News

Join StopHazing on Oct. 3rd for a Q&A with HAZING director, Byron Hurt

During National Hazing Awareness Week (NHAW) this week, MEF is thrilled to be teaming up with the anti-violence organization StopHazing to co-sponsor a live Q&A with HAZING filmmaker Byron Hurt via Zoom on October 3 at 7 pm.

+ Register here to access a free pass to watch HAZING between now and October 8. (If you’re looking to set up your own screening for your group or campus, please contact us directly.)
+ Register here to receive a Zoom link for the Q & A session with Byron on 10/3.
+ Click here to download StopHazing’s brand new free film viewing guide.
+ Click here for other free resources offered by StopHazing.
If you’re interested in using HAZING in your programming or classes, you can get the film for educational use in multiple formats through MEF here. If you’re looking to help break the silence around hazing culture in your wider community, find out how to host a public screening here.

 

ABOUT THE FILM

Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s critically acclaimed new documentary HAZING takes 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. Drawing on a range of voices, including survivors of hazing and family members of those who didn’t survive, the film provides a nuanced and empathetic portrait of a culture that can provide a sense of belonging even as it too often leads to violence, sexual degradation, binge drinking, institutional coverups, and debased notions of manhood. An essential resource for classes and campus programming and those working to raise awareness about the dangers of hazing culture.

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 should be required viewing by every high school and college student in the country. Violence within our fraternities, sororities, bands, and sports teams is not inevitable. But it takes a collective effort from organizations and members to solve the problem, and HAZING is the call to action we’ve needed to progress toward a solution.”
 — Lawrence Ross | Author, The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities

“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