Secret Snowflake on ice following claims of harassment

Stanford will begin a formal review of Secret Snowflake following complaints by students that the long-standing, residence-based tradition promotes inappropriate behavior. This week Student Affairs announced that a committee will assess the end of fall quarter tradition, which involves dares of varying degrees of difficulty, discomfort and provocativeness.

In a statement this week to the Stanford student body, ASSU executives Erica Scott and Isaiah Drummond, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Senior Associate Vice Provost for Institutional Equity & Access Lauren Schoenthaler addressed the problematic behavior resulting from Secret Snowflake.

“We’ve heard examples of students feeling pressured to engage in overly sexualized conduct, of students sending sexual overtures to unwitting targets and of students trying to get unwitting targets to engage in sexual conversations that were later made public without permission from the targets. It is one thing to agree to test your own limits in the name of a dare, but quite another to embarrass others who have no control over or knowledge of the fact that they are the target of a dare,” the statement said.

Over the years, Secret Snowflake has evolved into a favorite tradition among students. For most participants, Secret Snowflake is a simple gift exchange in which students are anonymously paired. However, some students choose to take the tradition a step further by assigning their anonymous partner challenges of varying degrees of humiliation. These “dares” can range from relatively modest, such as wearing an ugly outfit, to being downright vulgar, such as appearing nude in public.

The game is intended to connect students and build community, in the same vein as other Stanford traditions, such as Full Moon on the Quad. But in recent years, students have expressed concern to university staff that challenges have gone too far, too often. Some have even filed formal complaints with the university’s Title IX Office.

“Unfortunately, we have seen enough examples of this over the years to know that this is not just about the poor choices of a few individuals,” the statement said. “We believe that the design of the event itself facilitates harassing behaviors.”

The ASSU, Student Affairs and Institutional Equity & Access are commissioning a review of Secret Snowflake. The committee in charge of the review will evaluate the tradition and make recommendations regarding its future. If members recommend that it continue, the committee will recommend modifications that ensure the tradition is not a tool for harassment, but rather a means of building community.

The committee will be made up of students nominated through NomCom, student staff members, resident fellows and staff members from Residential Education, the Title IX Office and the Office of Alcohol Policy and Education. Students interested in serving on the committee can contact Jennifer Calvert at jcalvert@stanford.edu.

Student Affairs welcomes feedback on the tradition from anyone in the Stanford community. Feedback, which will be considered by the committee, can be submitted here.