“No man can escape his own story.”
It’s the very last line from the movie Rango that speaker Steve Whitby used it as his introduction to the discussion on hazing.
After hearing that quote, Whitby realized that he had never really thought about how he played a part in his own story, but after thinking about it, he found and even better: “Lives live better when we invest in other people’s stories.”
Kicking off National Hazing Prevention Week, which continues through Friday, the Order of Omega hosted the both creative and thought-provoking forum on Tuesday night. With the Jarman Auditorium packed with both Greek life students and student athletes alike, Whitby began by talking about his own experience with hazing.
In high school, as a freshman member of the band, he broke several ribs after he was stuffed inside a tuba case and was rolled down a hill. In his time at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, he actually waited to rush Pi Kappa Phi his junior year, for the sole reason of not wanting to be hazed like he had already been by the sports clubs he had joined.
Whitby reminded the audience the importance of the individual in the stopping of hazing: “Individuals stop hazing, not organizations. I want you to figure what your backstops are and start talking about them in your organization. ‘What our organization’s backstops?’ Because I’ll bet you’ll figure out, you violate them far too frequently.”
Whitby explained how the individual stops hazing by sticking to “their individual backstop.” Just like how a backstop in baseball keeps the ball from going too far or into the crowd, he explained, we as individuals have our own backstops or gut feelings that we get when we are uncomfortable with something.
That’s what Jennifer Winter, the president of Order of Omega and Sigma Sigma Sigma member, who was in charge of the event, wants people to understand.
“I hope the people who attended Steve’s talk feel more confident in their own backstop,” said Winter.
She along with Order of Omega’s executive board (Delta Zeta members Amelia Harris and Julia Yuratis, Sigma Sigma Sigma member Nathena Haddrill and Alpha Delta Pi member Joanie Giordano) act as interim Hazing Prevention Chair and see the importance of no longer excusing hazing.
She added, “I personally took from the speaker that regardless of your organization, there are dark parts in your history. It’s really up to individuals to make sure that our organizations are heading towards a better future.”
