| TOP OF SITE | TOP OF ISSUE | TOP OF SECTION |
| PREVIOUS STORY | NEXT STORY |
|
High-pressure groups harassing students By June Cai News Staff ATLANTA November 6, 1998
 Students walking around the Georgia Tech campus the past month may have encountered recruiters inviting them to join various organizations. While most of these groups seem friendly, the Office of the Dean of Students refers to some as "high pressure groups."
According to Stephanie Ray, Assistant Dean of Students, the Office has received several complaints in recent weeks about recruiting on campus, especially around the freshmen dorms and outside the Student Center. While other types of these groups (i.e. social and political) exist, most are religious, and some have been suspected of cult activity and brainwashing.
Recruiters, who are usually also students, stop people to invite them to Bible studies or ask about their religious backgrounds. Even when a student says he or she is not interested, some recruiters become very persistent and may follow the student.
These groups target people with emotional problems, such as those who are lonely, going through grief or a difficult time, experiencing academic difficulties, or suffering from relationship problems. These factors make a person vulnerable to recruiters from high pressure groups who provide comfort and friendship, and freshmen are especially targeted because they are experiencing a transitional period in their lives.
Recruited students may feel flattered that they are so cared about, and they also seek the support the group can provide. Furthermore, the members of the groups often denounce outsiders. A Tech employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, befriended a Tech graduate student while working on campus. Because the employee is homosexual, he became the victim of derogatory slurs and actions led by the student along with several others at work one day. The student and the participants were members of the Atlanta Church of Christ, a large church in South Atlanta who recruits on campus.
"Most were from that place, and they arranged a 'shake down’'... they put on a show. It was very embarrassing," said the employee.
Once a person joins, these organizations often exert their power and influence by placing focus on shame, guilt, and not asking questions. They can also isolate the member from friends and family and control thoughts and opinions to agree with those of the group. This allows the member to become dependant on the group for support, encouragement, and decision making.
Members give up their freedom to personal beliefs and rights to agree with the group's views and thoughts; they only believe what they are told. The employee believes that this is what happened to the graduate student, who was probably told by the group to lead the attack.
"They patted him on the back. I hate the thought of college kids getting caught up in that sort of thing, but I can see that happening," he said.
The group then invited the employee, who is a Christian, to attend a service. While most members acted friendly, the preacher, who church members looked up to, filled his sermon with more slurs as well as racist remarks against Native Americans, and the employee believed scriptures had not been well-studied.
The group, whose members are very tight-knit, encourages others to become like them and a part of them. In addition, he suspects the group of some brainwashing activities.
"They make you feel bad so you're more vulnerable to join. They want you to change your ways and join them. Inviting is okay, but deceiving is wrong. It's not right to mislead people," the employee said.
He adds that it did not seem easy for students to leave the group, and they also had to recruit other students sometimes. When he refused to join the church, the employee received hang-up calls and unsolicited visits from the members, and he became too afraid to call the police. After speaking with a Tech human resources official, the employee worked hard to put his life back together and to recover from his emotional pain.
"They need to stop and think about what they are doing, who they're hurting. They do as they are told, without questioning," the employee said.
He encourages groups such as the Atlanta Church of Christ to attend diversity workshops.
"[Members] say what the group says. Their attitudes were [that] they were better than everyone. I believe in religious freedom," he said.
In order to promote awareness of the dangers of these organizations, the Office of the Dean of Students, who should be contacted to report high pressure group activity, published flyers and posted them in Freshmen Experience dorms last week.
The flyers give the dangers of joining such a group and factors that make someone vulnerable. In addition, they give warning signs to identify a high pressure group. These include all members seem to be perfect, being asked to recruit new members, isolation from past affiliations, and focus on guilt and shame.
"There are groups...and then there are high pressure groups. It's a good feeling to be wanted...some [groups] rely on your free choice of joining, while others use persistent recruiting efforts of win you over," warn the flyers.
Because the recruiting cannot be legally stopped, Ray explains, "We want to make sure students know what to look out for. The bottom line is that the more complaints we receive, the more of a case we have [against the groups]. Students are encouraged to let us know."
|
Copyright © 1998 by Gregory S. Scherrer, Editor and by the Student Publications Board
submit a letter to the Editor
e-mail the News Editor with a comment about this story
e-mail the Online Editor if there's a technical problem with this page