GW ESTABLISHES EMAIL HOTLINE

Tim Burke, Manley Burke, tburke@manleyburke.com

The January 24, 2008 issue of the GW Hatchett from George Washington University reported that the University has established its own hazing hotline that takes reports of hazing by anonymous emails.  According to the article, Dean Harwood, the Director of Greek Life at GW, said the system “should encourage more students to report suspicious behavior.”  While the President of the Interfraternity Council at GW was quoted as strongly supporting the idea, at least one Chapter President raised concerns about anonymous reports flooding the system with false accusations.

Based on the experience of the National Hazing Hotline, founded by 26 national fraternities and sororities¹ (see Fraternal Law, September 2007), there is likely to be some experience of false reporting, but in spite of that, national fraternities and sororities continue to support and rely on hotlines to help them respond quickly to reports of hazing.  Investigations can promptly identify those reports which were pranks or false, but more importantly, they allow national fraternities and sororities to identify and address real problems.

¹ Other fraternities and sororities, such as Phi Delta Theta, Pi Beta Phi and others, who are not sponsors of the National Hazing Hotline, already had their own hotlines in operation.