UMaine hosts hazing prevention summit June 13–14

Twenty-one representatives from six other universities will gather at the University of Maine for a summit on campus hazing June 13–14 at Doris Twitchell Allen Village.

The institutions are members of the Hazing Prevention Consortium, a multi-year research-to-practice initiative led by UMaine professor of higher education Elizabeth Allan to build an evidence base for hazing prevention on college campuses.

Consortium members come from select colleges and universities that have demonstrated a commitment to eliminate hazing and readiness to launch a comprehensive approach to prevention.

“Research on hazing prevention is quite limited, so our work is geared toward building the field of hazing prevention so campus professionals can be equipped with tools that work,” says Allan.

Over a three-year period, member campuses are coached and receive technical assistance from research and prevention experts to assess the hazing climate on their campuses, as well as to build institutional and leadership commitment to hazing prevention.

Members develop, implement and evaluate hazing prevention strategies, and share lessons learned with other schools. In addition, they test and collect data on prevention strategies to contribute to broader knowledge about ways colleges and universities can most effectively prevent and respond to hazing.

Representatives from Dartmouth College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Oregon, and University of Texas at Austin will take part in the summit. They are members of the second cohort of universities to participate in the Hazing Prevention Consortium. The first cohort of seven universities, including UMaine, wrapped up its work in 2016.