Hazing Prevention

Hazing

As part of our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming campus environment, Skagit Valley College prohibits hazing WAC 132D-150-050.9, SVC OPPM 3070. Washington State law also prohibits hazing (RCW 9A.20.021).

Skagit Valley College provides students and employees with educational programming on hazing that includes information on hazing awareness, prevention, intervention, and the College’s policies prohibiting hazing.

What is hazing?

Any act committed as part of a person’s recruitment, initiation, pledging, admission into, or affiliation with a student organization, athletic team, or living group, or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to such an organization, athletic team, or living group that causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger or physical harm, or serious psychological or emotional harm, to any student or other person attending a public institution of higher education in this state, including causing, directing, coercing, or forcing a person to consume any food, liquid, alcohol, drug, or other substance which subjects the person to risk of such harm, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate.

“Hazing” does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions. Consent is not a valid defense against hazing. (WAC 132D-150-050.9)

What does hazing look like?

Examples of actions and activities which may be hazing include, but are not limited to, the following:

Compelling someone to consume alcohol or drugs
Requiring someone to participate in activities (pranks, scavenger hunts, etc.) that encourage property damage or theft
Making someone engage in sexual behaviors or exhibitionism
Morally degrading or humiliating games or activities which make someone the object of amusement, ridicule, or intimidation
Sexual, racial, and other discriminatory harassment
Requiring someone to eat or drink unusual substances or large amounts
Compelling someone to engage in acts of personal servitude
Transporting someone against their will, abandoning someone at a distant location, or conducting any “kidnap,” “ditch” or “road trip” that may in any way endanger or compromise their health, safety, or comfort
Causing someone to be indecently exposed or exposed to the elements
Requiring someone to remain in a fixed position for a long period of time
“Line-ups” involving intense shouting of obscenities or insults
Excluding someone from social contact for prolonged periods of time

How do I report hazing?

If you are asked to take part in hazing activities or are uncomfortable with the instructions given as a new group member, you have the right to say no.

If you see or experience hazing, you can report your concerns at Incident Reporting – Skagit Valley College or contact the Manager of Student Conduct.

If an employee, student employee, or volunteer has “reasonable cause” to believe hazing has occurred, they are required to report the incident. “Reasonable cause” means receiving a credible written or oral report alleging hazing or potential or planned hazing.

Skagit Valley College had no reported cases of hazing during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What is Sam’s Law?

Sam Martinez, a first-year student at Washington State University, died of alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity in 2019. In 2022, the State of Washington passed Sam’s Law (HB 1751). This law requires colleges and universities to provide hazing awareness and prevention education. As part of Sam’s Law, all Skagit Valley College students and employees need to complete online hazing prevention training. The College must also prepare a quarterly hazing report and maintain a Hazing Prevention Committee.

What training does SVC provide to prevent hazing?

Skagit Valley College provides an online training to students that includes information on hazing awareness, prevention, intervention, and the College’s policies prohibiting hazing.

All employees including student employees receive an online hazing prevention training on the signs and dangers of hazing, as well as the College’s prohibition against hazing.

Get Inclusive Hazing Prevention Course for SVC employees and students:

Hazing & Intimidation

Hazing Policies and Procedures

Hazing Reporting

Passed in 2022, Sam’s Law requires Washington state colleges and universities to publish a report disclosing all student groups found responsible for engaging in hazing on a quarterly basis.

The report must be published at least forty-five (45) days before fall quarter commences and at least ten (10) days before the start of any other academic quarter. The report must contain the beginning and ending dates for the hazing investigation, the dates the student group was charged with hazing and the date it was found responsible for the violation, a description of the incident, and a description of the sanctions and the date they were imposed. Each report must be retained for at least five years and comply with the Family Educational Records and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Hazing Reports

There were no reports of, or investigations related to hazing during the 2022-23 academic year.

How to Report

If you see or experience hazing, you can report your concerns at Incident Reporting – Skagit Valley College or contact the Manager of Student Conduct.

Employees, student employees, and volunteers must report any incident where they have “reasonable cause” to believe hazing has occurred. “Reasonable cause” means receiving a credible written or oral report alleging hazing or potential or planned hazing.