Hazing Prevention and Education

BGSU seeks to promote a safe environment so members of our learning community may participate in experiences and activities without compromising their health, well-being, dignity and/or rights. Hazing can cause irreparable harm to victims, victims’ families and the University community. BGSU has zero tolerance for any form of hazing.

BGSU Anti-Hazing Policy and Violations Report

BGSU Anti-Hazing Policy

BGSU Anti-Hazing Violations Report


A Community of Care

As a community, we can all play a role in creating a safe space and healthy environment for one another. Each member of our BGSU community, including our students, faculty, staff, parents and families, must work together to eradicate hazing. With the passage of Collin’s Law, there are elevated criminal sanctions for hazing activity and mandates reporting to law enforcement. If you have a concern about hazing activities or behaviors of concern, report it through one of the following options:

  • Report to law enforcement: Call 911 or 419-372-2346.
  • Report to the 24/7 hazing reporting line: Call 419-372-HAZE (4293).
  • Report through See it. Hear it. Report it.
  • Report in person to the Office of the Dean of Students: Bowen-Thompson Student Union 301
  • Report to Human Resources: Call 419-372-8421.
  • Report to Parent and Family Connections: Call 419-372-0438 or email families@bgsu.edu.
     

BGSU recognizes individuals may be reluctant to report hazing activity due to a fear of potential consequences for their own conduct. Therefore, students who make a report under this Policy or who participate in an investigation related to this Policy will not be charged with other minor University Policy violations that are brought to light in the course of the investigation that arose out of, or were committed as a direct result of, the incident(s) under investigation as long as those behaviors do not represent a threat to the health, safety, or well-being of others.

What is Hazing?

Hazing means doing any of the following, or pressuring, causing, forcing, soliciting, or coercing any person to do any of the following for the purposes of initiating, admitting, or affiliating an individual into or with a student group or student organization; continuing or enhancing an individual’s membership or status in a student group or student organization; or perpetuating or furthering a tradition or ritual of a student group or student organization: 

  • Engage in any conduct prohibited by federal and/or state and/or municipal criminal law, regardless of whether an arrest is made, or criminal charges are brought; 
  • Take into their body any food, liquid (including alcohol), drug, or other substance that subjects the person to a substantial risk of mental or physical harm; and /or 
  • Cause or create a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to another and/or engage in any act or omission that contributes to the death of another.

Resources

  • Bystander Intervention
    • Bystander intervention is the act of assisting someone in an emergency or non-emergency situation, which ranges from talking to a friend who appears to be depressed to helping someone who is being abused in some way. You never know when you may find yourself in need of assistance, so why not pay it forward and become an active bystander!
  • Love, Mom and Dad: Turning Tragedy into Progress
    • The Anti-Hazing Coalition hosted a live nationwide presentation and discussion on Sunday, March 21, 2021. The AHC parents presented a program via Zoom and live on Facebook to share their sons’ stories and educate current students about hazing prevention. The program included Q&A with the parents.
  • Hazing Prevention.Org
    • A national leader in hazing prevention, HazingPrevention.Org teaches colleges, universities, schools, clubs, teams, and other groups to move beyond punishment to create a culture that stops hazing before it starts.
  • Stop Hazing.Org
    • StopHazing is a trailblazer in hazing research and the leader in data-driven strategies that support safe and welcoming school, campus, and organizational climates.

Presidential Working Group on Anti-Hazing Efforts

On April 2, 2021, following the tragic death of Stone Foltz resulting from an event that was later determined to be hazing, President Rodney Rogers announced the appointment of a presidential working group to build a framework for Bowling Green State University’s anti-hazing efforts. The Presidential Working Group on Anti-Hazing Efforts has built its report and recommendations upon the Inter-University Council of Presidents’ Anti-Hazing Principles as well as the recommendations made by Dyad Strategies. Recommendations were made based on four overarching themes:

  • Policy Development and Implementation
  • Reporting and Response
  • Education and Prevention
  • Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) and the Office of Student Engagement

Updated: 05/09/2023 01:47PM