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Under state law (V.T.C.A., Education Code Section 51.936 and Section 37.151 et
seq.), individuals or organizations engaging in hazing could be subject to
fines and charged with a criminal offense.
According to the law, a person can commit a hazing offense not only by engaging
in a hazing activity, but also by soliciting, directing, encouraging, aiding or
attempting to aid another in hazing; by intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly
allowing hazing to occur; or by failing to report in writing to the dean of
students firsthand knowledge that a hazing incident is planned or has occurred.
The fact that a person consented to or acquiesced in a hazing activity is not a
defense to prosecution for hazing under the law.
In an effort to encourage reporting of hazing incidents, the law grants
immunity from civil or criminal liability to any person who reports a specific
hazing event in good faith and without malice to the dean of students or other
appropriate official of the institution and immunizes that person for
participation in any judicial proceeding resulting from that report.
Additionally, a doctor or other medical practitioner who treats a student who
may have been subjected to hazing may make a good faith report of the hazing
activities to police or other law enforcement officials and is immune from
civil or other liability that might otherwise be imposed or incurred as a
result of the report. The penalty for failure to report is a fine of up to
$1,000, up to 180 days in jail, or both. Penalties for other hazing offenses
vary according to the severity of the injury which results and include fines
from $500 to $10,000 and/or confinement for up to two years.
The law does not affect or in any way restrict the right of the University to
enforce its own rules against hazing.
The law defines hazing as any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, occurring
on or off the campus of an educational institution, by one person alone or
acting with others, directed against a student, that endangers the mental or
physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of pledging, being
initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership
in any organization whose members are or include students at an educational
institution. Hazing includes but is not limited to:
- any type of physical brutality, such as whipping, beating, striking,
branding, electric shocking, placing of a harmful substance on the body, or
similar activity;
- any type of physical activity, such as sleep deprivation, exposure to the
elements, confinement in a small space, calisthenics, or other activity that
subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects
the mental or physical health or safety of the student;
- any activity involving consumption of food, liquid, alcoholic beverage,
liquor, drug, or other substance which subjects the student to an unreasonable
risk or harm or which adversely affects the mental or physical health of the
student;
- any activity that intimidates or threatens the student with ostracism,
that subjects the student to extreme mental stress, shame, or humiliation, or
that adversely affects the mental health or dignity of the student or
discourages the student from entering or remaining registered in an educational
institution, or that may reasonably be expected to cause a student to leave the
organization or the institution rather than submit to acts described in this
subsection;
- any activity that induces, causes, or requires the student to perform a
duty or task which involves a violation of the Penal Code.
Rules and
Regulations of the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System, Part
One, Chapter VI, Section 3.28 provides that
- Hazing with or without the consent of a student is prohibited by the
System, and a violation of that prohibition renders both the person inflicting
the hazing and the person submitting to the hazing subject to discipline.
- Initiations or activities by organizations may include no feature which is
dangerous, harmful, or degrading to the student, and a violation of this
prohibition renders both the organization and participating individuals subject
to discipline.
Activities which under certain conditions constitute acts
that are dangerous, harmful, or degrading, in violation of subsections 6 - 304(e)
and 11 - 804(7) of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and
Activities include but are not limited to[1]
- calisthenics, such as sit-ups, push-ups, or any other form of
physical exercise;
- total or partial nudity at any time;
- the eating or ingestion of any unwanted substance;
- the wearing or carrying of any obscene or physically burdensome article;
- paddle swats, including the trading of swats;
- pushing, shoving, tackling, or any other physical contact;
- throwing oil, syrup, flour, or any harmful substance on a person;
- rat court, kangaroo court, or other individual interrogation;
- forced consumption of alcoholic beverages either by threats or peer
pressure;
- lineups intended to demean or intimidate;
- transportation and abandonment (road trips, kidnaps, walks, rides, drops);
- confining individuals in an area that is uncomfortable or dangerous (hot
box effect, high temperature, too small);
- any type of personal servitude that is demeaning or of personal benefit to
the individual members;
- wearing of embarrassing or uncomfortable clothing;
- assigning pranks such as stealing, painting objects, harassing other
organizations;
- intentionally messing up the house or a room for clean up;
- demeaning names;
- yelling and screaming; and
- requiring boxing matches or fights for entertainment.
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28 August 1996. Registrar's Web Team
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