Shut down the “rookie initiation” nonsense. Leaders protect newcomers, not traditions that hurt them.

A custom that requires someone to be humiliated before they count is not building belonging; it is charging admission for it. The people who went through it often defend it hardest, because admitting it was pointless means admitting they were treated badly for nothing. That loyalty to the ritual is what keeps it running.

If something like this exists where you are, refuse to take part and say plainly why, without accusing anyone. Offer a replacement: a way of welcoming people that costs the group something instead of the newcomer. Somebody has to be the first to stop, and it may as well be you.