What is Hazing?

Mason defines hazing as 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, participant’s consent is notwithstanding.

Hazing can happen to anyone, at any time during one’s membership in an organization.

How do I know if I’m being hazed?

Use the following questions if you are feeling uncomfortable with what you’re being asked to do. Answering yes to any may indicate hazing.

• Are activities causing you emotional or physical distress?
• Could pictures of this activity keep you from getting a job?
• Would you feel uncomfortable if your family was watching?
• Are there penalties for disclosing group secrets?

Information from the Gordie Center’s Hazing Signs: What to do if you’re being hazed website

Worried that a friend might be getting hazed?

Are you concerned that someone you know is experiencing acts of hazing? Sign of hazing can include:

• A concerning mood change after joining a group
• Decreased communication
• Avoidance of non-group members
• Secrecy about group activities
• Mental or physical exhaustion
• Unexplained bruises or signs of pain when moving or sitting
• Wanting to leave a group without explanation

Information from the Gordie Center’s Hazing Signs: Worried about a friend website

How to be an Active Bystander

Most hazing is reported by friends, family members, and bystanders. If you are worried that someone you know is being hazed you should speak with them directly. Share what you’ve observed about their physical or mental health, share counseling and reporting resources, and follow up if worries persist.

Information from the Gordie Center’s Hazing Signs: Worried about a friend website

Hazing Policy

All forms of hazing such 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, participant’s consent is notwithstanding (i.e. it is not a defense to a charge of hazing that the individual being hazed allowed themselves to be hazed). Hazing is a broad term that encompasses a multitude of actions or activities. The term hazing refers to any actions or activities that do not contribute to the positive development of a person or an organization; which cause mental or physical harm; or which subject individuals to harassment, embarrassment, ridicule, or distress. Examples of situations that are considered hazing include but are not limited to 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. Hazing is typically associated with membership selection and initiation into an organization. It is possible for hazing to occur before, during, and after membership selection and initiation;

Registered Student Organization Hazing Prevention Training

Each academic year, all members and new members of Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) with new members (as defined in Virginia Law 23.1-819) must attend a hazing prevention workshop hosted by George Mason University. RSO advisors must attend a hazing prevention workshop hosted by George Mason University every two years. Failure to comply these requirements may result in the organization losing university registration status and referral to the Office of Student Conduct.

Medical Amnesty

The Office of Student Conduct website provides information on the University’s Medical Amnesty program for drug and alcohol incidents that require medical attention. The program encourages students to seek help for another person experiencing a medical emergency. As a result of seeking help, the Office of Student Conduct may choose to not pursue formal disciplinary action with an intoxicated student and those who are providing assistance. Please see the Office of Student Conduct website for more information.

The Office of Student Conduct will grant immunity from disciplinary action based on hazing or personal consumption of drugs or alcohol to students who make a good faith report of an act of hazing report when the student is a bystander not involved in such acts and the report is made in advance of or during an incident of hazing that causes injury or is likely to cause injury to a
person.

18.2-56. Hazing unlawful; civil and criminal liability; duty of school, etc., officials; penalty.

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title18.2/chapter4/section18.2-56/
It shall be unlawful to haze so as to cause bodily injury, any student at any school or institution of higher education.

Any person found guilty thereof shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Any person receiving bodily injury by hazing shall have a right to sue, civilly, the person or persons guilty thereof, whether adults or infants.

For the purposes of this section, “hazing” means to 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.

Article 4. Campus Safety; Hazing. (Adam’s Law)

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacodefull/title23.1/chapter8/article4/

• 23.1-819 Definitions
• 23.1-820 Hazing prevention training; current members, new members, potential new members, and advisors
• 23.1-821 Hazing; disciplinary immunity for certain individuals who make reports; requirement to investigate
• 23.1-822 Institution reports of hazing violations

If you see or hear something that concerns you, please report it! Don’t assume that others have already – we would rather receive multiple reports than none at all. Hazing is a crime in Virginia and a violation of Mason’s Code of Student Conduct. There are several ways to report a hazing concern. We are best positioned to respond to hazing concerns when we receive accurate, timely, and factual information.

