College hazing: Washington House OKs bill to bolster education and reporting of ‘barbaric acts’

OLYMPIA – A proposal to crack down on hazing at colleges and universities across the state is one step closer to becoming law after passing the state House of Representatives on a 97-1 vote Tuesday afternoon.

Prime sponsor Rep. Mari Leavitt, D-University Place, said hazing is a problem that extends beyond fraternities and sororities, affecting a wide swath of students across higher education.

“Hazing is a culture of secrecy that we can no longer allow to exist in Washington state,” Leavitt said during the floor debate.

The bill came about in response to the death of Washington State University freshman Sam Martinez. Martinez was a pledge of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity when he died of alcohol poisoning after attending a fraternity event in 2019.

Martinez’s mother, Jolayne Houtz, has been involved in the crafting of the bill since the beginning.

“There’s just so much more that we need to do to keep our young people safe,” she told The Spokesman-Review in January.

The bill would require higher education institutions to provide hazing education as a part of a new student’s mandatory orientation program. The hazing education would also be posted online for parents, guardians and volunteers to review.

Employees of an institution would be required to complete a hazing education program every year. Both employees and volunteers would be compelled to report any hazing incidents to a designated person at the institution. Anyone reporting hazing “in good faith” would not be punished for the incident unless they were directly involved.

Institutions would be required to make public the findings of any misconduct investigations into a student organization. National fraternity and sorority organizations are required to inform an institution when they launch an investigation into a local chapter and would have to publish findings of misconduct investigations on their websites.

Additionally, each institution would be required to establish a hazing prevention committee consisting of students, institution faculty and at least one parent or guardian of a student.

Leavitt said the strong bipartisan support her bill received is a sign that change is necessary.

“I think people are just realizing these barbaric acts are just not something that we can accept any longer,” Leavitt told The Spokesman-Review.

The first version of the bill required that institutions publish a list of misconduct investigations in progress online. Leavitt said conversations with law enforcement and prosecutors led to that requirement being dropped to ensure people cooperate with investigations.

“If it’s reported instantly, then people stop talking,” Leavitt said. “When you’re trying to investigate, you need people to be open about things versus clamming up or shutting down.”

Leavitt said she has been engaging with institutions and other stakeholders since last summer. Those discussions have helped create a “substantial body of work,” she said.

Another bill sponsored by Leavitt would upgrade hazing penalties from misdemeanors to gross misdemeanors or class C felonies – depending on their severity.

That bill is likely dead, as it missed a critical deadline Monday to be considered by the full House. Leavitt said she understands the time crunch of a 60-day session, but she intends to reintroduce the bill next session.

“Time is the enemy of good bills or policy in a short session,” she wrote in a text. “We have tremendous support on these bills and significant momentum in just this year. It’s really remarkable.”

The hazing education and prevention bill will be sent to the Senate for consideration in committee.