North Carolina lawmakers are taking critical steps to crack down on hazing with a newly proposed bill to amend the state’s current law. This time, the focus to prevent hazing will expand beyond higher education, adding grades 9-12 at both public and private schools.

Senate Bill 375, known as “Harrison’s Law,” quickly passed through two committees before passing on the Senate floor this week, in a unanimous bipartisan vote. The bill is named after Harrison Kowiak. According to the anti-hazing Gordie Center at the University of Virginia, Kowiak was “a 19-year-old sophomore at Lenoir-Rhyne University when he died on November 18, 2008 from a head injury caused by the hazing he endured from Theta Chi fraternity members.”

SB 375 seeks to overhaul North Carolina’s hazing law by expanding its legal definition, increasing penalties, and requiring schools to implement anti-hazing policies. The bill offers a more comprehensive framework than the current statute, which is more limited in scope.

Previously, the definition of hazing only included actions that subjected students to “physical injury.” Bill sponsors say the language didn’t account for the full range of harmful behaviors these rituals can involve, potentially failing to protect victims of hazing.

The newly proposed definition is expanded to include more hazing actions like forced consumption, where students are made to drink copious amounts of alcohol, eat unhealthy or dangerous foods, and/or otherwise consume controlled substances. Instances such as these often lead to serious physical harm, such as intoxication, vomiting, sickness, or unconsciousness. 

Additionally, physical injury will be broadened in the definition to cover more brutal acts, such as branding or paddling. Even threatening this kind of conduct would be considered a form of hazing in the new bill.

Looking beyond physical harm, the bill broadens the definition of hazing to include psychological tactics such as sleep deprivation, embarrassment rituals, and/or social isolation. Aside from the dangerous physical injuries that some hazing rituals can cause, it can also have long-term effects on mental health and cognitive functioning.

When introducing the bill, state Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, said that hazing in North Carolina has been “narrowly defined” up until now.

The new bill aims to broaden the scope to initiation rituals in all kinds of groups, not just college Greek life.

“It [the law] has really only looked at incidents that might happen in a collegiate fraternity type of situation,” she said. Galey alluded to other organizations that might be involved in hazing, such as sports teams.

“This would expand that to include situations where a coach or another authority figure might be requiring that behavior.” she continued. 

According to research by the Stop Hazing organization, more than half of college students involved in clubs, teams, or organizations report experiencing hazing.

In addition to providing broader definitions of hazing and who is subject to these laws, the punishments for being involved in hazing would significantly increase with this new measure.

Whereas the existing statute finds offenders guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor, offenses in the proposed legislation would range from felonies to misdemeanor, depending on the severity and consequences of the hazing incident. The most serious offense, resulting in serious bodily injury or death, would find offenders guilty of a class C felony, which include crimes such as kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

The proposed legislation also requires, for the first time, that both high school and higher-education institutions provide students with educational programs on hazing.

At North Carolina State University, all first-year undergraduates are already required to complete educational modules on hazing, sexual violence prevention, and substance use. But recent incidents show that problems still persist. Last fall, the university’s Phi Delta Theta chapter was found to have hazed new members with alcohol and drugs, resulting in a loss of recognition through 2028. 

After passage in the Senate, the bill was sent to the House for consideration.