Hazing in the College Marching Band

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate hazing in collegiate marching bands. Specifically, the researchers were interested in marching band students’ experiences with hazing behaviors, to whom they were reported, attitudes toward hazing, and level of awareness of institutional hazing policies. Using a multistage cluster sampling approach, we distributed an online questionnaire to college marching band members attending National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools. Participants ( N = 1,215) were representative of 30 different states and included college freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Nearly 30% of respondents indicated they observed some form of hazing in their marching band. The most common acts of hazing involved public verbal humiliation or degradation, which generally went unreported. Reticence to report hazing was largely due to fear of social retaliation or perceptions that the hazing behaviors were innocuous. The vast majority of participants had negative attitudes regarding hazing and most learned about their institution’s hazing policy through a marching band orientation. Implications for the college marching band, contextualization of results, and future directions are discussed.