Here’s how a new federal law is affecting hazing reports on Wisconsin campuses

A new federal law is changing how Wisconsin college campuses review hazing and hazing policy. 

The Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed into law late last year by former President Joe Biden, aims to reduce hazing at universities through stricter reporting rules, penalties and more accessible university reports.

Sarah Johannes is a coordinator for Sorority and Fraternity Life at Marquette University. She spoke recently on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” about how Marquette is preparing for the new law. 

Overall, Johannes said Marquette’s hazing policy already meets the new requirements set by the Stop Campus Hazing Act. But there are plans to update the school’s incident reports to now include hazing. 

“The most important thing to note is that … reporting hazing is not to get anyone in trouble, but it’s to keep people safe,” she said. 

The Stop Campus Hazing Act sets into law three main points: 

• It requires colleges to include hazing incidents in their annual security report
• It defines hazing as “any intentional, knowing, or reckless” act against a person that creates a reasonable risk of harm for initiation, regardless of that person’s consent
• It calls for a campus hazing transparency report where students can easily gain knowledge about local incidents

“It’s about that differing power dynamic between people who are in the group and those who want to be a part of the group,” said Hazing Prevention Network Executive Director Todd Shelton. 

“It gets dangerous when those in the group start requiring activities or things of those wanting to be a part of the group and it can easily cause, at minimum, mild mental or physical harm,” he continued. “But in worse cases it can cause serious harm or death, which is why we stress that it’s important to take hazing seriously.”

Also on “Wisconsin Today,” Shelton said hazing can affect people in all kinds of organizations, not just colleges and universities. There are reports of hazing incidents in professional sports teams and police departments, for example. 

But among college students, 55 percent of those who participate in fraternities and sororities experience hazing in some form, according to the Hazing Prevention Network. Among those students, one-tenth label what they’ve experienced as hazing.  

Johannes said Marquette is currently in the “information gathering phase” of drafting what they want the school’s new hazing policy to look like. She said they expect the final result to be a collaborative effort between various student organizations and Marquette’s general counsel.

“Our students know that hazing is a problem,” Johannes said. “They know not just through our work but also in their national organizations. They are having those conversations within their chapters. I think the Stop Campus Hazing Act is getting more education out there at a campus level for all student organizations.”