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Hazing Resources for Parents & Families

For parents, families, and supporters of AU students, we have compiled several resources for helping identify potential hazing concerns and considerations to share with your student as they consider joining student groups.

How to Identify Potential Concerns

This resource is intended to serve as a guide for recognizing concerning behavior and/or culture within a student organization, team, or group on campus. Below you will find a section on potential signs of hazing, how to share concerns, and identifying healthy/unhealthy organizations, teams, or groups.

Potential signs of hazing include:

  • Change in your student’s frequency or depth of communication with you.
  • Your student indicates they are considering or planning to leave the organization, team or group for unexplained or ambiguous reasons.
  • Defensive responses about student organization, team, or group when explaining unusual events or activities.
  • Changes in sleep and/or eating, signs of fatigue, or behaviors that indicate your student is staying up late.
  • Lengthy weekend commitments or late night or early morning activities.
  • Loss of privileges that sound unnatural, like having cell phone taken away, etc.
  • Change in your student’s grades or academic performance, or missing class.
  • Secrecy or a lack of openness from your student about their joining/new member experience.
  • Your student’s use of alcohol and/or other drugs has changed or increased.
  • Unexplained injuries or illness that your student has experienced.
  • Loss of interest in activities your student was previously passionate about. This may be due to an overly burdensome schedule and/or changes to emotional well-being – either of which may be signs of hazing.
  • Changes to your student’s emotional well-being; this may include new or changes in anxiety, depression, and mood.

If you have questions or concerns – either in general or specifically – about health, safety, hazing, or other issues, please contact any of the resources below, depending on the nature of your concern.

  1. If you are reporting an emergency or a situation in which you are worried about someone’s imminent health and safety, you should call 911. Please consult the reference below for both off-campus and on-campus emergency resources.
    Emergency Numbers
    DC Metropolitan Police Department: 911
    AU Police: 202-885-3636
    Non-Emergency Numbers
    DC Metropolitan Police Department: 202-737-4404
    AU Police: 202-885-2527
  2. If you are interested in speaking with a member of the Center for Student Involvement, you can contact us at studentinvolvement@american.edu or by phone at 202-885-3390.
  3. You can submit a report via the OSARP website.
  4. For fraternities/sororities or organizations/groups on campus that affiliate with a national organization, you can also contact the headquarters staff for the fraternity/sorority if it is part of an inter/national organization. You can simply search “[chapter] headquarters” online and find the inter/national organization’s website. Please note that AU’s ability to follow up on concerns reported to headquarters may be limited, as that information is not always shared directly with AU.
  5. We also encourage you to talk to your student if you have not done so already, and to remind them of the above resources. We are always happy to talk with any students about their concerns and their options for moving forward.


Healthy vs. Unhealthy Organizations, Teams, or Groups

Organizations, teams, and groups can be defined as healthy or unhealthy. The potential hallmarks of these organizations, teams, and groups are listed below. Typically, organizations, teams or groups that demonstrate unhealthy behaviors may have problematic cultures when it comes to health and safety (issues of hazing, sexual violence, racism, homophobia, and other forms of exclusion, harmful alcohol and other drug use, lacking support for mental health, etc.). Please note, this is not an exhaustive list.

