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Jessica Mertz is the executive director of Clery Center. 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. They wrote this column for InsideSources.com.
We urge the president to sign the Stop Campus Hazing Act, which has finally made its way to his desk after more than a decade. The critical legislation is the culmination of years of tireless 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 embodies the lessons learned from these preventable losses, and it offers a comprehensive approach to addressing the pervasive problem of hazing on campuses nationwide.
The landmark “Hazing in View” study in 2008 informs our work to prevent hazing. This research, the largest of its kind, involved surveys from more than 11,000 students and hundreds of interviews. It provided a stark and alarming picture of hazing in America. 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. A staggering 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.
The “Hazing in View” study laid bare the systemic issues that allow hazing to flourish: the lack of a uniform definition of the pervasive underreporting of incidents, and fragmented and ineffective prevention efforts. These findings underscored the urgent need for a comprehensive and consistent approach to hazing prevention at a national level.
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 bravely shared their stories, transforming their grief into a powerful force for change. Since 2014, they have walked the halls of Congress, 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 addresses the critical shortcomings identified in the “Hazing in View” study. It is magnified by the lived experiences of families. It 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), promoting transparency and providing a more accurate picture of the prevalence of hazing. It requires colleges to implement campuswide, research-informed 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, empowering students and parents to make informed decisions about joining organizations and fostering institutional accountability.
The Stop Campus Hazing Act is a bipartisan, evidence-informed piece of legislation that has garnered 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’s straightforward approach builds upon the existing infrastructure of the longstanding Clery Act. It does not require substantial funding, making it practical and impactful.
The act is more than a piece of legislation. It is a testament to the tireless advocacy of families who have turned their profound loss into a powerful call for action. 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. Passing the act into law will honor the memories of those lost to hazing and send an unequivocal message that these senseless acts will not be tolerated in America.