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The Stop Campus Hazing Act – What You Need to Know

Legal alert by Lamb McErlane attorney Ronald A. Amarant

The Stop Campus Hazing Act (“Act”) was signed into law by President Biden on December 24, 2024.   The Act is intended to strengthen campus safety by requiring postsecondary institutions to include hazing incidents in their Annual Security Report and create hazing education and prevention programs, along with other requirements.

A. Definitions

  1. Under the Act, “hazing” means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person (whether individually or in concert with other persons) against another person or persons regardless of the willingness of such other person or persons to participate, that ˗
    • is committed in the course of an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, a student organization; and
    • causes or creates a risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the institution of higher education or the organization (such as the physical preparation necessary for participation in an athletic team), of physical or psychological injury including˗

(i)  whipping, beating, striking, electronic shocking,      placing of a harmful substance on someone’s body, or similar activity;

(ii)      causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, extreme calisthenics, or other similar activity;

(iii)     causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to consume food, liquid, alcohol, drugs, or other substances;

(iv)     causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to perform sexual acts;

(v)      any activity that places another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words or conduct;

(vi)     any activity against another person that includes a  criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law; and

(vii)    any activity that induces, causes, or requires another person to perform a duty or task that involves a criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law.

  1. Under the Act, “student organization” means an organization at an institution of higher education (such as a club, society, association, varsity or junior varsity athletic team, club sports team, fraternity, sorority, band, or student government) in which two or more of the members are students enrolled at the institution of higher education, whether or not the organization is established or recognized by the institution.B. Reporting Requirements
      1. Hazing statistics shall be compiled for each single hazing incident, and if the same person or persons commit more than one hazing act, and the time and place intervals separating each such act are insignificant, such acts shall be reported as a single hazing incident.
    1. Institutions are required to collect statistics on hazing incidents commencing January 1, 2025.C .Required Policy Statements

The Act requires that the following policy statements be included in the Annual Security Report and published on the institution’s website:

    1. A statement of current policies related to hazing (as defined by the institution), how to report incidents of such hazing, the process used to investigate such incidents of hazing (including incidents reported to campus security authorities and local law enforcement officials), and information on applicable local, State and Tribal laws on hazing.
    2. A statement of policy regarding prevention and awareness programs related to hazing (as defined by the institution) that includes a description of research-informed campus-wide prevention programs designed to reach students, staff and faculty which includes the information referred to in Section 1 above and primary prevention strategies intended to stop hazing before hazing occurs, which may include skill building for bystander intervention, information about ethical leadership, and the promotion of strategies for building group cohesion without hazing.
    3. The provisions of Sections B and C take effect July 1, 2025, and apply with respect to the annual security report for calendar year 2026 (which would include statistics for calendar year 2025).D. Campus Hazing Transparency Report

Each institution must develop a Campus Hazing Transparency Report (“Report”) summarizing finding concerning any student organization established or recognized by the institution found to be in violation of an institution’s standards of conduct relating to hazing that requires the institution to:

      1. Beginning on July 1, 2025, publish on its website the process for documenting violations of hazing policies;
      2. Not later than December 24, 2025, make the Report publicly available on the institution’s website;
      3. Not less frequently than two times each year, update the Report for each incident involving a student organization for which a finding of responsibility is issued relating to a hazing violation, including:
        • the name of the student organization;
        • a general description of the violation that resulted in a finding of responsibility, including whether the violation involved the abuse or illegal use of alcohol or drugs, the findings of the institution, and any sanctions placed on the student organization by the institution; and
        • the dates on which:
        • the incident is alleged to have occurred;
        • the investigation into the incident was initiated;
        • the investigation ended with a finding that a hazing violation occurred; and
        • the institution provided notice to the student organization that the incident resulted in a hazing violation.

4. The Report may include information that is included as part of a report published by the institution and meets the requirements of the Report and any additional information determined by the institution to be necessary or reported as required by State law. The Report shall not include any personally identifiable information, including information that may reveal personally identifiable information, about any individual student, in accordance with FERPA.

5. The institution must publish the Report in a prominent location on its website, including:

      • a statement notifying the public of the availability of statistics on hazing pursuant to the Annual Security Report, including a link to such report;
      • information about an institution’s policies relating to hazing and applicable local, State and Trial laws on hazing; and
      • the information included in each update of the Report, which shall be maintained and publicly available on the institution’s website for a period of five years from the date of publication of the update.
  1. An institution is not required to develop a Report until such institution has a finding of a hazing violation or to update a Report if an institution does not have a finding of a hazing violation for the update period.

Finally, the Act changes the name of “Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act” to the “Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act.”

*This alert is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. Should you require legal advice on this topic, or have any questions or concerns, please contact Ronald A. Amarant, Esq. ramarant@lambmcerlane.com. 610-353-0740

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Ronald A. Amarant is a partner at Lamb McErlane PC. He concentrates his practice in general profit and non-profit corporate and business law with an emphasis on higher education law, regulatory compliance, business transactions, formation of business entities, real estate, employment law, and estate planning and administration. He regularly advises clients on general business matters, compliance with the Higher Education Act, Title IX, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act, as well as matters involving civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.