U.S. News & World Report quotes Allan in article on Greek life on campuses
Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education at the University of Maine and founder of the National Hazing Prevention Consortium, spoke with U.S. News & World Report for an article about whether the benefits of Greek life on college campuses are worth the risks. A string of deaths at fraternities around the country has sparked a national conversation about the future of Greek life, according to the article. “There are a number of models out there to really undertake what we’re talking about here, which is a culture shift, and that takes a long time,” Allan said. “But you have to start somewhere.” Allan has studied the efforts of eight different universities to combat hazing, particularly at fraternities and sororities; her research, undertaken from 2013 to 2016, is due to be published soon. Allan has been studying hazing for more than two decades and the new findings will provide an update to her 2008 study that included survey data from more than 11,000 students and provided one of the first snapshots of the culture on campuses, the article states. When asked how 2017 compares to years past, Allan said this year has been disturbing in terms of the number of deaths and the dynamic that has been made public. “While those dynamics may have occurred in [the past], we as the public didn’t have insight into them the same way we do now,” she said.