Take Action: Building New Traditions

Phi Delta Theta

Help Us End Hazing

Our partnership with The

Max Gruver Foundation

Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and the Max Gruver Foundation created Take Action: Building New Traditions to further anti-hazing education in high schools to ensure that no more lives are affected by hazing.

About

Fifty percent of students experience hazing in high school
More than 200 university students have died due to hazing in the United States since 1838.

Max Gruver died due to fraternity hazing at the LSU chapter of Phi Delta Theta.  Two dates that will forever shape the history of Phi Delta Theta are September 14, 2017, the day Max died, and January 8, 2020, when the Max Gruver Foundation announced a partnership with Phi Delta Theta. Since Max’s death, Steve and  Rae Ann Gruver have shared Max’s story with hundreds of college campuses and thousands of college students to prevent another tragedy and stop hazing. Collaborating with Phi Delta Theta, the Gruvers have decided with more than 15.1 million high school students at 23,000 high schools in the United  States, anti-hazing conversations and education need to begin before students enter college and for this reason, Take Action was created.

Curriculum

Take Action is a sixty-minute program that shares Max’s story and provides peer-to-peer education from current college students who share their experiences in clubs, teams, and organizations. During it, students are empowered by understanding hazing, how it starts, and why it occurs. They identify positive approaches to help make better decisions, build new traditions, and stop hazing.