Hank Nuwer is the author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives, Wrongs of Passage, High School Hazing, and The Hazing Reader. Hank wrote about hazing from 1978 until his semi-retirement in September 2018. However, his semi-retirement proved to be a sabbatical instead, and he again is working on a seminal book on hazing in the United States and former colonies. His blog, Hazing Prevention, is part of his website, HankNuwer.com and he now keeps a record of hazing deaths at schools since the first death in 1838. He transitioned from a full-time professor of journalism at Franklin College to full-time author and a Franklin professor of journalism, professional writing and communication. The ABC-CLIO publishing company contacted Hank in mid-August 2019 by to research and write the book “Hazing in American Culture. He has accepted the challenge in addition to his other book projects in various states of development. This will be a far more broad-ranging book than his previous volumes. It includes the troubling problem of sexual hazing in athletics, on-the-job hazing in professions such as police work and nursing, as well as far more historical research on how hazing infiltrated American academia. He commutes from Indiana to a writing cabin in the woods of Poland where he lives with his wife Gosia Nuwer. They also have remote lands in the Alaska bush and the Nevada desert. His most treasured awards include HazingPrevention.org’s Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Award, an honorary State University of New York honorary doctorate, and election to Ball State University Journalism Hall of Fame.

Hank Nuwer has been described as "one of the nation's foremost authorities on hazing" in the Missouri Historical Review by Patrick Huber and Stephen Foster. In addition to speaking opportunities in the United States and the research based on fraternities and sororities within the United States, International programs on hazing are also available. This is an expansion of presentations given at universities in Poland and Canada. This International program is heavily based on fraternities in the Philippines and "ragging" in India schools.

Hank Nuwer’s informative and emotionally stirring presentations condense what he has learned as a Greek pledge and fraternity member, longtime sports participant and, especially, as a anti-hazing historian for more than 40 years who has written five celebrated books and countless articles on the topic.

As a journalist, Nuwer knows that the best way to educate audiences and readers is to engage them with true-life stories that empower everyone present to seek the hazing reforms needed to save lives, avoid devasting health problems, and ensure all members of all types of organizations receive the dignity and respect they deserve.

Nuwer tailors his presentations to specific needs and requests of his audiences , which include not only students, but also professionals in student affairs, Greek life, athletics, education administration, health care, criminal justice, and the military.

He employs the power of fact with an appeal to reason and each attendee’s sense of justice. He passionately believes that great organizations are made up of great individuals. He has a powerful voice that stays with audiences long after he leaves the stage. Every one of his talks is well-researched and never “canned.” His well-documented, well-sourced research has been cited by dozens of major news outlets around the world.

While attendees will come away educated about the realities of hazing after learning about high-profile cases, they will also be enlightened by little-known hazing examples that Nuwer has compiled in his 40-plus years of researching and writing about hazing. Examples will come from case histories of freshman hazing, fraternity and sorority hazing, high school hazing, occupational hazing and athletic team hazing. Attendees will learn that hazing is an Equal Opportunity Hazard for students of all races, genders, and members of certain occupations.

Overall, Nuwer’s message is one of hope, of compassion, of dignity, of solid journalism; and of reliable data and compelling human interest stories to mobilize the fight against hazing.

Learning Objectives.
By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Deeply understand hazing through clear-cut, real-life examples that explain and illustrate the nuances that make certain behaviors rise to the level of hazing activities.
2. Know seven key indicators that distinguish illicit behaviors from criminally illegal activities. They will take to heart examples of seemingly or so-called harmless hazing that exploded to the category of criminal activity.
3. Understand historical and contemporary best-practices that involve students in hazing prevention strategies.
4. Be aware of the consequences and responsibilities of individuals, organizations, teams, bands and institutions when a hazing comes to private and/or public light. They will learn why hazing by so-called renegade, unaffiliated chapters has become a particularly deadly menace.
5. Be aware of the efforts of Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Heroes and other anti-hazing initiatives that provide advice and support.

Intended Audience: ​fraternity members, sorority members, athletes, student affairs professionals, and coaches.

You’ve got a good chapter. No, a great chapter or a good chapter striving to become great. But it’s like the tree falling in the forest If no one hears it falling, it hasn’t happened. We all know that the small numbers of bad fraternal groups make the majority of media headlines and Internet sound blasts. But that isn’t the story with your group. You don’t haze. You follow the rules with alcohol You protect guests. You have a great philanthropy. And your members are involved on campus, in your community, in internships and – you have fantastic alums!

What’s needed is not your story. But how to shape and tell that story. That’s where Hank Nuwer’s “How to Tell Your School and Chapter Story Like an Expert” comes in. Hank, nationally known author of books on Greek Life and the Writers Digest Book-of-the-Month on expert writing tips, comes to your campus in person or through Zoom to educate you on how to TELL that great story. Hank Nuwer is an expert storyteller whose byline has appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, GQ, Writer's Digest, Outside, Men's Fitness, Indianapolis Monthly, Boston Magazine, and The Conversation.

Your story, stereotype free. You in?

Learning Objectives.
By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to:

1. Identify and shape their chapter and personal stories.
2. Distance their great chapters from renegade groups hogging the headlines with bad news.
3. Discover how to write their headlines, contact media without spamming, and to tell that story on social media and multimedia platforms.

Hank Nuwer’s riveting presentations put together all he has learned as a professor of sports communication, longtime sports participant, contributor to the USA’s best known sports magazines and a participatory journalist who has played professional baseball in spring training, participated in rodeo, and trained with an Olympic gold medalist. His past presentations have been as a keynote speaker for an NCAA National Conference and schools as large as the University of Michigan and as small as Transylvania, Dartmouth, and Gustav Adolphus. His work has been lauded on the pages of Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Kids, ESPN Magazine and NCAA Champion. You’ve seen him on Bryant Gumbel’s Real Sports, Bob Ley’s Outside the Lines and the Stephen A. Smith Show.

Nuwer educates male and female coaches, athletes and athletic directors with fact-based performances that encourage hazing reforms to spare elite programs the cost of lawsuits, players hurt by initiations, suspended seasons and destroyed reputations.

He employs the power of fact with an appeal to reason and each attendee’s sense of justice and sportsmanship. He passionately believes that great organizations are made up of great individuals. He has a powerful voice that stays with audiences long after he leaves the stage. Every one of his talks is well-researched and never “canned.”

He typically offers a single program for all coaches and athletes or offers same-day multiple presentations broken down for coaches and staff, male athletes and female athletes depending on your school’s needs. The cost is the same for either choice.

Nuwer believes passionately that hazing has no place in athletics. He gives his best every presentation and vows “to leave nothing on the floor.” Overall, Nuwer’s message is one of hope, of compassion, of dignity, of solid journalism; and of reliable data and compelling human interest stories to mobilize the fight against hazing.

Learning Objectives.
By the end of the presentation, coaches and athletes will be able to:

1. Deeply understand sports hazing through clear-cut, real-life examples that explain and illustrate the nuances that make certain initiations rise to the level of hazing activities.
2. Know seven key indicators that have led to college sports seasons being cancelled.
3. Understand historical examples that show how sports hazing goes back more than a century ago.
4. Be aware of the consequences and responsibilities of individuals and teams when so-called “sexual hazing” destroys individuals and programs
5. Be aware of the efforts of individual sports stars and coaches to make hazing a thing of the past.

Intended Audience: Male and female athletes, coaches, trainers, and athletic directors