Bipartisan Anti-Hazing Bill Passes Through House
Credit: Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images- The Stop Campus Hazing Act would require universities to report hazing publicly on their websites and educate students and faculty on hazing prevention.
- As many as 105 college students have died from hazing-related incidents since 2000. Hazing happens when an individual is forced into committing a risky act by members of an organization.
- Democrats and Republicans introduced the bill last year.
As many as 105 college students have died from hazing-related incidents since 2000. A bill attempting to stop hazing is headed for the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Stop Campus Hazing Act, introduced last year, which requires universities to report hazing and educate students on preventing it.
“I know the pain of losing a child. I know the hole it leaves in your soul and the questions it leaves us to dwell on for the rest of our lives,” said Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath in a press release.
McBath and Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan co-introduced the bill to the House last fall, while Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy introduced it in the Senate.
“Throughout this process, I have been heartbroken to hear the stories of those who lost children to hazing and are now continuing their legacies by making change,” McBath said.
“Our bipartisan, bicameral legislation strengthens important national data collection and reporting standards so that students, their families, and our nation can stop these horrific instances.”
The American Journal of Emergency Medicine defines hazing as “committing acts against an individual or forcing an individual into committing an act that creates a risk for harm in order for the individual to be initiated into or affiliated with an organization.”
Over half of college students in clubs, teams, and organizations experienced hazing, while 73% in sororities and fraternities experienced hazing. Common forms of hazing include excessive alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation, and sex acts.
The most extensive policy added by the bill would be a public Campus Hazing Transparency Report available on the institution’s website that must be updated at least twice a year. The reports would include:
- The name of the student organization that committed the hazing act
- A general description of the incident, including the method of hazing, findings by the institution, and sanctions placed on the organization
- When an investigation into it occurred and ended
- When the institution provided notice of the hazing violation to the student organization
The report would not include any personally identifiable information.
The bill would also require institutions to create hazing prevention programs for faculty and students and provide flexibility to integrate prevention programs with existing institutions and state anti-hazing processes.
Another bill in New Jersey has sought to punish students convicted of hazing.
Bill A3665, introduced by Democratic Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy, would prevent anyone convicted of hazing or aggravated hazing from receiving state financial aid.
Murphy has introduced the bill three times before. The most successful introduction made it through the state Senate but stalled in the Assembly. The latest installment has not moved past the introduction.
Before either anti-hazing bill, in 2022, Cornell temporarily suspended fraternity parties after sexual assault and drugging allegations. A few months earlier, six of the University of Southern California’s 14 Interfraternity Council (IFC) members disaffiliated from the university. The year prior, USC suspended all fraternity social activities following sexual assault and drugging allegations.
This spring, the University of Maryland paused all alcohol-related and new member activities as it investigated 20 IFC and 16 Panhellenic Association (PHA) fraternities and sororities after “allegations of misconduct.”