Fraternity Violence in Higher Education

Fraternity Violence in Higher Education Fraternity-Related Violence and Deaths Statistics of deaths in U.S. school campuses suggest that there are more than 60 fraternity-related deaths since 2005. The common causes of deaths are fraternity hazing and pledge-related activities, clashes between fraternities, and gang rape. Moreover, these deadly fraternal activities occurred in fraternity houses on college campuses around the world. In Istanbul for instance, members of rival fraternity brutally stabbed a student of Ege University who later died in the hospital. Neophytes of school fraternity have to undergo physically demanding rites and rituals to become a full member of the group. However, some initiation rites are so violent and deadly such as the hazing incident that killed Michael Davis, a junior journalism student at Missouri State University in 1994. VIOLENCE AGAINST FEMALE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS The hallmark of all hazing deaths according to one study is the failure of fraternity members to recognize the severity of hazing situation while the common cause of student death is severe injuries from brutal beatings. Other fraternity-related injuries and deaths include clashes between rival fraternities, fires in fraternity houses, and binge drinking. Fraternity violence is a campus safety issue and poses ethical problems which violate  rules and honor codes. Why fraternities still exist? Fraternity and Academic Institutions’ Civil and Criminal Liability In defense of fraternities, fraternity leaders argue that they are student organization symbolizing the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity in school. Moreover, although they did cause some serious problems in the past, they did a number of good things like charity and community service. In other words, the â€Å"good outweighs the harms†. Under the law, schools have duties of care to keep students safe and therefore legally liable for injuries and deaths caused by fraternity violence. For instance, in Furek v. The university of Delaware, the trial court awarded Jeffrey Furek damages for fraternity hazing injuries. The University provided 93% of this damage award while the remaining 7% came from Joseph Donchez, the fraternity member directly responsible for the injuries. The national fraternity, on the other hand, was free of any liability. The court announced that the duty of reasonable care was breached when the university, despite its knowledge of ongoing hazing activities inside the campus, failed to protect Furek from harm. VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND SCHOOL VIOLENCE There is clearly a good reason why some universities banned and refused to recognize any fraternity. In 1983 for instance, Princeton University, after banning three fraternities for over a century, announced that it would continue to deny fraternities and sororities of school’s recognition. Similarly, responding to fraternity violence and incident of gang rape on campus, the University of Pennsylvania successfully disbanded a fraternity through a court order. In reality, fraternities can have unrecognized chapters in any school thus colleges and universities must be ready to defend themselves against potential liability associated with a duty of care. Since liability is highly dependent on school officials’ reaction to knowledge of hazing activities and performance of their duty to care, the best defense probably is to create and enforced an anti-hazing policy. The reason is the fact that school officials primarily need to convince the court that they are against hazing. Second, the court cannot use the reaction to knowledge of hazing as infringement, as hazing activities outside school premises is difficult to detect and clearly outside an officials’ assumed duty of care.

How to Handle Awkward Situations at Work

How to Handle Awkward Situations at Work It’s always nice to get as friendly as you can with the people you’ll spend so much of your waking adult life working alongside. But building personal relationships at work can create a few sticky situations. Here are a few of them, and what to do when you find yourself in trouble. 1.  When You Get Promoted and Your Coworker Doesn’tYou get one, your friend in the same position doesn’t. Now there’s resentment and a new power dynamic to negotiate. You can’t share your work drama with the same abandon anymore, because you’re in different roles. The kind of belly-aching you’re accustomed to is no longer appropriate. Also be prepared to withstand some initial resentment.Either way, it’s best to talk about it once out in the open. Be proactive. Address the aspects of your relationship that have to change according to your work functions, but emphasize what aspects of your friendship do not have to change. Check in, be humble, and be honest. It’ll help you both navigate the new situation if you’re still on the same page and can express some solidarity.2. When  You Become Friends With Your BossYou and your boss have become close outside of work. You get in a fight. It makes things†¦ awkward at the office. This is normal. All friends fight. The only tricky bit is not compromising either of your jobs. Keep things civil and professional, and try not to be too defensive. If it’s a minor thing, take a bit of distance, cool off, then send an olive branch email to smooth it over. If it’s major, make it clear that it will not impact your daily office routines, but make a plan to chat outside the office after work.3. When You want Skip Out on a Social EventYour coworker wants you to double date! Fun, right!? But you don’t want to. That’s totally fine. You’re under no obligation to do so. Trouble is, turning it down can be a little tricky. You’ll want t o be as firm as possible, without being mean. When in doubt, try to downshift. Say you’re super busy and would prefer to have some one-on-one time, maybe coffee or lunch! Eventually, she’ll get the hint.4. When You’re  Fighting With Your CoworkerThis is the same as fighting with your boss, just that the stakes are slightly lower. Though you also have the potential to damage the other’s reputation in the office. Be careful not let the fight spill over into the work day and make either of you act unprofessionally. Otherwise, the same rules apply.5.When  You Don’t Want to Make Friends With EveryoneYou’re close with a couple of your coworkers, but not another. You’re under no obligation to let this other coworker into your clique. People have the right to chose their friends and you are not required to be friends with people just because you work together. But do be sensitive to the feelings of the person you are not including. Avoid talking about all the fun stuff you and your pals are going to do in front of this other coworker. It’s the kind way to behave.6.  When You Don’t Fit in at WorkIf you’re the one on the outside of the cool kids clique at work, don’t worry. It doesn’t say anything about you necessarily. And you certainly shouldn’t take it personally. Be warm and civil with your coworkers, and then divert your friendship-forging attention elsewhere. Make sure you maintain an active and fulfilling social life outside of the office so you don’t get discouraged by not being part of the crowd. The upside here is that you’ll focus more on your work and not be as easily distracted by office banter.7. When You Overhear Hurtful GossipYou overhear your coworkers talking about you behind your back. Resist the temptation to throttle them. You don’t have to confront them, but you shouldn’t hide and pretend you didn’t hear either. Take t ime to cool off and give them the space to do the adult thing and apologize. If they don’t, they’re probably not worth talking to.8. When Your Coworkers are Mooching Off of YouAre you always paying for the coffee trip? The happy hour round? Rather than quietly resenting this state of affairs, give your coworkers the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to set things right. Try saying, â€Å"Hey, you mind grabbing this round? I got the last few.† Or something equally casual. It’s awkward the first couple of times, but you’ll be glad you got better at asking. It’s better than slowly going broke!