If there is an immediate concern for safety, please call 911 before taking any next steps.

Mason Reporting Options

• Contact the Student Involvement by
  • Calling (703) 993-2909
  • Sending an email to Associate Directors, Phil McDaniel or Sara Heming
• Submit an Incident Report Form through the Office of Student Conduct
• Contact Mason Police by
  • Calling the Non-Emergency Number (703) 993-2810
  • Calling the Anonymous Tip Line (703) 993-4111
  • Submitting a Anonymous Crime Solvers Tip
• Contact the Dean of Students, Juliet Blank-Godlove

National Reporting Options

• Call the National Hazing Prevention Hotline at 1-888-NOT-HAZE (1-888-6684293)
• If the RSO is affiliated with an inter/national organization, contact the organization’s Headquarters/Main Office

Patriots Against Hazing Workshops seek to educate RSO current members, new members, and advisors on Virginia law, hazing identification, the hidden harm of hazing, standard drink definitions, the PUBS signs of alcohol overdose, and bystander intervention. Additionally, current members and advisors workshops will also include how to create healthy new member programs.

Upcoming Workshops

Current Member Workshop Requests

Workshop Learning Outcomes:

• Learn Virginia hazing law & Mason hazing policy.
• Learn Virginia medical amnesty law & Mason medical amnesty policy.
• Identify ways to report hazing and understand that the school reporting process is not a substitute for criminal process.
• Learn the PUBS signs of overdose and understand the role of alcohol in hazing.
• Recognize the potential for harm in hazing activities students consider to be “low level.”
• Develop an understanding of the power dynamics so students can identify hazing regardless of context.
• Understand the role that coercion and groupthink can play in hazing.
• Increase sense of responsibility to intervene when witnessing hazing.
• Align group membership behavior with the purpose and values espoused by their organizations and teams.
• Develop critical thinking skills needed to make ethical judgments in the face of moral dilemmas.

Current Members and Advisors have two additional learning outcomes:

• Generate strategies for building group unity and sense of accomplishment that do not involve hazing.
• Develop leadership skills needed to deal with resistance to change among group members.

Resources for Students and Organizations

• Engaging New Fraternity and Sorority Members (Gordie Center)
• Engaging New RSO Members (Gordie Center)
• Engaging New Athletic Teammates (Gordie Center)
• List of Group Activities to Build a Healthy Group (StopHazing.org)
• New Member Educator/Intake Coordinator Workshops

Resources for Parents and Families

• Fraternity and Sorority Life Chapter Scorecards – Located in Chapters and Council Section

National Hazing Prevention Resources

• StopHazing.org – StopHazing’s mission is to promote safe and inclusive school, campus, and organizational environments through research, resource sharing, and the development of data-driven strategies for hazing prevention and the promotion of positive and inclusive group climates.
• Hazing Prevention Network – Hazing Prevention Network is dedicated to empowering people to prevent hazing. Their goal is to educate people about the dangers of hazing, advocate for change, and engage the community in strategies to prevent hazing.
• Gordie Center – The mission of the University of Virginia’s Gordie Center is to end hazing and substance misuse among college and high school students nationwide.

Last updated: 7/7/2023

Per Virginia Code Section 23.1-822 (Adam’s Law), the University provides a report of past hazing misconduct involving student organizations. The information below includes the name of the student organization, the dates (if known) of the hazing behavior, the date such behavior was reported to the University, the dates of investigation and when the organization was found responsible, and a description of the findings. Reports of hazing that did not result in a finding of responsibility are not included. The University will update this information at least ten calendar days prior to the start of each fall and spring semester, and will maintain the information for ten years following the date of initial disclosure. For questions about this report, please contact the Office of Student Conduct at OSC@gmu.edu.

As of July 1, 2022 there have been no Registered Student Organizations that have been found responsible for violating Mason’s Hazing Policy.