If you're attending a college or university in Virginia, you probably already know that your school prohibits hazing in connection with school-related organizations. Schools in Virginia are required by state law to have anti-hazing policies in place and to conduct hazing education for students who belong to or are considering joining any student organization. In addition to making hazing itself a crime, Virginia requires schools to make hazing investigation reports available to the public where the school has determined that hazing has taken place.
All of this means that if you're accused of hazing another student, you are facing potentially serious consequences, including expulsion. Because a hazing accusation can be so serious, you should not try to defend yourself against the allegation alone. Call the Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or schedule a confidential consultation online. Tell us about your case, and let us tell you how our experienced student defense attorneys can help you protect your college career and your future.
How Do Colleges and Universities in Virginia Define Hazing?
Because Virginia has an anti-hazing law, many schools in the state will refer to the statute as part of their anti-hazing policies. The Virginia law defines “hazing” as follows: "recklessly or intentionally endanger the health or safety of a student or students or to inflict bodily injury on a student or students in connection with or for the purpose of initiation, admission into or affiliation with or as a condition for continued membership in a club, organization, association, fraternity, sorority, or student body regardless of whether the student or students so endangered or injured participated voluntarily in the relevant activity.”
The College of William & Mary defines hazing as “any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off campus, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule.” It then goes on to provide examples of the kinds of behavior that the school considers to be hazing. These include a list of more than 20 different types of actions or activities that student organizations force, require, or expect prospective members (or members) to participate in. They include:
- Various forms of corporal punishment, such as paddling, burying, painting anywhere on the body, sleep deprivation, burning, branding, and tattooing
- Psychological punishment, including confining the person to a closed room or compartment, verbal harassment, blindfolding and transporting them, or exposing the person to embarrassment, shame, ridicule, or emotional strain
- Forcing prospective members to carry out meaningless tasks, to wear anything that “is not in good taste,” or to carry items that “serve no constructive purpose.”
- Forced consumption of any liquids or solids
These are just some of the examples of activities that William & Mary considers to be consistent with hazing.
Roanoke College cites the Virginia state law definition of hazing and then provides a number of examples of behavior that is included in that definition. These examples include:
- Pressuring a student into violating any law
- Physical brutality (including “whipping, beating, branding”)
- Any kind of activity that subjects the student to “extreme mental stress.”
- “Forced activity” that may “adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the student.”
Roanoke notes that its anti-hazing policy applies not only to individuals who actively conduct hazing but also to students who observe the hazing and are “in a position to intervene but who fail to intervene.” This includes organization members such as officers or leaders who are aware of “planned hazing activities” by other members and either condone the hazing or fail to take steps to prevent it from happening. In other words, you don't have to be present when hazing takes place to be disciplined for the hazing; if you knew about it ahead of time and didn't take steps to stop it, Roanoke can discipline you.
George Mason University describes hazing as “any action taken or situation created, recklessly or intentionally, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, ridicule, or possibly cause mental or physical harm or injury to any person on or off the University campus.” It notes that whether the person who was hazed consented or not is irrelevant to the determination of whether hazing has occurred.
The school notes that hazing is “a broad term that encompasses a multitude of actions or activities.” It goes on to provide examples of “situations that are considered hazing,” such as “tests of endurance, physical abuse, psychological abuse, morally degrading or humiliating activities, forced ingestion of any substance, activities which interfere with academic pursuits, paddling in any form, use of alcohol and servitude.”
Every college and university in Virginia has its own anti-hazing policy and its own set of procedures for investigating and resolving hazing misconduct complaints. Each school presents its policy in a slightly different way. What's important, especially if you are a member of a student organization that has any kind of process in place for accepting new members, is that you have a clear understanding of what your school considers hazing to be so that you can avoid violating the policy. In addition, because many schools will discipline students in the organization who knew about hazing or potential hazing activities and did nothing to stop it, it's important to pay close attention to how your organization treats prospective and incoming members.
If you have any questions about whether your student organization is violating your school's hazing policy, you should get answers before moving forward with any kind of activity involving new or prospective members. Generally, if you're not sure whether a planned activity is hazing, it's possible that it might be, and you should double-check before moving forward with it.
The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team regularly helps college and university students with disciplinary investigations and proceedings based on alleged violations of their school's anti-hazing policy. We understand the laws, the school policies, and your rights in these kinds of situations and are here to fight for your educational future.
Where Does Hazing Typically Happen on College Campuses?
While fraternities and sororities are the “traditional” places where hazing occurs, it can and does happen with many other types of student organizations. If there is an organized group of students that other students want to join, there is the potential for hazing to happen. For example, hazing can take place in connection with any of the following campus groups:
- Cheer squads and cheerleading teams
- Athletic teams, both varsity and club
- Music groups such as orchestra, chorus, and the school marching band
- ROTC
- Dining or social clubs (including so-called “secret societies”)
- Any other organized group: drama companies, speech and debate teams, faith-based groups, and others
If a school-related student group has any sort of “orientation,” “initiation,” or “rite of passage” ceremony or event that new members must attend in order to join the group, there is a risk that hazing may take place – even if the students running the group don't consider their actions to constitute hazing. Even if the entire group participates, existing members and new members, if the activity satisfies the school's definition of hazing, then the student group members can be disciplined. And saying that the participants consented to the activity won't protect you – schools will say that a student who wants to become part of a group can't properly consent to be hazed.
