Unsettling tradition: exploring intersections of campus hazing and white supremacy

Abstract

Hazing—a form of interpersonal and community violence often minimized and normalized as tradition—can negatively impact students, undercut university missions, and contribute to harmful campus environments. While student hazing is a problem, postsecondary leaders are also grappling with legacies of whiteness and white supremacy that have shaped campus culture, including taken-for-granted norms and traditions. Using Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS) as a framework (Cabrera et al., 2017), this qualitative study explored how perceptions of campus hazing may reflect and contribute to perpetuating white supremacy in a sample of U.S. universities. Across 12 institutions, 7 public and 5 private, 345 individuals—169 staff members, 167 students, and nine alumni—were interviewed, primarily in focus groups, sharing perceptions of campus culture and hazing climate. Tradition, with themes of alumni involvement and influence, pride, and space, is discussed, illuminating how whiteness and white supremacy is reinscribed via campus hazing.