Tufts Hazing Prevention
What is Hazing?
Hazing is any situation created or action taken- for the purpose of initiation, admission into, affiliation with or as a condition for continued membership in an organization- which meets one or more of the criteria below. Hazing can be intentional or unintentional, and can occur with or without consent.
Situations/actions that constitute hazing are:
- Negligent or reckless in nature; or
- Potentially harmful to: Physical safety/health, Psychological well-being, Academic Success, or Property; or
- Not reflective of the University or organization’s mission, purpose or values.
Such activities and situations may include, but are not limited to:
- Physical or psychological shocks;
- Sleep or food deprivation;
- Expected consumption of food, water, alcohol, or drugs;
- Kidnapping or abandonment;
- Line-ups or berating;
- Morally degrading behavior;
- Any form of personal servitude;
- Expected wearing, publicly or privately, of apparel and/or objects which are not appropriate for the occasion;
- Interference with academic pursuits; or
- Expected participation in activities that are illegal, or violate Tufts University policy.
Tufts Anti-Hazing Policy and State Law
The Tufts policy prohibiting hazing is in the Student Code of Conduct. University consequences for hazing include suspension and expulsion for individual students and temporary or permanent loss of recognition for student organizations, as outlined in the Student Conduct Resolution Procedure.
Tufts University pursues all allegations of hazing by a student group, team, or organization. Tufts is dedicated to providing a safe and supportive learning environment that enables students to pursue transformational experiences. Hazing is a serious violation of Tufts’ community standards; it is antithetical to our educational mission and violates our shared obligation to respect one another.
Massachusetts General Law 269, Section 17, 18, and 19Section 17Whoever is a principal organizer or participant in the crime of hazing, as defined herein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment. Section 18Whoever knows that another person is the victim of hazing as defined in section seventeen and is at the scene of such crime shall, to the extent that such person can do so without danger or peril to himself or others, report such crime to an appropriate law enforcement official as soon as reasonably practicable. Whoever fails to report such crime shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars. Section 19Each institution of secondary education and each public and private institution of post secondary education shall issue to every student group, student team or student organization which is part of such institution or is recognized by the institution or permitted by the institution to use its name or facilities or is known by the institution to exist as an unaffiliated student group, student team or student organization, a copy of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen; provided, however, that an institution’s compliance with this section’s requirements that an institution issue copies of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen to unaffiliated student groups, teams or organizations shall not constitute evidence of the institution’s recognition or endorsement of said unaffiliated student groups, teams or organizations. |