More than half of the 11,487 college students who responded to a survey by two University of Maine researchers say they have experienced some form of hazing.

The survey was conducted at 53 colleges and universities across the country in the past year by Elizabeth Allen and Mary Madden, professors at the Orono university’s College of Education and Human Development. They are presenting their research today for the first time at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators annual meeting in Boston.

Allen and Madden said hazing is commonplace among athletic teams and fraternities and sororities, but also among groups not traditionally associated with hazing, such as honor societies and theater groups.

The two researchers said they intend the hazing survey, the largest and most comprehensive to date, to be used as a baseline for further research.