Anti-Hazing Policy

The purpose of Board Rule 6Hx19-6.34 is to prohibit conduct defined as hazing activities, establish the College's process of communicating this information to students and establish policy for addressing alleged hazing incidents.

The College shall not tolerate hazing, as defined below, at or on any College property or at any College sponsored or College-affiliated event, regardless of its location.

1. Hazing means any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student for the purposes including, but not limited to, initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating under the sanction of the College, hereafter referred to as a "College organization." Hazing includes, but is not limited to, pressuring or coercing the student into violating state or federal law, any brutality of a physical nature such as whipping, beating, branding, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or any other forced physical activity which could adversely affect the physical health or safety of the student and also includes any activity which would subject the individual to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the student. Hazing does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective. For purposes of this Board Rule, any activity as described above upon which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with a College organization is directly or indirectly conditioned shall be presumed to be a "forced" activity, the willingness of an individual to participate in such activity notwithstanding.
2. This rule shall apply to students and to College organizations and clubs, including acting through other persons associated with a College organization or club who are not students.
3. Violations of this Board Rule by individual students and/or clubs/organizations as a whole shall be enforced in accordance with District Board of Trustees Rule 6Hx19-6.13, Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Policy and 6Hx19-6.32 Chartering of and Suspension of a Student Club/Organization as appropriate.
4. All College organizations and clubs are required to include this Board Rule in the by-laws of such organization or club.
5. The College shall provide each student with a copy of this Board Rule and penalties by publication in the official Pasco-Hernando State College Catalog and Student Handbook.