Despite having persisted as a popular activity among college, university, and high school students for many years, hazing is a controversial topic. After all, when taken to extremes, it's known to cause serious physical and mental harm to its victims. That's why South Carolina schools take a firm stand against it.
A hazing conviction can have a greater effect on your academic and vocational prospects than you may realize. If you've been accused of such a crime, your next step should be calling the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team at 888.535.3686 or filling out this contact form.
What Makes Hazing a Serious Offense?
Many hazing rituals encourage dangerous, harmful, or illegal activities, including bondage, beatings, sleep deprivation, toxic food, asphyxiation, public humiliation, verbal abuse, or even sexual coercion. Unsurprisingly, such activities may easily lead to egregious injuries and mental or emotional trauma. When the activities in question also break the law or affect innocent parties, hazing participants could also be sued or convicted.
Simply refusing to participate may not spare a hazing victim. They may end up forced into a hazing ritual or pressured by bullying and harassment from other students.
Either way, students who engage in hazing can cause serious damage to their health, relationships, and future, and those of their peers. To protect students and their own interests, schools in South Carolina are intolerant of hazing.
South Carolina State Laws on Hazing
Thanks to the state legislature, South Carolina codified definitions and penalties for hazing to effectively address the problem within its borders.
Basically, hazing covers any action that has a “foreseeable potential for causing physical harm” in order to be welcomed into a group or organization. Hitting, striking, threats, verbal abuse, humiliation, and anything “tyrannical” are all examples cited in the law. Those who assist with or fail to report these actions are similarly culpable. Hazing is still considered illegal even if the victim consents.
South Carolina colleges and universities in particular are subject to the Tucker Hipps Transparency Act. In addition to requiring schools to keep records of hazing violations, it mandates reporting for hazing and any other incidents involving drugs, alcohol, and both physical and sexual assault.
How Do South Carolina Universities Handle Hazing?
To ensure student safety and promote a positive learning environment, South Carolina universities have a process for addressing complaints and reports about hazing. It may differ slightly from one university to another, but most of the steps are similar.
Filing a Report
The process typically starts with simply filing a report. Most colleges and universities have phone numbers for a campus police force that anyone can call to report hazing. For example, the University of South Carolina offers a hazing hotline at 803-777-5800.
Another option is to fill out paper or online forms for the appropriate department. Usually, that department that takes care of issues regarding the school's ethics, conduct, student services, or fraternity and sorority groups also handles hazing.
Either way, the schools will likely ask for the names and organizations involved and whatever evidence is available, such as letters, notes, emails, text messages, videos, and photographs.
Investigating the Incident
The department that accepts the hazing report will see whether they can verify the facts. They may review evidence, check out the place where the hazing occurred, and interview witnesses, victims, and the accused perpetrators. During this time, the schools may issue temporary suspensions to the accused until the investigations are complete.
Administering Discipline
If the school concludes that hazing occurred, they will decide how to discipline the offenders. According to South Carolina law, any of the following punishments are possible.
Suspension
A suspension forbids you from being on the school's campus or attending classes for a predefined period of time. The length of the suspension may vary depending on the school, the seriousness of the offense, and whether the guilty party is a repeat offender. Generally, however, it can last anywhere from a single semester to a few years.
For an offender, this punishment can throw off the entire timeline of their academic and vocational plans. Your grades will almost certainly suffer, you could lose any financial aid you've obtained, and your graduation will be delayed. It's possible to enroll with a different school during the suspension, but your previous university may not accept the credits if you return.
Expulsion
You could end up kicked out of your college or university permanently, which is expulsion. If it occurs before your current semester is complete, you could lose all your credits for that semester. The school would not allow you to return unless you successfully appeal.
What happens if you can't convince the school to take you back? You could always apply for another school, but you may have a tough time gaining acceptance with an expulsion on your record. Plus, you may have trouble transferring all your credits, and you might lose your financial aid.
Dismissal
Think of dismissal as a combination of expulsion and suspension. In South Carolina universities, it means that you can no longer attend classes, but you are provided with conditions to fulfill that will make you eligible to return if you want.
In the meantime, you may lose the financial aid you had. Also, the dismissal may last long enough to force you into altering your graduation timeline. Lastly, if you simply choose to go to a different school, you may have difficulty being approved with a record of dismissal due to hazing.
Why Does South Carolina Punish Hazing So Severely?
Hazing may not seem serious enough to warrant these laws and regulations, and maybe the disciplinary methods appear too harsh. Nevertheless, South Carolina legislatures, colleges, and universities came up with these rules and processes because there are many examples of hazing causing lasting damage to people, places, and relationships. In fact, hazing is known to affect many parties, including:
The Victim
As previously established, hazing victims often suffer physically, mentally, and emotionally, sometimes for the rest of their lives. Anxiety, paranoia, depression, permanent physical disabilities, and post-traumatic stress disorders are all possible consequences of hazing.
