[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2711 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2711

To require institutions of higher education to disclose hazing-related 
                  misconduct, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 24, 2019

Mr. Cassidy (for himself and Mr. Casey) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require institutions of higher education to disclose hazing-related 
                  misconduct, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Educational Notification and 
Disclosure of Actions risking Loss of Life by Hazing Act'' or the ``END 
ALL Hazing Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Hazing is a problem in the United States, but most 
        especially in our Nation's educational system.
            (2) Hazing undermines the educational experience of the 
        victims and the perpetrators. Hazing often perpetuates a cycle 
        in which students who have been hazed feel the need to haze 
        other students as a rite of passage to join a student 
        organization.
            (3) While hazing takes many forms, including menial labor, 
        disparagement, public or private humiliation, and forced 
        exercise, the combination of alcohol or drug consumption as a 
        form of hazing has caused bodily injury to thousands of 
        students and has been fatal in many instances.
            (4) Numerous students have died as a result of collegiate 
        hazing. Some of the recent tragedies include Nicky Cumberland, 
        Max Gruver, Tim Piazza, Dalton Debrick, Marquise Braham, and 
        Harrison Kowiak.

SEC. 3. HAZING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 
              EDUCATION.

    Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (U), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period and 
                inserting ``; and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                subparagraph:
                    ``(W) the hazing reports prepared by the 
                institution pursuant to subsection (n).''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(n) Disclosures of Hazing-Related Misconduct.--
            ``(1) Mandatory hazing reports.--Each eligible institution 
        participating in any program under this title, other than a 
        foreign institution of higher education, shall on August 1, 
        2020, begin to collect information with respect to hazing-
        related misconduct and anti-hazing policies of that institution 
        and prepare, in accordance with this subsection, a report 
        containing the information required by this subsection and make 
        the report publicly available beginning on January 1, 2021, and 
        each July 1 and January 1 thereafter, or on dates determined by 
        State law.
            ``(2) Report content.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A report required by paragraph 
                (1) shall include each finding by the institution that 
                a student organization committed--
                            ``(i) a violation of the institution's 
                        standards of conduct, or of Federal, State, or 
                        local law, relating to hazing; or
                            ``(ii) other hazing-related conduct that 
                        threatens a student's physical safety, 
                        including a violation involving the abuse or 
                        illegal use of alcohol or drugs.
                    ``(B) Incident information.--A report required by 
                paragraph (1) shall include, for each finding by the 
                institution of a violation described in subparagraph 
                (A), the following:
                            ``(i) The name of the student organization 
                        that committed the violation.
                            ``(ii) A general description of the 
                        violation, the charges, the findings of the 
                        institution, and the sanctions placed on the 
                        organization.
                            ``(iii) The dates on which--
                                    ``(I) the violation was alleged to 
                                have occurred;
                                    ``(II) the student organization was 
                                charged with misconduct;
                                    ``(III) the investigation was 
                                initiated; and
                                    ``(IV) the investigation ended with 
                                a finding that a violation occurred.
                    ``(C) Exclusions.--A report required by paragraph 
                (1) shall not include--
                            ``(i) any information related to 
                        allegations or investigations of hazing that do 
                        not result in a formal finding of a violation 
                        of the standards of conduct of the institution; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) any personally identifiable 
                        information on any individual student or member 
                        of a student organization.
                    ``(D) FERPA compliance.--The report required by 
                paragraph (1) shall be subject to the requirements of 
                section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act 
                (commonly known as the `Family Educational Rights and 
                Privacy Act of 1974').
            ``(3) Availability.--
                    ``(A) Public website.--Each institution shall 
                provide, in a prominent location on the institution's 
                website, a link to the webpage that contains each 
                report required under paragraph (1). Such webpage shall 
                include a statement notifying the public--
                            ``(i) of the availability of information, 
                        including findings or sanctions, except 
                        information protected under section 444 of the 
                        General Education Provisions Act (commonly 
                        known as the `Family Education Rights and 
                        Privacy Act of 1974');
                            ``(ii) a description of how a member of the 
                        public may obtain such information; and
                            ``(iii) a statement that the institution is 
                        required to provide such information pursuant 
                        to this subsection.
                    ``(B) Maintenance period.--Each institution shall 
                maintain each report required under paragraph (1) on 
                its website for a period of 5 academic years.
            ``(4) Reports to law enforcement.--Each institution 
        participating in any program under this title, other than a 
        foreign institution of higher education, shall report to campus 
        police and appropriate law enforcement authorities any 
        allegation of hazing that involved serious bodily injury or a 
        significant risk of serious bodily injury that is reported to 
        the institution, campus authorities, or any student 
        organization officially recognized by the institution. Such an 
        allegation shall be reported to campus police and appropriate 
        law enforcement authorities not later than 72 hours from the 
        time the institution is first notified of the allegation.
            ``(5) Applicability to multi-institution student 
        organizations.--In the case of an allegation that a multi-
        institution student organization was involved in a hazing 
        incident, the requirements of this subsection shall apply only 
        to the institution or institutions at which the students 
        involved in such allegation are enrolled (or were formerly 
        enrolled), including any student who was a victim in the 
        alleged incident.
            ``(6) Definitions.--For the purposes of this Act--
                    ``(A) Hazing.--The term `hazing' means any 
                intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a 
                student, or a former student, of an institution of 
                higher education, whether individually or in concert 
                with other persons, against another student, that--
                            ``(i) was committed in connection with an 
                        initiation into, an affiliation with, or the 
                        maintenance of membership in, any student 
                        organization; and
                            ``(ii) causes, or contributes to a 
                        substantial risk of, physical injury, mental 
                        harm, or personal degradation.
                    ``(B) Student organization.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The term `student 
                        organization' means an organization that is 
                        officially recognized by or otherwise 
                        affiliated with an institution of higher 
                        education and that has a membership that is 
                        made up primarily of students enrolled at such 
                        institution.
                            ``(ii) Multi-institution student 
                        organizations.--The term `multi-institution 
                        student organization' means a student 
                        organization that includes students from more 
                        than one institution of higher education, 
                        including citywide, regional, State, and 
                        national chapters of student organizations.''.
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