I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5646 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 

higher education to disclose hazing incidents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 

Mrs. MCBATH (for herself and Mr. DUNCAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

institutions of higher education to disclose hazing incidents, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Campus Hazing 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF HAZING INCIDENTS IN ANNUAL SE7 CURITY REPORTS. 

8 Section 485(f)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)(F)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i)(IX), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

2 the semicolon; 

3 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

4 semicolon; 

5 (3) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 

6 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(iv) of hazing incidents that were re9 ported to campus security authorities or local 

10 police agencies.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HAZING. 

12 Section 485(f)(6)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)) is amended— 

14 (1) by redesignating clauses (iii) through (v) as 

15 clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively; and 

16 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

17 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘hazing’ means any inten18 tional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a 

19 person, whether individually or in concert with 

20 other persons, against a student regardless of 

21 that student’s willingness to participate, that— 

22 ‘‘(I) was committed in connection with 

23 an initiation into, an affiliation with, or 

24 the maintenance of membership in, an or25 ganization (such as a club, society, associaVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Sep 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5646.IH H5646

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1 tion, athletic team, fraternity, sorority, or 

2 student government); and 

3 ‘‘(II) causes or is likely to contribute 

4 to a substantial risk, above the reasonable 

5 risk encountered in the course of participa6 tion in the institution of higher education 

7 or the organization (such as the physical 

8 training necessary for participation in an 

9 athletic team), of physical injury, mental 

10 harm, or degradation.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. RECORDING OF HAZING INCIDENTS. 

12 Section 485(f)(7) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(7)) is amended by inserting after 

14 the second sentence the following: ‘‘For hazing incidents, 

15 such statistics shall be compiled in accordance with the 

16 definition of that term in paragraph (6)(A)(iii).’’. 

17 SEC. 5. HAZING EDUCATION AND REPORTING. 

18 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

19 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (9) through 

21 (18) as paragraphs (10) through (19), respectively; 

22 and 

23 (2) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(9)(A) Each institution of higher education 

2 participating in any program under this title, other 

3 than a foreign institution of higher education, shall 

4 develop and distribute as part of the report de5 scribed in paragraph (1) a statement of policy re6 garding the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) A comprehensive program to prevent 

8 hazing that shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) be a campus-wide program for 

10 students, staff, faculty, and other campus 

11 stakeholders, such as alumni and families 

12 of students; 

13 ‘‘(II) be a research-based program; 

14 ‘‘(III) be designed and implemented in 

15 partnership with a broad coalition of cam16 pus stakeholders, including leadership of 

17 the institution, faculty, staff, students, 

18 alumni, and families of students; 

19 ‘‘(IV) include information on hazing 

20 awareness, hazing prevention, the institu21 tion’s policies on hazing, how to report 

22 hazing, and the process used to investigate 

23 hazing; and 

24 ‘‘(V) include skill building for by25 stander intervention, information about 


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1 ethical leadership, and the promotion of 

2 strategies for building group cohesion with3 out hazing. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The institution’s current campus poli5 cies relating to hazing, which shall include pro6 cedures that comply with the following: 

7 ‘‘(I) The institution shall— 

8 ‘‘(aa) collect information, begin9 ning not later than 6 months after the 

10 date of enactment of the Stop Cam11 pus Hazing Act, with respect to haz12 ing incidents and hazing prevention 

13 policies of the institution; 

14 ‘‘(bb) prepare, in accordance with 

15 this clause, a report (which shall be 

16 referred to as the ‘Campus Hazing 

17 Transparency Report’) containing the 

18 information required under this 

19 clause; 

20 ‘‘(cc) make the Campus Hazing 

21 Transparency Report publicly avail22 able not later than 12 months after 

23 the date of enactment of the Stop 

24 Campus Hazing Act; and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) update the Campus Hazing 

2 Transparency Report not less fre3 quently than on January 15 and July 

4 15 of each year, with, for each such 

5 update, each incident for which a for6 mal finding has been issued, as de7 scribed in subclause (II), during the 

8 period preceding such update that 

9 ends 15 days before the date of such 

10 update. 

11 ‘‘(II) The Campus Hazing Trans12 parency Report shall include each incident 

13 involving a student of the institution for 

14 which a formal finding of guilt, responsi15 bility, or culpability is issued that either of 

16 the following was committed: 

17 ‘‘(aa) A violation related to haz18 ing— 

19 ‘‘(AA) of the institution’s 

20 standards of conduct; or 

21 ‘‘(BB) of Federal, State, or 

22 local law. 

23 ‘‘(bb) When committed in con24 nection with a violation reported 

25 under item (aa) and that threatened a 


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1 student’s physical safety (including a 

2 violation involving the abuse or illegal 

3 use of alcohol or drugs), any violation 

4 of— 

5 ‘‘(AA) the institution’s 

6 standards of conduct; or 

7 ‘‘(BB) Federal, State, or 

8 local law. 

9 ‘‘(III) The Campus Hazing Trans10 parency Report shall include, for each for11 mal finding under subclause (II), the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(aa) The name of the organiza14 tion with which the violation that re15 sulted in a formal finding of guilt, re16 sponsibility, or culpability, was com17 mitted in connection. 

18 ‘‘(bb) A general description of 

19 the violation that resulted in a formal 

20 finding of guilt, responsibility, or cul21 pability, the charges, the findings of 

22 the institution, and the sanctions 

23 placed on the organization. 

24 ‘‘(cc) The dates on which— 


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1 ‘‘(AA) the incident was al2 leged to have occurred; 

3 ‘‘(BB) the violation that re4 sulted in a formal finding of 

5 guilt, responsibility, or culpability 

6 was charged; 

7 ‘‘(CC) the investigation was 

8 initiated; and 

9 ‘‘(DD) the investigation 

10 ended with a finding that a viola11 tion occurred. 

12 ‘‘(IV) The Campus Hazing Trans13 parency Report shall not include any infor14 mation that would reveal personally identi15 fiable information about any individual 

16 student. 

17 ‘‘(V) The institution shall provide, in 

18 a prominent location on the institution’s 

19 public website, a link to the webpage that 

20 contains the Campus Hazing Transparency 

21 Report. Such webpage shall include— 

22 ‘‘(aa) a statement notifying the 

23 public of the availability of informa24 tion including findings or sanctions, 

25 except information protected under 


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1 section 444 of the General Education 

2 Provisions Act (commonly known as 

3 the ‘Family Educational Rights and 

4 Privacy Act of 1974’); 

5 ‘‘(bb) a description of how a 

6 member of the public may obtain such 

7 information; 

8 ‘‘(cc) a statement that the insti9 tution is required to provide such in10 formation pursuant to this clause; 

11 ‘‘(dd) a statement notifying the 

12 public of the availability of the statis13 tics required to be made available 

14 under paragraph (1)(F); and 

15 ‘‘(ee) information about the insti16 tution’s anti-hazing policy. 

17 ‘‘(B) Each institution shall maintain each Cam18 pus Hazing Transparency Report on its website for 

19 a period of 7 academic years. 

20 ‘‘(C) In the case of an allegation that a multi21 institution organization was involved in a hazing in22 cident, the requirements of this subsection shall 

23 apply only to the institution or institutions at which 

24 the persons involved in such allegation are enrolled 


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1 or were formerly enrolled, including any student who 

2 was a victim in the alleged incident.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

4 Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this 

5 Act, shall be construed to alter legal standards regarding, 

6 or affect the rights (including remedies and procedures) 

7 available to individuals under the Constitution of the 

8 United States or other Federal laws that establish protec9 tions for freedom of speech or expression. 

Æ 


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