Dr. Jason L. Meriwether is an experienced higher education leader with over two decades of service to public and private universities, including nine years of HBCU service. In his roles as Vice President, Jason has been responsible for Enrollment Management, Academic Support, NCAA & NAIA Athletics, TRIO programs, and Student Affairs. Jason has published on topics such as adult learning, student retention, digital learning & engagement, student affairs fundraising, and hazing prevention. Jason is editor of Dismantling Hazing in Greek-Letter Organizations: Effective Practices for Prevention, Response, and Campus Engagement.

In 2014, Jason was selected to Louisville Business First’s Top Forty under 40 list and as one of Business First’s 20 People to Know in Education and Workforce Development. In 2014, he was honored as Outstanding Kentuckian, and was commissioned to the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels. In 2016, Jason was named one of Southern Indiana Business Source’s 20 under 40.

Jason is a financially active member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and has conducted education workshops for numerous Interfraternity Council (IFC), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), National Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Panhellenic Association (NAPA), and National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, Inc. (NALFO) chapters, in addition to multiple multicultural, service, honors, and music fraternities & sororities. Jason’s national presentations on legal issues related to hazing have been the subject of cover stories in the Student Affairs Today Newsletter and in College Athletics & The Law, and he has conducted national webinars for StudentAffairs.com and HigherEdHero on hazing prevention. As an advocate for community engagement, over 15,000 documented hours of volunteerism, service, and mentoring has been completed by sororities and fraternities under my leadership.

Jason was a Higher Education & Social Media contributor for Socialnomics.net and has been a guest blogger for the NASPA Technology Knowledge Community Blog and for the Student Affairs Collective. Jason is also contributing author of What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube, published in 2015. Jason served the American College Personnel Association as a member of the Presidential Task Force on Digital Technology in Student Affairs and the Directorate for the Commission for Student Conduct and Legal Issues. A current and active member of NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, Jason served on the Program Committee for the NASPA Assessment & Persistence Conference. A former junior basketball coach for Youth Incorporated and the YMCA, Jason has also been an assistant flag football coach for the YMCA and an assistant baseball coach for the New Albany Little League in Indiana.

A native of Guthrie, Ky., Jason earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication from the University of Louisville. He earned the Master of Arts Degree in Psychology from Fisk University, and was selected for the inaugural Academic Leadership Academy at The Pennsylvania State University Center for the Study of Higher Education, which he completed in 2011, earning a certificate. Jason earned the Ph.D. in Educational Administration with a Specialization in Higher Education Leadership from Indiana State University. His dissertation was titled, The Impact of Hazing Rituals on the Intent to Report: Examining the Perceptions and Beliefs of Undergraduate Students in Greek Letter Organizations.

Jason currently serves Humboldt State University a public, comprehensive, four-year Hispanic Serving Institution with a population of 6000 undergraduate and graduate students with 61 undergraduate and graduate programs, as Vice President of Enrollment Management.

Greek Letter Organization (GLO) members, advisors, and university administrators must embrace preventive approaches to anti hazing education & policies for all students on their campuses. This interactive session will provide your students and leadership team with legally sound practices that protect students and the university, while engaging in robust discussion about the impact of “tradition” on hazing and violence in Fraternities & Sororities.

Student Learning Objectives
Workshop participants will leave with increased knowledge of the following:

• Empowerment to challenge physical and mental abuse in context of hazing situations by examining the value for life versus the need to belong;
• Recognition of relationship between injuries, psychological abuse, and loss of life associated with common hazing behaviors and the concept of tradition in GLOs;
• Evaluation of influence of GLOs on first-time college students with relation to responsibility, behavior, and community values;
• Recognition of educative options to combat hazing using peer-education & bystander intervention models; and
• Strategies to evaluate organizational rituals and chapter traditions to assess risks and hidden harms.

Training Goals
• To provide advisors and administrative team with legally sound practices to use as basis for anti‑hazing education;
• To empower students with educative options to combat hazing;
• To provide pertinent approaches to managing campus wide hazing policies and educational tools that are rooted in trends supported by legal decisions rendered across the United States;
• To share trends about behavior that indicates under‑the‑radar hazing rituals; and
• To identify existing educative programs & engagement tools that can be utilized on your campus

Fraternity & Sorority leaders are inundated by numerous theories positing methods to lead within a complex organization, while choices about leadership style are equally broad and varied. This interactive session will challenge participants to design a consistent message about leadership within their chapter and organization that is robust with substance and strategy, yet attentive to personal style. Attendees will be engaged to look introspectively at strengths and opportunities to grow, while building an individual leadership brand that will flourish within the context of each chapter, organization, the campus community, and for the duration of their career.