University students pay for the privilege of gaining an advanced education or to study something they love. They're working hard for their futures. Their paths shouldn't be derailed by activities that cause unnecessary harm. South Carolina laws and school policies seek to discourage hazing and support victims for that reason.
The Offender
You may not realize it at first, but hazing hurts the offender, too. Remember that being found guilty of hazing can have far-reaching ramifications on your schooling and job opportunities after graduation. Everybody makes mistakes, but some have more severe consequences than others, and hazing is one of them.
Plus, consider your motivations. Most people who engage in hazing are looking for acceptance, closeness, power, social cohesion, or to boost their self-esteem, all of which have roots in insecurity. Hazing takes away time and resources that you could have spent on healthier ways of addressing your relationship with yourself.
South Carolina colleges and universities recognize that their students are still developing and trying to become comfortable with their places in the world. They deal strictly with hazing partially to ensure that students don't jeopardize their own futures or personal growth.
The Student Body
Hazing is often disruptive to most students at the school, even if they're not directly involved. The rituals themselves might be loud or messy, but it's more than that; for many students, they make the school feel unsafe, compromising the quality of the learning environment. Other students could find hazing exciting and will spend disproportionate attention and effort on participating, neglecting their education.
Basically, hazing is contrary to the purpose of South Carolina colleges and universities as higher institutions. Because of this, they may cause students to waste their time and money.
The School
Don't forget that colleges and universities have to make money to stay in operation. If they fail to address hazing with a heavy hand, they open themselves up to lawsuits and fail to attract new students and personnel that could help them grow and stay viable.
One example is a lawsuit filed against Francis Marion University for a hazing incident that occurred in October 2011. Daniel McElveen, a former student at the university, alleged that the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity beat him so badly that he required hospitalization, all in the name of hazing. He won $1.6 million.
There's also the lawsuit filed against the College of Charleston in early 2024. A former student named Benjamin Jackson claims that he was hazed to the point of damaging his mental health, causing him to skip classes, lose his scholarships, and drop out of school.
If there's any question about whether people will be safe and free to learn on their campuses, then how are South Carolina colleges and universities supposed to convince students to attend? On top of that, they might have to spend whatever money they have on compensating former students who are dramatically injured by hazing rituals. Schools must protect themselves by adopting zero-tolerance policies on hazing.
Why Hire the Lento Law Firm to Defend You?
Throughout the process of investigating a hazing incident, you can have the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team present with you. They would be integral to your success in maintaining your enrollment at your college or university, especially because the school is unlikely to be your ally.
For all the reasons mentioned previously, a hazing report is bad for the education business. The school might be in a hurry to support victims at the expense of the accused and their rights to due process. You may suffer discipline and injustice that you don't deserve at the hands of an institution that prioritizes its own viability and reputation.
By contrast, the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team will be on your side. Using their deep understanding of South Carolina law and post-secondary education policies, they'll personalize their defense for you and guarantee your due process.
What About Hiring a Local Criminal Law Attorney?
South Carolina criminalizes hazing, but rather than hiring a local criminal law attorney, call the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team. There are several reasons why they're a better option.
Protection Against the School
Colleges and universities in South Carolina have plenty of laws and regulations demanding that they report, prevent, and punish hazing, but the state doesn't give them many official guidelines or restrictions on how severe they can or should be. As the aforementioned examples prove, suspensions and expulsions are common responses to hazing; they can happen quickly and without second chances. What you really need is a lawyer who can protect you from the heavy hand of your school's disciplinary authorities. The Lento Law Firm can do that for you.
Reputation for Excellence
Not only does the Lento Law Firm practice education, civil, and criminal law but they're respected throughout the United States for how they do it. In fact, their cases have been covered and lauded in national news outlets. With such renown, you can depend on them to help you with a hazing defense.
Salvage Your Future
Considering the Lento Law Firm's experience with South Carolina law and being in the public eye, they're skilled at protecting you in a formal court and the court of public opinion. Even if you're innocent or your case is dismissed, a hazing accusation could impact your reputation and ability to focus on your education, which would have ripple effects on your career prospects. With assistance from the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team, you can overcome the case without sacrificing everything you've worked hard to achieve.
Set Up a Powerful Defense Against University Hazing
Your time at a college or university is crucial to your development as a person and community member. Hazing is a serious offense, but you shouldn't let an accusation cast a shadow over your life. Call the Lento Law Firm Education Law Team at 888.535.3686 or fill out a contact form to keep your future intact.
