Preventing Hazing at Harvard crimson shield

 

Harvard College Policy

Harvard students are expected not only to comply with Massachusetts law on hazing but also to abide by the policies set forth in the Harvard College Handbook for Students. All students, regardless of their group or team affiliations, should become familiar with the policies detailed below.

Responsibility

If you are an officer or a member in a student organization or athletic team at Harvard, it is your responsibility to make sure that hazing does not happen.

In the section on hazing in the 2007-08 Handbook for Students, the following new language appears (in red).

The Administrative Board of the College will consider all reports of hazing in the normal course of this oversight, taking disciplinary action in appropriate cases, and will report confirmed incidents to appropriate law enforcement officials. Where serious harm, or the potential for serious harm, has come to any persons as a result of hazing by members of a student group or athletic team, whether or not such group is officially recognized by the College (either on campus or off campus), and the individual or individuals directly responsible are not identified, the host or hosts of the event will be held personally responsible. If the hosts are also not identified, the officers of the organization or team will be held personally responsible. In considering such cases, the Administrative Board will apply the College’s amnesty policy (described below), and also may consider as mitigating factors with respect to possible disciplinary action the efforts made by the hosts or officers to prevent the harmful or potentially harmful situation, as well as their cooperation with the College’s investigation of the situation.

** Please note: Conduct need not meet the legal definition of hazing to violate Harvard College’s expectations for appropriate behavior. All student activities related to membership in a student group or team (such as recruiting, new membership, and elections) must comply with all applicable Harvard rules and community standards. All Harvard students should be familiar with the Standards of Conduct detailed in the Handbook for Students.

Student leaders should also be aware of another addition to the Handbook for Students that concerns incidents of unsafe drinking or drug use, regardless of whether hazing has occurred:

Where serious harm, or the potential for serious harm, has come to any persons as a result of consumption of alcohol or drugs at an event held, sponsored, organized or supported by a student group or athletic team, whether or not such group or team is officially recognized by the College (either on campus or off campus), and the individual or individuals directly responsible are not identified, the host or hosts of the event will be held personally responsible. If the hosts are also not identified, the officers of the organization or team may be held personally responsible. In considering such cases, the Administrative Board will apply the College’s amnesty policy (described below), and also may consider as mitigating factors with respect to possible disciplinary action the efforts made by the hosts or officers to prevent the harmful or potentially harmful situation, as well as their cooperating with the College’s investigation of the situation.

There is also new language regarding the requirements for all student organizations, whether or not officially recognized, to provide contact information and to sign the non-hazing attestation form

All such student groups (including not only groups officially recognized by the College but also club sport teams, final clubs, fraternities, sororities, and the like) must provide the Office of the Dean of Harvard College with contact information for all undergraduate officers by October 31, and must sign and return to the Office of the Dean of the Harvard College the College’s non-hazing attestation form by December 15.

Note: The Department of Athletics will collect this information for members of athletic teams and club sport teams, and will provide it to the Office of the Dean of Harvard College.

Harvard College’s Amnesty Policy, set forth in the Handbook for Students

Students may bring an intoxicated or drug-impaired friend to University Health Services or to a hospital, or seek assistance from College residential life staff or HUPD, and by doing this, neither they nor the friend will face disciplinary action from the College for having used or provided alcohol or drugs.

The Administrative Board

The Administrative Board of Harvard College will consider reports of hazing in the course of its normal oversight of student conduct. The College will determine whether the conduct in question met the definition of hazing under Massachusetts law and will take disciplinary action where appropriate. The College will report confirmed hazing incidents to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

Any Harvard student found to have organized or participated in a hazing activity may face disciplinary action up to and including requirement to withdraw.

Reports of hazing may reach the Administrative Board from several sources, including victim complaints, witness complaints, and reports from officers of the College.

Each potential instance of hazing will be evaluated on a case–by-case basis according to the procedures set forth in the Administrative Board’s Guide for Students. The following are examples of the kinds of questions Harvard College officials might consider in determining whether conduct will be considered hazing:

  1. Did the conduct in question concern a student group or athletic team, whether recognized or unrecognized?
  2. Was the conduct a method of initiation? Was the activity a condition of admission, continued membership, or favorable treatment in a student group or team?
  3. Was the conduct willful or reckless? Did the behavior demonstrate rashness or heedlessness? Did the students organizing or participating in the activity know that it could result in potential injurious or harmful consequences? Alternatively, did the students organizing or participating in the activity ignore, or fail to think carefully about, potential injurious or harmful consequences?
  4. Did people feel coerced into participating in the activity?
  5. Was the activity likely to adversely affect a person’s physical health or safety?
  6. Did the activity subject people to extreme mental stress? Could the activity be seen as intimidating or humiliating?

The law provides the following examples of hazing activities: whipping; beating; branding; forced calisthenics; exposure to the weather; forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance; extended deprivation of sleep or rest; and extended isolation. Other examples of hazing activities are:

  • Kidnappings and abductions
  • Confinement
  • Sexual acts or simulations
  • Coercion or pressure to wear uniforms or clothing clearly inappropriate to the circumstances or typically worn by persons of the opposite gender
  • Running personal errands or other acts of personal servitude for current or senior members of an organization
  • Assigning unwanted nicknames and other forms of verbal abuse

Possible Sanctions for Student Organizations or Athletic Teams

In addition to the possibility of disciplinary action against individual members who plan and organize hazing activities, and against officers held accountable for an organization’s hazing activities, recognized student groups or teams may face sanctions from the College and/or the Department of Athletics. Student groups or teams implicated in hazing risk having their recognition revoked. They may have limits placed on the types of activities they can host, and can lose access to Harvard spaces. The Department of Athletics may impose further sanctions on athletic teams or team members.