Hazing isn't a new phenomenon, but the seriousness with which Arkansas universities handle hazing incidents is night and day compared to decades ago. What many once considered harmless behavior is now considered dangerous acts, and more and more students are suffering disciplinary punishments that forever change their academic trajectory.
Arkansas colleges have good reason to limit student harm caused by hazing, but students accused of hazing deserve the right to counter allegations, present evidence, and avoid unfair punishment. Punishments for hazing can prohibit you from finishing your degree and entering the workforce, so you must take these accusations seriously when they arise.
If you are dealing with hazing accusations from your Arkansas university, the Lento Law Firm should be your first call. Our Student Defense Team represents students nationwide, including Arkansas when hazing accusations throw a wrench in their plans. Call today at 888-535-3686 or provide further details through our website to secure legal representation and protect your future.
How State Law Influences the Policies of Arkansas Universities
Arkansas state law defines hazing broadly as any willful act committed by a student, alumnus, or organization member that aims to humiliate, degrade, or physically or emotionally harm another student, specifically concerning initiation or continued membership in a group. It also covers acts that deface property or interfere with a student's ability to succeed academically.
Hazing is a misdemeanor in Arkansas, but despite what you may initially believe, criminal punishments are not what you should worry about when your university accuses you of hazing. Most Arkansas colleges have well-defined anti-hazing policies adapted from state law that dive deeper into what is and isn't allowed. Compared to local police departments, universities are extremely vigilant in policing and punishing those who they believe run afoul of these policies.
If your university is accusing you of hazing or investigating a student organization you take part in, your academic and professional future is at risk. Universities are places of learning and growth, but you shouldn't expect school officials to go easy on you. In fact, due to the reputational damage that hazing can cause, many universities are inclined to throw the book at students engaged in hazing misconduct.
Before you head into disciplinary hearings and incriminate yourself in front of school officials, contact the Lento Law Firm. Our firm's Student Defense Team works extensively throughout the United States, including in Arkansas, defending students within the framework of college processes. When expulsion from your university is on the table, you need the best representation possible.
Common Examples of Hazing
No matter what school you attend, your Code of Conduct is full of crystal-clear policies prohibiting a variety of behaviors. If you're under the legal drinking age, you can't drink alcohol; it's fairly self-explanatory. However, hazing can manifest in hundreds of different ways, and school policies based on Arkansas law leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Despite the broad discretion of universities to discipline students for hazing, some incidents are more common than others. Common hazing behaviors highlighted by prominent state schools include:
- Sleep deprivation
- Requiring new members to engage in strenuous, embarrassing, or dangerous tasks for the benefit or amusement of senior members
- Harassment, such as yelling, screaming, and targeted pranks or attacks
- Spanking, paddling, or whipping
- Forceful overconsumption of alcohol, water, food, or any potentially dangerous substance
- Sexual activity, such as forced simulated sex acts or nudity
- Kidnapping
- Branding or tattooing
- Unwanted violent contact
It's impossible to list every single hazing behavior, and your university will likely prioritize the facts surrounding the incident more than the specific act itself. If your alleged actions intended to harass, harm, or humiliate a member of your organization for any purpose, that is probably sufficient for your university to take a closer look.
The Lento Law Firm should be your first call once you learn that school officials are starting a hazing investigation regarding your conduct. Even if you didn't directly engage in hazing, your membership in a student organization with a hazing problem places you at risk. After learning about your situation, our Student Defense Team will begin crafting a rebuttal to all unfounded allegations jeopardizing your continued enrollment.
Risks of Hazing Allegations
Because hazing often occurs in student organizations with dozens or hundreds of members, it's hard to keep these situations quiet. Universities dislike anything that shines them in a bad light, and hazing scandals on campus definitely fall into this category.
As a result, the punishments for hazing can be much more severe than expected, even for students with a clean record. Some of the common penalties that Arkansas universities impose include:
- Formal warnings and permanent marks on an academic record
- Loss of privileges, such as inability to take part in extracurricular activities and groups
- Dissolution of the student organization
- Probation, where schools impose additional restrictions on students and punish future misconduct harshly
- Temporary suspension
- Permanent expulsion
As you can see, punishments run the gamut from annoying to immediately devastating. However, you should never cut a deal with your university without first acquiring legal representation to advise you. The reason? Even if you only receive a warning, a formal admission that you engaged in hazing can follow you for the rest of your professional and academic career.
With something as serious as hazing on your permanent record, enrollment into graduate programs or internships may be complicated. Before admitting any misbehavior, contact the Lento Law Firm and allow our team to review your situation. When possible, you should aim for complete exoneration, and our Student Defense Team will explore every avenue available to clear your name.
Typical Disciplinary Process for Hazing in Arkansas
Every school in Arkansas is unique, but they all follow similar processes regarding learning about hazing allegations, investigating their merits, and punishing students. Typically, your college will follow these steps for your alleged hazing incident:
- Reports and Allegations: Universities must know about hazing incidents before they can take action. In most cases, they learn about hazing through reports from students, parents, staff, faculty, or concerned citizens living nearby. In fact, many Arkansas colleges, like A-State, provide the public with a dedicated hazing report form to make the reporting process as simple as possible. These systems allow for confidential reporting to alleviate concerns of retaliation and maximize the number of reports received through the system.
