Use this powerful film during National Hazing Prevention Week Sept. 23-27
Screen this powerful film during National Hazing Prevention Week
Sept. 23-27
If you’re looking for resources for National Hazing Prevention Week next month (Sept. 23-27), don’t miss award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s critically acclaimed new documentary HAZING, a deeply personal look inside the culture, tradition, and secrecy of hazing rituals in fraternities and sororities, sports teams, marching bands, the military and beyond.
In the film, Hurt, who belongs to a fraternity himself, talks to members of Black and historically white Greek-letter organizations and other groups that practice hazing, and gives voice to survivors of severe hazing rituals and family members of those who lost their lives. Expertly weaving these first-hand testimonies with insights from violence-prevention experts, the film provides a nuanced and empathetic portrait of a culture that can confer a sense of belonging even as it too often leads to violence, sexual degradation, binge drinking, institutional coverups, and debased notions of manhood. The result is an extraordinary teaching tool for educators and advocates working to reform and raise awareness about hazing culture – especially for those interested in intersectional, bystander-based violence-prevention approaches.
If you’re an educator or campus leader and would like to use HAZING in your classes or orientation programming, click here to get the film for educational use.
If you’re looking to help break the silence around hazing culture in your wider community, fill out this form to let us know you’re interested in hosting a public screening and we’ll get back to you with a quote.
Download a free comprehensive viewing guide for the film below.
The Hazing Viewing Guide, co-authored by God Bless the Child Productions and StopHazing, includes:
+ Foundational concepts and research insights for hazing prevention
+ Considerations for hosting a viewing and facilitating a program
+ Discussion questions and reflection prompts
+ A series of short-form resources that focus on prevalent themes from the film including mental health, bystander intervention, leadership, and power dynamics.
Additionally, MEF is thrilled to be teaming up, once again, with the anti-violence organization StopHazing to co-sponsor a live Q&A with HAZING filmmaker Byron Hurt via Zoom on September 25th at 7PM EST.
+ Register here to receive a Zoom link for the Q & A session with Byron on 9/25.
+ Click here to download StopHazing’s free film viewing guide.
+ Click here for other free resources offered by StopHazing.
Praise for Hazing
“HAZING is a powerful tool for Greek chapters, teams, and other organizations to frame why hazing cultures must change and how to begin those difficult conversations. Byron Hurt courageously shares his experiences and takes the viewer on a harrowing journey with hazing survivors and grieving families to examine the true cost of these brutal rituals.”
— Susie Bruce | Director, Gordie Center, University of Virginia
“HAZING directly confronts the hypocrisy of Greek-letter organizations that proclaim virtue, yet practice violence. Watch HAZING to understand why one or the other will become either our hallmark or our headstone.”
— Dr. Matthew W. Hughey | Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut and co-author of A Pledge with Purpose: Black Sororities and Fraternities and the Fight for Equality
“Hurt is uniquely empathetic to those who fall victim to groupthink and extends this grace to the viewer. Taking a stark look at the psychological, societal, and historical components of hazing, Hurt sparks a captivating conversation around the anxieties and expectations of belonging—and what will be sacrificed to achieve it.”
— Shakira Refos | Tribeca Festival
