Collin’s Law, an anti-hazing bill named after Collin Wiant, passed in the Ohio House on Thursday, just over two years after Wiant’s death.
Collin’s Law, fully titled the “Enacts Anti-Bullying and Hazing Act,” widens the definition and increases the penalties for hazing. The bill is expected to be voted on in the Ohio Senate after Thanksgiving.
The bill reads, “No administrator, employee, or faculty member, teacher, consultant, alumnus, or volunteer of any organization, including any primary, secondary, or post-secondary school or any other educational institution, public or private, shall recklessly permit the hazing of any person associated with the organization.”
Whoever violates the hazing guidelines would be acceptable to a misdemeanor of the second degree.
Failure to report an act of hazing would be a violation of the hazing bill, which would be a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. The violation is a misdemeanor of the first degree if the hazing causes serious physical harm, according to the bill.
Wiant, a freshman at Ohio University from Dublin, Ohio, died at an off-campus Sigma Pi fraternity annex house, collapsing on the floor due to asphyxiation after inhaling nitrous oxide from “whippets” sold by Silver Serpent Exotic Gifts.
In October, Silver Serpent and general manager James Wanke were both dismissed of two charges of felony involuntary manslaughter in the criminal case regarding the wrongful death of Wiant in 2018, according to a previous Post report. Silver Serpent and Wanke are still facing three felony trafficking in harmful intoxicants charges and a misdemeanor for improperly dispensing or distributing nitrous oxide charge.
