A taskforce has drafted a policy that would be an overreaching university policy on hazing. The policy will be presented for the first time at Student Senate Wednesday.
Ohio University wants a hazing policy to clearly define what behaviors could fall into that category and broaden who could be held accountable to the rules, including athletic groups and academic classes.
The policy was worked on from February to July, said Judy Piercy, interim university ombudsman. The policy will be taken to student organizations on campus, the first of which will be Student Senate, at its meeting on Wednesday.
The policy defines hazing and breaks it down into six parts, saying hazing includes, but is not limited to:
An action that recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental, emotional or physical health and/or safety of a student for the purpose of initiation or admission into, or affiliation with, any student organization or group regardless of the person’s consent
Any act that causes one to be humiliated or degraded
Brutality of a physical nature such as paddling, whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics or exposure to the elements
Coerced consumption of any food, alcoholic beverage, liquid, drug or any substance that subjects a person to risk
Mental stress including sleep deprivation, transportation and/or abandonment, confinement to a small space, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in embarrassment, any forced activity designed to shame
Coerced activities such as violation of local, state or federal laws, violation of university policies, rules, regulations and personal servitude
Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones asked officials to develop a clear definition and unified policy for hazing to help students understand the full scope of hazing and behaviors related to it.
Student Affairs has a policy for hazing, but so do student organizations. Hall-Jones said she wanted to have a universal policy that all departments and groups could refer to.
Hazing is a violation of the code of conduct under mental or bodily harm to others.
It is unclear how many hazing violations there have been during the past few years because the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility does not have the ability to separate hazing violations from the other mental or bodily harm to others violations.
The men’s water polo team was disbanded in Dec. 2013 for hazing, according to a previous Post article.
Char Kopchick, assistant dean of students for Campus Involvement, worked on the drafted policy.
“Our goal right now, and it’s very similar to the president’s council on sexual misconduct, I think the goal is to establish a safe and healthy campus climate for everybody and what we need to do is to address all forms of power-based personal violence,” Kopchick said.
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