Hazing Prevention
Preventing hazing and addressing it when it occurs are important ways that our community creates an environment where everyone feels they belong and can have their most effective learning experience.
What is Hazing?
Hazing is any activity, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate, that humiliates, degrades, or endangers the mental or physical health of someone because that person is joining or continuing membership in a group, team, or student organization. Engaging or participating in hazing is prohibited. Retaliation or threats of retaliation against any person who reports, is a victim of, or is a witness to hazing, or who is involved or cooperates with the investigation of hazing is also prohibited.
Examples of Hazing
Examples of hazing include, but are not limited to, the following actions when they are implemented in connection with joining or maintaining membership in any group, team, or organization:
- Sleep deprivation
- Social isolation
- Public degradation
- Intimidation
- Creation of artificial or excessive stress
- Public nudity
- Deprivation of privileges
- Assignment of duties not assigned to other members
- Threats or implied threats
- Requiring situationally inappropriate attire
- Forced or coerced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug, or other substance
- Forced or coerced sexual acts
- Forced or coerced calisthenics or other similar exercise
- Beating, paddling, branding, or other forms of assault
- Kidnapping
- Expected participation in illegal activity
Note that some of the examples above would be violations of other university policies as well.
Tufts Anti-Hazing Policy
Tufts policy prohibits hazing and requires people who are aware of hazing to report it.
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.
University consequences for hazing are determined based on the nature and severity of the violation. They can include suspension and expulsion for individual students and temporary or permanent loss of recognition for student organizations.
Massachusetts Anti-Hazing Law
In addition to being against University policy, hazing also violates Massachusetts law. The law also requires people to report hazing in certain circumstances. All behavior that violates the state hazing law is a violation of the Tufts anti-hazing policy.
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Section 17
Whoever 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.
The term “hazing” as used in this section and in sections eighteen and nineteen, shall mean any conduct or method of initiation into any student organization, whether on public or private property, which willfully or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of any student or other person. Such conduct shall include whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the weather, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any other brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical health or safety of any such student or other person, or which subjects such student or other person to extreme mental stress, including extended deprivation of sleep or rest or extended isolation.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section to the contrary, consent shall not be available as a defense to any prosecution under this action.
Section 18
Whoever 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 19
Each 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.
Each such group, team or organization shall distribute a copy of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen to each of its members, plebes, pledges or applicants for membership. It shall be the duty of each such group, team or organization, acting through its designated officer, to deliver annually, to the institution an attested acknowledgement stating that such group, team or organization has received a copy of this section and said sections seventeen and eighteen, that each of its members, plebes, pledges, or applicants has received a copy of sections seventeen and eighteen, and that such group, team or organization understands and agrees to comply with the provisions of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen.
Each institution of secondary education and each public or private institution of post secondary education shall, at least annually, before or at the start of enrollment, deliver to each person who enrolls as a full time student in such institution a copy of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen.
Each institution of secondary education and each public or private institution of post secondary education shall file, at least annually, a report with the board of higher education and in the case of secondary institutions, the board of education, certifying that such institution has complied with its responsibility to inform student groups, teams or organizations and to notify each full time student enrolled by it of the provisions of this section and sections seventeen and eighteen and also certifying that said institution has adopted a disciplinary policy with regard to the organizers and participants of hazing, and that such policy has been set forth with appropriate emphasis in the student handbook or similar means of communicating the institution’s policies to its students. The board of higher education and, in the case of secondary institutions, the board of education shall promulgate regulations governing the content and frequency of such reports, and shall forthwith report to the attorney general any such institution which fails to make such report.
Report Hazing
State law requires someone who is present when hazing occurs to report it to law enforcement, and university policy requires hazing to be reported when you become aware of it, whether or not you were present. You can report hazing by:
- Calling the Tufts University Police Department at 617-627-3030.
- Submit a report via EthicsPoint, a third-party service that allows you to stay anonymous by completing their online form or calling 1-866-384-4277.
- Reporting an incident to the Office of Community Standards using this online form or by contacting them directly at 617-627-1644 or CommunityStandards@tufts.edu.
Hazing Transparency
Anyone in the Tufts community can inquire about whether a group, team, or organization they are considering joining has a history of hazing or other policy violations. You can ask the existing members, and you can also check with the university. The status and recent history of fraternities and sororities is online. For all other organizations, you can contact the Office of Community Standards at CommunityStandards@tufts.edu or 617-627-1644. Inquiries to Community Standards are private and not reported to the organization.