Freshmen joining a school group called the shifters undergo a week-long initiation involving learning the group's history, wearing group-specific items, and participating in special ceremonies that last all night long. this experience most resembles:

I believe the answer is: Rite of passage

Rite of passage refers to some sort of ritual that conducted before an individual enter a certain social group. (i.e: freshmen entering new schools).The rite of passage would be filled with a set of traditions that must be followed by all new members before being accepted by other people in the group.

answer; obscene;

answer; independent variable;