Klobuchar introduces bill to address hazing on college campuses

Tom and Mary Pat Santulli believe their son Danny would still be able to walk, talk and see if they'd known his fraternity had a history of hazing before he was reportedly forced to drink a gallon of vodka during an initiation ceremony in 2021, suffering alcohol-induced brain injuries.

The Santullis are now one of several families pushing Congress to pass anti-hazing legislation introduced by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., on Tuesday.

"This doesn't just affect the victim," said Mary Pat Santulli, of Eden Prairie, who quit her banking job to care for her son full time. "It affects the entire family, the entire community."

The Stop Campus Hazing Act would require colleges and universities to report on-campus hazing incidents — including the names of the organizations responsible. It would also require college administrators to create anti-hazing education programs.

"The heartbreaking reality is that there are students who are harmed or even killed by this archaic practice of hazing," Klobuchar said during a news conference Tuesday.

Cassidy added: "This is a way we can disincentivize bad behavior."

A national 2008 study by researchers at the University of Maine and funded by the advocacy group StopHazing, found that more than half of college students who participate in athletics and other extracurriculars experience hazing. There were more than 50 hazing-related deaths in the U.S. between 2000 and 2021, NBC News reports.

"Federal legislation to address hazing is long overdue, and while we wait, lives continue to be lost," Jessica Mertz, executive director of the Clery Center, said during the news conference. "The Stop Campus Hazing Act will standardize how hazing is defined, tracked, and responded to across colleges and universities."

The nonprofit Clery Center helps colleges comply with the Jeanne Clery Act, passed by Congress in 1990 and named after a Lehigh University student who was murdered in her dorm room. That law requires colleges and universities to publish an annual safety report that counts violent crimes on-campus.

Klobuchar and Cassidy's bill would add hazing incidents to the reporting requirements — and require them to name the organizations responsible for breaking a college or university's anti-hazing policies.

Several Greek life organizations have signaled their support for the Stop Campus Hazing Act, including the National Panhellenic Conference and the North American Intrafraternity Conference.

Mertz said the organizations' backing was essential because of the role fraternities and sororities play in cultivating community on college campuses.

"Their support means this bill will be put into place," she said. "They'll ensure there will be this education component."