Mertz & Allen: New law can prevent campus hazing

We urge the president to sign the Stop Campus Hazing Act. The critical legislation is the culmination of years of research and advocacy, driven by the unwavering commitment of families like Gary and Julie DeVercelly, whose son died in 2007 because of a fraternity hazing ritual. The act offers a comprehensive approach to addressing the pervasive problem of hazing on campuses nationwide.

The landmark “Hazing in View” study in 2008 involved surveys from more than 11,000 students and hundreds of interviews. We discovered that half of college students involved in student groups experience hazing, often involving dangerous and potentially illegal activities, including alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation, and sex acts.

Hazing is not limited to fraternities and athletics. Still, it occurs across a broad spectrum of student organizations, including club sports, intramural teams, performing arts groups, honor societies and academic clubs. Perhaps the most disturbing finding was the profound disconnect between students’ experiences and their perceptions. Nine out of 10 students who engage in hazing behaviors do not consider themselves to have been hazed, highlighting the normalization of these harmful practices.

However, research alone is not enough to affect meaningful change. The tireless advocacy of families who have endured the unimaginable pain of losing a child to hazing has been instrumental in pushing for legislative action.

Parents like the DeVercellys have shared their stories. Since 2014, they have met with countless legislators and spoken at events nationwide, raising awareness about the devastating consequences of hazing and urging policymakers to act. Their advocacy led to introducing the first federal anti-hazing legislation, the Report and Educate About Campus Hazing Act, which was crucial in shaping the Stop Campus Hazing Act.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act creates a federal definition of hazing for reporting purposes. It mandates that colleges report hazing incidents in their annual security reports (as required under the Clery Act). It requires colleges to implement hazing prevention and awareness programs, ensuring that students have the knowledge and skills to identify, prevent and report hazing. It requires colleges to publish their policies related to hazing and a list of organizational violations on their websites.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act is a bipartisan piece of legislation with widespread support from campus safety experts, national fraternity and sorority organizations, parents of hazing victims, and more than 50 professional associations and higher education organizations.

The act is more than a piece of legislation. It is a recognition that hazing is not a harmless rite of passage but rather a dangerous and often deadly practice that has no place in our society.

Jessica Mertz is the executive director of Clery Center/InsideSources

Elizabeth J. Allan is a principal at StopHazing and a professor and program coordinator of the higher education graduate program at the University of Maine./InsideSources