What Is Hazing in College? Facts, Statistics, and Prevention Efforts

Note: This report contains content related to suicide and sexual assault. Please take note of these confidential and free resources, available 24/7.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (dial 988). If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, please seek legal counsel. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is available at 1-800-656-4673.

Additionally, if you’ve witnessed or experienced hazing, call the confidential, toll-free anti-hazing hotline at 1-888-NOT-HAZE (1-888-668-4293). Note that every call is transmitted into an email and then sent to the fraternity or sorority named in the phone call.

Hazing is nothing new to the college scene. But in recent years, it has caused national public outcry for prevention and stronger legislation, mainly due to the high number of hazing-related deaths.

In 2021, NBC reported that since 2000, at least 50 college students have died from hazing, with the majority of those deaths related to alcohol.^[5] According to independent researcher Hank Nuwer, the toll could even be as high as 105.^{Note Reference [3]}

This report investigates the many questions that remain about hazing on college campuses, from why students decide to participate to how colleges can better protect students from its deadly consequences.

Hazing began as — and remains — a ceremony for welcoming new members into a closed society.

While hazing might seem like a new phenomenon, it actually dates back thousands of years. This may explain why such practices endure in tradition-bound institutions with deep historical roots, like fraternities and athletic clubs.^[6]

In a study published in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, Michelle A. Finkel, MD, 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.^[7]

However, hazing has no universal definition, making it hard for students to know when they are experiencing hazing, for educators to know when to intervene, and for colleges to keep track of hazing violations on campus.^[8]

According to Inside Hazing, hazing’s fuzzy definition and strong code of silence means that nearly all hazing statistics are underestimates.^[9]

Additionally, no U.S. health agency tracks hazing incidents, injuries, or deaths. Instead, researchers, journalists, nonprofit organizations, and volunteers conduct tracking efforts. Here’s what they’ve found since the early 2000s.

Allan and Madden found that the most frequently reported hazing behaviors of students who were members in clubs, athletics, or Greek life included:^{Note Reference [2]}

According to data collected from the Hank Nuwer Unofficial Hazing Clearinghouse, 76% of hazing-related deaths were associated with fraternities.^{Note Reference [3]}

Kimberly Davis, Ph.D., a data analyst at Penn State’s Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform, dedicated her dissertation to hazing and organizational culture in historically white fraternities. She found that the students who were most likely to engage in hazing were male, white, and fraternity members.^[11]

In the early 2000s, more than 1 in 4 undergraduates in social fraternities or sororities (26%) drank large amounts of alcohol to the point of getting sick or passing out as part of initiation. Over half (53%) reported that participating in a drinking game was a frequent form of hazing.^{Note Reference [2]}

According to the Hazing Prevention Network, the impact of hazing can be felt by all of those involved — hazed and hazer. The effects range from feelings of shame and guilt to the ultimate consequence: death.^[12]

One of the more common forms of hazing includes tests of physical dedication to an organization. Student-reported examples include binge drinking, sleep deprivation, enduring harsh weather, and performing sex acts.^{Note Reference [2]}

Although less common, physical beatings, burnings, brandings, and abductions have also been reported throughout the years.^[13]

These hazing rituals can cause physical instability, bodily injury or harm, sleep deprivation, or even hospitalization.^{Note Reference [12]}

Victims of hazing can experience a lost sense of control or autonomy, strained relationships with family members and friends, and declining grades, all of which can contribute to worsened mental health. Students can even experience post-traumatic stress disorder from hazing rituals.^{Note Reference [12]}

According to Hank Nuwer’s Unofficial Hazing Clearinghouse, 105 college students in the last 23 years have lost their lives at the hands of hazing.^{Note Reference [3]} Of the reported deaths:

Nuwer notes that his database includes deaths that appear to meet the consensus definition of criminal hazing, accidents while carrying out pledging or pledges being encouraged to drink, and suicides where parents believe hazing may have been a contributing factor.^{Note Reference [3]}

While most well-known hazing scandals have taken place among fraternities, two recent scandals have instead happened within athletic programs.

In January 2023, the Harvard women’s hockey program, including Coach Katey Stone, was brought under scrutiny for hazing allegations, including a Naked Skate tradition and Initiation Week where first-year students were pressured to consume alcohol and simulate sex acts.^[14]

On July 10, 2023, Northwestern head football coach, Pat Fitzgerald, was fired after an investigation found that his players had participated in hazing rituals.^{[15], [16]} According to the Daily Northwestern, the hazing included sexual abuse, from forced nudity to coerced sexualized acts in the team locker room.

An anonymous player told the Daily Northwestern, It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.^[17]

Currently 44 states have anti-hazing laws, although the strength and breadth of those laws vary across state lines.^{Note Reference [4]}

Many believe that state bills are not enough and that comprehensive federal legislation is necessary to really crack down on hazing. Several bills have been introduced in the Senate and the House and are gaining traction with bipartisan co-sponsorships.

Even in the 44 states that maintain laws prohibiting hazing, most deem it a misdemeanor rather than a felony. Additionally, many anti-hazing laws specifically refer to initiation rituals despite the fact that hazing can take place outside fraternities.

Parents have been the driving force behind much of the recent state legislation. In 2018, the parents and family members of eight college students who died as a result of hazing helped to form the Anti-Hazing Coalition (AHC) in partnership with the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Interfraternity.

Since the coalition was formed, nine states have enacted strong anti-hazing laws.

Many believe state bills aren’t enough.

In March 2021, U.S. lawmakers reintroduced a 2019 proposal for a comprehensive national anti-hazing law that would require colleges to post information on their websites about any hazing incidents that have taken place on campus or in student groups.^[22]

Called The End All Hazing Act, the bill seeks to educate on the dangers of hazing, expose the groups that haze, and be the catalyst to end all hazing, according to the Gruver family.^[23]

The Report and Education About Campus Hazing (REACH) Act was introduced to the Senate in March 2021 and the House of Representatives just a month later.^[24]

The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require higher education institutions to disclose hazing incidents. It would also create a more inclusive definition of hazing to include physical and mental harm or personal degradation regardless of a student’s willingness to participate.

So far, the bill has received bipartisan support and is continuing to bring in more co-sponsorships from legislators.

Dr. Elizabeth Allan, whose research informed the statistics listed earlier in this report, told BestColleges, I feel very optimistic that there aren’t really any major concerns about the legislation. It’s just a matter of continuing to meet with legislators so that it’s on their radar.

Even though hazing culture is deeply embedded on some college campuses, there are still opportunities to minimize, and ultimately eliminate, hazing. Here are some ways students can join the movement.

Still, hazing prevention must also come from the institutional level.

In September 2022, StopHazing hosted a research roundtable featuring:

The researchers pointed to several strategies that college leaders can use to help prevent hazing.

Remember, if you’ve witnessed or experienced hazing, you can call the confidential, toll-free anti-hazing hotline at 1-888-NOT-HAZE (1-888-668-4293). Note that every call is transmitted into an email and then sent to the fraternity or sorority named in the phone call.