students to other states for higher education, according to the update.
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We are working aggressively on a variety of fronts to get back to where we need to be [in enrollment].” Doug Baker NIU President
Several ongoing initiatives are intended to combat the decline, including partnerships with community colleges, the recent shift in tuition structure that requires no additional charge beyond 12 credit hours per semester and the renovation of the Holmes Student Center and Stevens Building, which is intended to make the campus more “attractive to prospective students,” according to the update. Enrollment management strategies have made a major shift over the past two and a half years, according to meeting minutes from the July 21 Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Committee on Enrollment. Enhanced community college partnerships have resulted from this. As of July, NIU was in the process of hiring three admissions advisers who will serve as community college service coordinators. “All of these ongoing efforts to align resources and mission strengthen NIU and better position us for the future,” Baker said in the update.
Gender-inclusive pronouns
Sophomore sociology major Riss Carter does not identify with any pronouns. Instead, Carter goes by “Riss.” Read more about gender-inclusive pronouns on Page 3.