Learning Outcomes
Student participants will leave with increased knowledge of the following:
• Familiarity with evaluation tools to measure current perceptions about leadership branding within sorority and fraternity culture and the university setting;
• Recognizing consequences of intended and unintentional elements of leadership brand within the context of chapter and campus settings;
• Impact of leadership branding strategy on career trajectory within university system and after degree completion; and
• Ability to utilize best practices in shaping a leadership brand that enhances contribution to chapter morale and productivity.

Workshop Goals
• To provide pertinent approaches to engage and influence organizational climate and culture from a lens of credibility and productivity;
• To empower attendees with tools to develop a personal and individualized leadership brand;
• To share trends about behavior that indicate resistance or responsiveness to leadership; and
• To identify pertinent strategies to assess and maintain leadership brand effectiveness within the context of the chapter, the organization, and the university.

From Varsity Athletics to participation in Club Sports, student athletes, coaches, and university administrators must embrace preventive approaches to anti hazing education & policies. From the case of J.T. Todd, a 1980 University of Michigan Hockey player, to January 2020 allegations of hazing by former Penn State Football player, Isaiah Humphries, hazing within college athletics has come under increased scrutiny as risks to student athletes have become more pervasive due to violence, long-standing rituals, or excessive drinking. The culmination of educative approaches and policy measures requires a new a model that coaches and athletic leadership should leverage in order to address the complex and varied aspects of hazing. This interactive digital session will provide students, coaches, and athletic administration with legally sound practices that protect students and the university, while engaging in robust discussion about the impact of “tradition” on hazing and violence within the student athlete experience.

Learning Outcomes
Workshop participants will leave with increased knowledge of the following:
• Empowerment to challenge physical and mental abuse in context of hazing situations by examining the value for life versus need to belong;
• Increase familiarity with standards for eligibility and scholarship sustainability within context of NCAA anti-hazing rules and policies;
• Recognition of relationship between injuries, psychological abuse, and loss of life associated with common “low-risk” hazing behaviors and the concept of tradition in college athletics;
• Increase familiarity with effective practices to examine and evaluate formal & informal team traditions and bonding activities that present hidden risks for hazing; and
• Evaluation of influence of perceptions and stereotypes about athlete behavior on new and first-time college students with relation to responsibility, behavior, and community values.

Training Goals
• To provide university with legally sound practices to use as basis for anti‑hazing education;
• To empower student athletes with educative options to combat hazing using a peer-education model;
• To provide pertinent approaches to managing campus wide hazing policies and educational tools that
are rooted in trends supported by legal decisions rendered across the United States;
• To share trends about behavior that indicates under‑the‑radar hazing rituals; and
• To identify existing educative programs & tools that can be utilized on your campus.

Fraternity & Sorority Advisors & professional staff must embrace preventive approaches to anti hazing education & policies for all students and prospective members. This interactive session will provide advisors, FSL professionals, and student affairs administrators with legally sound practices that protect students and the university. Participants will engage in robust discussion about the evolving and cyclical nature of hazing, drinking, and ritual violence within sororities and fraternities while exploring the hidden harms that hide under the mask of tradition.

Learning Outcomes for Professional Staff and Advisors
Workshop participants will leave with increased knowledge of the following:
• Tools to evaluate current processes & amend policies for campus wide implementation of anti-hazing education initiatives;
• Strategies to evaluate current rituals and traditions to assess risks and hidden harms;
• Recognizing policy loopholes or language that may not adequately meet legal precedent for due diligence by professional staff or advisors; and
• Ability to utilize effective practices in managing anti‑hazing education for fraternities and sororities.

Training Goals
• To empower advisors and student affairs administration with educative options to combat hazing using peer-education & bystander intervention models;
• To provide pertinent approaches to managing issues of reasonable foresight that are rooted in trends supported by legal decisions rendered across the United States;
• To share trends about behavior that indicates under‑the‑radar hazing rituals within the context of the FSL experience;
• To identify existing educative programs & engagement tools that can be utilized on your campus; and
• To provide university with legally sound practices to use as framework for anti‑hazing education.