What to Do

If you have been hazed or know someone who may have been hazed, take action. Don’t be a bystander.

• Call 911 if there is an immediate threat to your safety or the safety of others.
• Report the hazing, anonymously if you prefer.
• Seek guidance from your parents/guardian, other family members, trusted friends, or university officials.
• Talk with others about what you are going through. You do not have to keep it a secret. Demanding secrecy is a common practice designed to protect people who are abusing others. You have a right to tell anyone anything you want about what you are going through, even if you were made to promise that you would not tell. Talking with others may save yourself or others from harm.
• Talk to a health care provider or mental health professional to help you sort out what to do.
• If hazing is taking place within a student group or organization:
  • Refuse to participate. Others before you have done so.
  • Join together with other new members to refuse to be hazed. There is power in numbers.
  • Leave the group. This is hard to do, but it is always an option. Walking away from hazing takes strength. Don’t believe it if anyone tries to tell you that it is sign of weakness or that you weren’t tough enough to take it. Quitting when you are being hazed takes character, courage, and integrity. There are likely others in the group that will leave with you but need someone like you to take the first step.