Sigma Kappa sorority held its annual Rock painting and fundraiser on Monday designed to bring awareness to the dangers of hazing during National Hazing Prevention Week.
During the event, Sigma Kappa sorority members encouraged students to take an anti-hazing pledge.
Some painted their hands and placed them on the Rock, symbolically leaving their promise there.
“Hazing can be something big or something small,” said Sigma Kappa President Melissa Procopio, a senior business administration major.
“It doesn’t happen just in Greek life. It happens all the time,” she said.
Sigma Kappa nationally supports National Hazing Prevention Week with its “RespΣKt” movement.
According to Stop Hazing, a research and prevention organization, 47 percent of students are hazed before entering college, and three in five students face hazing at some point.
Currently 44 states including California have anti-hazing laws.
Procopio said bullying and hazing can sometimes overlap but that they can both do damage.
“Today is about getting people to be aware,” said Lauren Crumbaker of Sigma Kappa.
“This movement speaks to us,” Sigma Kappa member and English major Sarah Barthel said.
During the Rock painting, Sigma Kappa members also sold baked goods to raise money for the Alzheimer’s association.
The sorority has also spread the anti-hazing word through social media throughout the week. The sorority has used the #respΣKt hashtag to demonstrate its dedication to the anti-hazing movement.
National Hazing Prevention week is Sept. 22 to Sept. 26.
—Alejandra Aguilar
