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Hazing and Prevention

Hazing is a violation of the FIU Student Conduct and Honor Code (Code) as well as Florida State law. In the State of Florida, hazing is a criminal offense. A person commits hazing, a third degree felony, when they intentionally or recklessly commits any act of hazing upon another person who is a member of or an applicant to any type of student organization and the hazing results in serious bodily injury or death of such other person.

A person commits a first degree misdemeanor when they intentionally or recklessly commits any act of hazing upon another person who is a member of or an applicant to any type of student organization and the hazing creates a substantial risk of physical injury or death to such other person.

It is not a defense to a charge of hazing that:

  • The consent of the victim had been obtained
  • The conduct or activity that resulted in the death or injury of a person was not part of an official organizational event or was not otherwise sanctioned or approved by the organization
  • The conduct or activity that resulted in death or injury of the person was not done as a condition of membership to an organization

Hazing activities are not only associated with Greek organizations but have occurred as a part of athletic teams, and other clubs and organizations on campus. FIU holds student organizations and individual students accountable through the FIU Student Conduct process, will face disciplinary sanctions, and can be held criminally liable.

Hazing violations

In the FIU Student Conduct and Honor Code, the hazing violation is outlined as follows:

Any group or individual action or activity that inflicts or intends to inflict physical or mental harm or otherwise endanger or discomfort which may demean, disgrace and/or degrade any person, regardless of location, intent or consent of participant(s).

Taking into consideration the aforementioned definition, hazing includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Interference with a student’s academic performance
  2. Forced consumption of any food, alcohol, controlled substances, drugs or any other substance
  3. Forced physical activity (e.g. calisthenics, line-ups, walking or marching in formation)
  4. Deprivation of food, water, or sleep
  5. Not permitting individuals to speak for extended periods of time and/or forced exclusion from social contact
  6. Engaging in activities which involve compelling an individual or group of individuals to remain at a certain location or transporting anyone anywhere within or outside the university (e.g. road trips, kidnaps, drops)
  7. Physical or mental abuse of any nature, including physical discomfort
  8. Sexual misconduct of any nature
  9. Theft, defacement, or destruction of private or public property
  10. Compelling the performance of personal chores or errands
  11. Verbal abuse or degradation, including yelling or demands
  12. Assigning or endorsing pranks (e.g. stealing, harassing other organizations)
  13. Conducting activities designed to deceive or convince a member that they will not be initiated or that they will be hurt
  14. Compelling scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, quests, road trips, big brother/little brother hunts, big sister/little sister hunts
  15. Any action or threatened action that would subject the individual to embarrassment, humiliation or mental distress, including the use of demeaning names
  16. Any other acts or attempted acts which would constitute hazing pursuant to Section 1006.63 of the Florida Statutes

Hazing prevention efforts

Florida International University has zero tolerance for hazing. There are many policies and procedures in place to safeguard against hazing activities. Beyond the polices, the following points demonstrate preventative efforts directed to educate students in regards to hazing:

  • All student organization presidents must sign an understanding and agreement of the anti-hazing policy to become recognized by the university.
  • Student Conduct and Academic Integrity conducts hazing prevention and sanctioned workshops for Greek organizations, FIU Athletics, and club sports. These workshops are tailored to the targeted audience.
  • All hazing allegations against organizations and/or individuals are adjudicated by Student Conduct and Academic Integrity.
  • The Department of Campus Life policies and the constitution of all Greek Councils clearly prohibit hazing and give rationale and resources.
  • The Sorority and Fraternity Life website has a link to the FIU statement on hazing.
  • Order of Omega, in conjunction with Campus Life, plans a Hazing Prevention week annually.
  • All students who sign a bid to participate in a sorority or fraternity must sign a consent form which includes the FIU Zero Tolerance Hazing Policy.
  • Hazing prevention training is covered annually in the Spring Leadership retreat with the executive board of every sorority and fraternity.

Background

The National Study of Student Hazing (2008) is one of the more comprehensive studies in hazing and hazing prevention. With 11,000 responses and over 300 interviews from 53 college campuses nationwide, the study illustrates the problems and challenges related to student hazing. Its findings include:

  • 47% of students come to college having experienced hazing.
  • 55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing.
  • Nine out of ten students who have experienced hazing behavior in college do not consider themselves to have been hazed.
  • In 95% of the cases where students identified their experience as hazing, they did not report the events to campus officials.
  • There are public aspects to student hazing i.e. students talk with peers or a friend (48%), to another group member (41%), or to family (26%) about their hazing experiences.