News Center Maine interviews Allan, Sidelko, students about hazing prevention

News Center Maine spoke with Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education leadership at the University of Maine, about her research on hazing. Allan, who has been collecting data on hazing for about 10 years, recently published a hazing prevention framework for campuses across the country to use, according to the report. “It is very complex, it’s human behavior,” Allan said of hazing. “Not to necessarily abuse others but to want to belong to a club or organization or team.” Lauri Sidelko, director of the Student Wellness Resource Center, worked with Allan on the prevention framework research. Sidelko said hazing can take many forms such as “completing a task or cleaning someone’s house or yelling at someone or being verbally abusive.” UMaine has a zero-tolerance policy regarding hazing and students on campus say that although they weren’t hazed, they know what it entails, News Center Maine reported. “It really boils down to are you making somebody uncomfortable?” said Stephanie Poirier, who is a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. “Are you putting them in a situation they don’t want to be in?”