  • Avoids and actively prevents high-risk behavior; members look out for each other and other members of the community; in situations where someone needs help or assistance, the organization, team or group steps up to provide or enlist the help of others; when the organization, team or group, or its members violate University policies, they own their mistakes and hold each other accountable.
  • Balances a fun, supportive, and developmental student organization, team, or group experience with opportunities for members to succeed academically and be involved outside of that particular organization, team or group. Healthy organizations, teams, or groups are networks of support, an opportunity to create friendships, and encourage the personal growth of each member.
  • Demonstrates a commitment to inclusive excellence; a healthy organization, team, or group is a space where everyone belongs, and each student is not just accepted but also feels respected, supported, and safe. This also means that non-members of the organization, team or group feel welcome and affirmed in group spaces and around their peers/members.
  • Collaborates and builds connections at American University.
  • Respects the authority of their elected student officers and builds up their new members; healthy organizations, teams, or groups elect/select executive board officers who represent University and organizational/team/group values, and the decisions of these leaders are respected by their peers.
  • Have a problematic conduct history. Please visit OSARP’s website for historical context on any organizations at the University.
  • Make alcohol and/or other drugs part of their joining process.
  • Be identified by your student. If you ask your student questions from the “Questions to Ask” resource found on our website and you receive responses that are not encouraging, the organization, team or group your student may be considering joining may be an unhealthy one.
  • Have a bad reputation. While the university does not condone rumors or hearsay, it is important to note that your student might hear things that staff do not. An unhealthy student organization, team or group may be one that other students identify as problematic.
  • Have what you think are unreasonable expectations for new members. Activities that interfere with school, work, or someone’s personal well-being are likely to be considered hazing.
  • Allow poor engagement among its seniors. If upper-class students seem less engaged than new members, if seniors are not serving in leadership roles and attending events, or if senior members seem to resist the decisions and goals of the rest of the organization, team, or group, that organization, team or group may be unhealthy.
  • Not be recognized by the University. You can find a list of recognized student organizations at AU on Engage. Athletic and club sports team information can be found here. Only those organizations with AU recognition have the University’s approval to operate. Questions about the status of any group can be directed to studentinvolvement@american.edu. If a group is operating at AU without recognition, it may suggest the presence of an unhealthy culture, but more importantly, unrecognized groups have no affiliation with or supervision by the University, do not follow the standards set for recognized groups, and their members do not participate in relevant trainings.
  • Lack a positive community. All student should be welcomed, respected, and supported by student organizations, teams or groups. In addition, they should make non-members feel welcomed around their space and members. If an organization, team or group seems exclusive, it may mean it is unhealthy.


Questions to Ask Your Student

This resource is intended to serve as a guide for what questions parents and family members may want to consider asking their student related to their interest in joining a Student Organization, Team or Group at American University. Even if your student has not expressed to you that they plan to join an organization, team or group, it is worth asking them about – not because you need to encourage them to join, but because having the conversation can be beneficial. We encourage parents and family members to review the other resources located on the Center for Student Involvement (CSI) website and to contact CSI at studentinvolvement@american.edu or 202-885-3390, if you have additional questions or concerns.

  1. Do you meet the requirements to join the organization, team or group?
    1. Some organizations may have certain requirements for participation. For recognized student organizations, be sure to look up individual organizations on Engage to check eligibility.
  2. Is the organization, team, or group you are interested in recognized by American?
    1. Unrecognized student organizations are prohibited from using American University’s name, logos, marks or other official/registered assets.
  3. How is the chapter supported by adults? Does the chapter have a good relationship with university staff members?
    1. Is there a faculty/staff advisor for the organization, team or group?
    2. Is there a designated faculty/staff advisor that attends meetings and events or is there an alumni member who is an advisor “on paper” but doesn’t seem really engaged in what happens in the organization, team or group?
    3. How regular and deep are these connection points?
  4. Does the organization, team or group’s values seem to align with your own values? While your student may not know much about the organization, team or group yet, this is important for them to think about.
  5. What is the organization, team or group’s relationship with American? Does the chapter have a good relationship with university staff? Does the organization, team or group have a conduct history? You can check here.
  6. What is the time commitment for joining the organization, team or group?
  7. How does the organization, team or group actively promote leadership development and provide information/trainings about hazing prevention, etc.?
  8. What else do members of the organization, team or group do at American?
  9. Are there any financial commitments when joining a particular organization, team or group? Where does the money go?
  10. How do members take care of each other? How do they hold each other accountable? Does the organization, team or group seem to be one that identifies concerns and resolves them, or ignores them? When considering joining a peer-led student organization, this kind of support and accountability is important.
  11. In what contexts have you been able to get to know members of the organization, team, or group? Who else seems to be interested in joining this organization, team or group?
  12. What other organizations, teams or groups are you considering joining? Students should be intentional about connecting with multiple organizations, teams, and groups and keeping their options open.
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Student Organization Conduct Data

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