REACH Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 744 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose hazing incidents, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 15, 2021 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. CASEY) in- troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose hazing inci- dents, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Report and Educate 4 About Campus Hazing Act’’ or the ‘‘REACH Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF HAZING INCIDENTS IN ANNUAL SE- 6 CURITY REPORTS. 7 Section 485(f)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(1)(F)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 744 IS (1) in clause (i)(IX), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 1 the semicolon; 2 (2) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 3 semicolon; 4 (3) in clause (iii), by striking the period at the 5 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 6 (4) by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(iv) of hazing incidents that were re- 8 ported to a campus official.’’. 9 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HAZING. 10 Section 485(f)(6)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)) is amended— 12 (1) by redesignating clauses (iii) through (v) as 13 clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively; and 14 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 15 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘hazing’ means any inten- 16 tional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a 17 student, or a former student, of an institution 18 of higher education, whether individually or in 19 concert with other persons, against another stu- 20 dent (regardless of that student’s willingness to 21 participate), that— 22 ‘‘(I) was committed in connection with 23 an initiation into, an affiliation with, or 24 the maintenance of membership in, any or- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 744 IS ganization that is affiliated with such insti- 1 tution of higher education (including any 2 athletic team affiliated with that institu- 3 tion); and 4 ‘‘(II) contributes to a substantial risk 5 of physical injury, mental harm, or deg- 6 radation or causes physical injury, mental 7 harm, or personal degradation.’’. 8 SEC. 4. RECORDING OF HAZING INCIDENTS. 9 Section 485(f)(7) of the Higher Education Act of 10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(7)) is amended by inserting after 11 the second sentence the following: ‘‘For hazing incidents, 12 such statistics shall be compiled in accordance with the 13 definition of that term in paragraph (6)(A)(iii).’’. 14 SEC. 5. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON HAZING. 15 Section 485(f)(8)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act 16 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(8)(B)(i)) is amended— 17 (1) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by 18 striking ‘‘and stalking’’ and inserting ‘‘stalking, and 19 hazing’’; 20 (2) in subclause (I)(ff), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 21 the semicolon; 22 (3) in subclause (II), by striking the period at 23 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 24 (4) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 744 IS ‘‘(III) a comprehensive program to 1 prevent hazing that shall— 2 ‘‘(aa) be a campus-wide program 3 for students, staff, faculty, and other 4 campus stakeholders (such as alumni 5 and families of students); 6 ‘‘(bb) be a research-based pro- 7 gram; 8 ‘‘(cc) be designed and imple- 9 mented in partnership with a broad 10 coalition of campus stakeholders, in- 11 cluding leadership of the institution, 12 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and 13 families of students; 14 ‘‘(dd) include information on haz- 15 ing awareness, hazing prevention, the 16 institution’s policies on hazing, how to 17 report hazing, and the process used to 18 investigate hazing; and 19 ‘‘(ee) include skill building for 20 bystander intervention, information 21 about ethical leadership, and the pro- 22 motion of strategies for building 23 group cohesion without hazing.’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 Apr 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S744.IS S744 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS