The U.S. House on Sept. 12 agreed to make U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) the lead sponsor of a bipartisan anti-hazing bill for American colleges.
Rep. Lance asked for unanimous consent to be considered as the first sponsor of the Report and Educate About Campus Hazing (REACH) Act, H.R. 2926, which originally was introduced on June 15, 2017, by U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), who resigned in April.
Rep. Lance said he wanted to lead sponsorship on H.R. 2926 “for the purpose of adding cosponsors and requesting reprintings,” according to the congressional record. The House last Wednesday agreed to his request without objection.
The congressman is among 29 members already cosponsoring H.R. 2926, including U.S. Reps. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Tom Marino (R-PA), Fred Upton (R-MI), French Hill (R-AR), Jeff Denham (R-CA), Bruce Poliquin (R-ME), Steve Stivers (R-OH), and lead original cosponsor Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH).
Under federal law, colleges and universities participating in federal financial aid programs must report crimes committed on campus. However, despite 55 percent of 11,000 surveyed college students reporting they had experienced hazing, 95 percent of them didn’t report the incident, according to the University of Maine’s 2008 National Study on Hazing.
The term ‘hazing’ is defined as any intentional, knowing or reckless act committed by one or more students or former students of an institution of higher education (IHE) against another student during initiation into or affiliation with membership in any IHE organization; and that “contributes to a substantial risk of physical injury, mental harm, or degradation or causes physical injury, mental harm or personal degradation,” according to the text of the bill.
If enacted, H.R. 2926 would require hazing incidents to be reported as part of the Annual Security Reports submitted by colleges and universities so that the information goes on the public record, according to a summary provided by Rep. Lance’s office.
“This transparency measure will put pressure on college administrators to make sure anti-hazing measures are effective on campuses across the country and ensure the information is being properly reported and crimes are prosecuted,” said Rep. Lance.
H.R. 2926 is under consideration by the U.S. House Education and the Workforce Committee.