- Notification of Allegations of Hazing: After a report is filed,the school will conduct a preliminary review to ensure the details are credible and worth investigating. Only after this initial review will most schools inform a student of a pending investigation and set of allegations. University officials will notify the accused of the details of the alleged incident, the policy violation, and the expected next steps. As soon as you receive this notification, contacting the Lento Law Firm is highly recommended to benefit from experienced legal representation from day one.
- Investigation: Once school officials decide the report has merit, they will assign investigators to dig up as much information as possible. Generally, they will interview witnesses, contact the person who made the report and obtain digital evidence of the hazing, such as text messages or videos. They may reach out to the accused for a response to the allegations, though this can also occur later in the process, depending on the school's policies.
- Conference: Conferences are generally informal meetings between school officials and students with the purpose of reaching an agreement before requiring formal proceedings. Luckily, if you are called into a conference, Arkansas colleges allow and often recommend legal representation to attend alongside you. Depending on the evidence and how well you can respond to the allegations, your school can decide to drop the case, recommend minor punishment, or schedule a formal disciplinary hearing. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can advise whether reaching a negotiated agreement at this stage is in your best interest.
- Disciplinary Hearing: During a formal disciplinary hearing, school officials will present their case and attempt to prove that you violated university policies against hazing. Likewise, you and your attorneys will have the opportunity to formally respond to allegations, present evidence, and argue against the proposed punishment. This is not a criminal trial, but it can look and sound very similar, with similar long-term risks to your future.
Should your situation end up in a formal hearing and the disciplinary board rules against you, the punishments we discussed earlier—probation, suspension, and expulsion—may be considered.
If you are currently in the midst of an investigation and don't have legal representation, there is no time like the present. The longer you wait, the tougher time your attorneys will have when building a robust defense to all allegations. Call the Lento Law Firm today, and don't divulge any further information to school officials that they can use against you.
Appealing Your University's Disciplinary Decision
Sometimes, things won't go your way, but that doesn't mean you should sit back and accept unfair punishment based on false or unfounded allegations. Hazing punishments can follow you for years, and appealing is one method available to prevent long-term reputational, academic, and professional harm.
Appealing isn't possible in every scenario, but most Arkansas universities allow appeals due to:
- Due process concerns
- New information not known at the time of the initial hearing that provides further clarity to the situation
- Unfair impositions of sanctions that do not match the alleged behavior
- Concerns regarding a lack of evidence that is insufficient to prove the allegations
Of all these appeal criteria, due process concerns are often the most pressing and relevant. Unlike criminal proceedings that constrain investigators and officials regarding how they conduct themselves, Arkansas universities are, more or less, free to investigate and discipline students as they see fit.
However, due process concerns may still be a valid reason to appeal if:
- Significant prejudice influenced the investigation and hearing
- Officials significantly deviated from school policies, failed to inform a student of allegations, or prevented a student from exercising their rights
One thing you will notice is that these due process concerns are much more limited than what you are familiar with. Don't expect your college to read your Miranda Rights before asking about the alleged hazing.
The Lento Law Firm understands how university disciplinary proceedings in Arkansas work, and we can help you avoid some of the common issues faced by students without legal representation. Even though the people asking you questions aren't police, it doesn't mean they are your friends. Contact our Student Defense Team, explain your situation, and empower us to represent you during stressful hazing investigations.
The Lento Law Firm Represents Students Accused of Hazing Across Arkansas
The Lento Law Firm is overflowing with the one quality that matters most when it comes to university disciplinary proceedings: experience. Internal school investigations, hearings, and appeals differ from traditional criminal and civil court processes in many minor but critical aspects. Our Student Defense Team has the experience needed to protect clients from common concerns and limit the damage that hazing allegations can cause to their future.
We have represented students facing hazing allegations at many of the top schools in the state, including:
- University of Arkansas - Fayetteville, AR
- Arkansas State University - Jonesboro, AR
- University of Central Arkansas - Conway, AR
- Henderson State University - Arkadelphia, AR
- Southern Arkansas University - Magnolia, AR
- Arkansas Tech University - Russellville, AR
- Harding University - Searcy, AR
No matter what school you attend, the Lento Law Firm is here to help. Hazing allegations should not get in the way of your plans to graduate and achieve success.
Call the Lento Law Firm Today If Accused of Hazing By Your Arkansas College
In the past, many parts of society accepted hazing as a natural and expected part of membership in a fraternity, sorority, or other student organization. Nowadays, Arkansas universities do not tolerate hazing in any form, however minor or harmless it appears.
If your college is accusing you of hazing due to your direct involvement or enrollment in a student organization, the Lento Law Firm can help. Call our Student Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or contact us through our website to get started on your defense.