And taking things off campus won't help. School disciplinary policies will almost always apply to any student group activities, no matter where they take place. If what happens is considered hazing, the students responsible can be disciplined even if it happens miles away from campus.
School Disciplinary Processes Do Not Protect the Accused Student
When it comes to enforcing the school's disciplinary policies, accused students have fewer rights than defendants accused of crimes. That's because school disciplinary proceedings are not criminal ones, and a student who is found responsible for misconduct won't go to jail as a result. But that's not much comfort to a student who is expelled or suspended for a year because of a misconduct finding. The fact is that the consequences of school disciplinary proceedings can still be severe, even if jail isn't a possibility, because of the damage that they can do to your educational and career plans.
One of the main differences between school disciplinary proceedings and criminal cases is that a criminal defendant must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt – a high standard. It's also far higher than the standard that most schools apply to disciplinary cases, which is that it must be more likely than not that the accused student committed the misconduct. In percentage terms, that's like saying that if the school thinks it's 50.01% likely that you committed hazing, the school will rule that you did so and then discipline you accordingly.
Evidentiary standards in school cases tend to be much more lax as well. In criminal cases, evidence must meet certain criteria before it can be admitted. Those criteria don't exist in school disciplinary cases, and whoever is deciding the case is generally free to consider whatever evidence they want, within reason.
All of this means that if you're accused of hazing misconduct in Virginia, you need the help of an experienced student defense attorney, someone who can help level the playing field that otherwise tilts in the school's favor. The Lento Law Firm's Student Defense Team includes attorneys who have years of experience helping students accused of misconduct in Virginia and across the country defend themselves against serious misconduct allegations. We understand how these cases work, and we are ready to step up and fight for your rights.
Generally speaking, the disciplinary process at a school in Virginia is likely to include several steps. One note: if the hazing claim relates to conduct that can be considered to violate federal Title IX protections, the school may conduct the disciplinary investigation and hearing somewhat differently. That is because, under Title IX, schools are required to follow certain procedures when student misconduct relates to sexual harassment or discrimination. Those procedures might be slightly different than the ones the school follows for other types of misconduct.
With that said, here are the typical steps that the school disciplinary process will take:
- The Investigation. When a complaint is filed, the school will evaluate it, and if it involves a hazing matter, it will likely be assigned to an investigator. The investigator may or may not have any formal training, but their job is to collect evidence that is relevant to the allegation. Many times, this means that the investigator will go looking for evidence that supports the hazing claim, focusing on that and not on evidence that might help the accused student. Sometimes, when the Lento Law Firm gets involved, we will conduct our own investigation to try to uncover helpful information that the school's investigator “missed.” As part of this process, you're likely to be interviewed, as well as others who may have information about the alleged hazing. The investigator may collect emails, text messages, social media posts, and other types of evidence. At the end of the process, there will be someone at the school who will decide whether or not to move forward against you.
- Settlement Discussions. Hearings take time and resources. Just as many lawsuits settle, so too many disciplinary proceedings will settle. The school will often offer to settle a misconduct allegation by proposing that you agree to certain facts and accept a certain penalty from the school. Whether this makes sense will depend very heavily on the facts of your particular case. It's something you should not agree to unless you've had the chance to review it with an experienced student defense attorney. One danger of agreeing to settle is that you also admit to certain facts – this admission could be used against you by a hazing victim or by police investigating hazing law violations. Working with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help you avoid a settlement that will place you in more jeopardy and, in some cases, can mean you'll end up with more favorable settlement terms than those that the school originally proposed.
- Disciplinary Hearings. If you don't settle, the case will likely proceed to a hearing. This will be much less formal than a court proceeding, and the exact structure will vary from school to school (and whether it's a Title IX case or not). But in some form, witnesses will be heard, evidence will be introduced, arguments will be made, and a decision will be issued. And if the decision goes against you, you'll learn how the school intends to discipline you. While appeals are often possible, they also tend to be very limited, and they appeal to the same entity – the school – that made the ruling against you in the first place.
You should not try to defend yourself at your hearing. Working with the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team means that you'll have an experienced attorney on your side who understands the process, the rules, and how best to defend you against the school's misconduct allegations.
Disciplinary Consequences Can be Severe
Schools have wide latitude when it comes to deciding how to discipline students found to have committed hazing. That means you could receive anything from a verbal warning to an order expelling you from the school permanently. Working with an experienced student defense attorney can help even if the school finds you committed the hazing; your attorney can argue for consequences that allow you to continue to study at that school and that have a minimal impact on your permanent record.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
At the Lento Law Firm, our Student Defense Team has been defending the rights of students accused of misconduct, including hazing misconduct, at schools all across the country, including in Virginia. Our experienced attorneys understand the laws, school policies, disciplinary procedures, and other factors that go into a school disciplinary case. We know how to fight for you, your education, and your future.
If you've been accused of hazing or any other type of misconduct by your school, contact the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation. Your college career is the key to your future; let us help you protect it.
