The Stop Campus Hazing Act: What You Need to Know

UPDATE: The Stop Campus Hazing Act was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2024. We have edited the below blog to reflect this update.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act (SCHA) amends section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act, otherwise known as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). Notably, the bill also changes the name of the Clery Act to the “Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act”, representing the Act’s evolution in addressing broad campus safety needs.

Clery Center partnered with Gary and Julie DeVercelly, whose son, Gary DeVercelly, Jr. died by hazing in 2007, to begin advocating for federal anti-hazing legislation in 2014.  These efforts led to the introduction of the Report and Education About Campus Hazing (REACH) Act in 2017, which was combined with elements of the END ALL Hazing Act to create the Stop Campus Hazing Act. 

What will campuses be required to do?

The Stop Campus Hazing Act has three primary components:

  • Inclusion of hazing statistics in annual security reports: Colleges and universities will need to include statistics for hazing incidents that were reported to campus security authorities or local law enforcement, as defined by SCHA, in their annual security reports. 
  • Implementation of hazing policies, including those specific to hazing prevention: Colleges and universities will be required to have a hazing policy with information on how to make a report of hazing and the process used to investigate hazing incidents. They must also have a policy that addresses hazing prevention and awareness programs, which includes a description of research-informed campus-wide prevention programs and primary prevention strategies. 
  • Compilation of a Campus Hazing Transparency Report: Each institution must compile and publish on a prominent location of their public website a hazing transparency report that summarizes findings concerning any student organization found to be in violation of the institution’s standards of conduct related to hazing. The report will include:
    • The name of the student organization;
    • A general description of the violation that resulted in a finding of responsibility; and
    • Related dates (the date of the alleged incident, the date of the initiation of the investigation, the date the investigation ended with a finding, and the date the institution provided notice to the organization of the finding).

When will implementation start?

The timeline for implementation is as follows: 

  • January 1, 2025: Institutions should begin collecting hazing statistics to include in the annual security report. 
  • June 23, 2025: Hazing policies must be in place.
  • July 1, 2025: Institutions must have a process for documenting violations of the institution’s standards of conduct relating to hazing.
  • December 23, 2025: The Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which includes the violations that institutions begin documenting in July, must be publicly available. The Campus Hazing Transparency Report must be updated at least two times a year.
  • October 1, 2026: Hazing statistics will first be included in the 2026 annual security report (2025 statistics).

How can I start planning for these changes?

  • Review your process for notifying and training campus security authorities on their responsibilities, as well as forms or systems used for incident reporting. Plan to update these materials to include hazing.
  • Determine what hazing policies already exist on campus and whether they address hazing prevention and awareness. 
  • Bring together roles that will be involved in implementation of these requirements (including conduct professionals, public safety, and prevention educators) to discuss what policies or procedures may need to be updated.
  • View Clery Center's and StopHazing's free webinar to learn more about the Stop Campus Hazing Act.
  • Stay tuned for more information about our training series launching this winter.