House Committee Passes Anti-Hazing Bill

In a bipartisan vote, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed an amended version of the Stop Campus Hazing Act (H.R. 5646). Among other things, the bill would establish a federal definition of hazing, require campuses to adopt statements of hazing policies and prevention, and require institutions to collect and report information on hazing incidents.

It is unclear whether the bill will advance to the House floor or the Senate, but the uncontentious mark-up demonstrated that it has widespread support.

NAICU and other higher education associations worked with committee staff as they drafted the compromise version of the legislation. While the amended bill that passed the committee contains significant improvements over the version that was introduced, the higher education community is seeking additional clarifications around definitions and reporting requirements.

Policymakers have long been interested in addressing campus hazing, but previous efforts to move legislation have typically stalled over partisan squabbles about the scope and impact.