REACH Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2525 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose hazing incidents, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 14, 2021 Mrs. MCBATH (for herself, Mr. LOWENTHAL, and Mr. DUNCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 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 08:53 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2525.IH H2525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2525 IH (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 campus security authorities or local 9 police agencies.’’. 10 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF HAZING. 11 Section 485(f)(6)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)) is amended— 13 (1) by redesignating clauses (iii) through (v) as 14 clauses (iv) through (vi), respectively; and 15 (2) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 16 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘hazing’ means any inten- 17 tional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a 18 student, or a former student, of an institution 19 of higher education, whether individually or in 20 concert with other persons, against another stu- 21 dent (regardless of that student’s willingness to 22 participate), that— 23 ‘‘(I) was committed in connection with 24 an initiation into, an affiliation with, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:53 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2525.IH H2525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2525 IH the maintenance of membership in, any or- 1 ganization that is affiliated with such insti- 2 tution of higher education (including any 3 athletic team affiliated with that institu- 4 tion); and 5 ‘‘(II) contributes to a substantial risk 6 of physical injury, mental harm, or deg- 7 radation or causes physical injury, mental 8 harm, or personal degradation.’’. 9 SEC. 4. RECORDING OF HAZING INCIDENTS. 10 Section 485(f)(7) of the Higher Education Act of 11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(7)) is amended by inserting after 12 the second sentence the following: ‘‘For hazing incidents, 13 such statistics shall be compiled in accordance with the 14 definition of that term in paragraph (6)(A)(iii).’’. 15 SEC. 5. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ON HAZING. 16 Section 485(f)(8)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act 17 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(8)(B)(i)) is amended— 18 (1) in the matter preceding subclause (I), by 19 striking ‘‘and stalking’’ and inserting ‘‘stalking, and 20 hazing’’; 21 (2) in subclause (I)(ff), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 22 the semicolon; 23 (3) in subclause (II), by striking the period at 24 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:53 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2525.IH H2525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2525 IH (4) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(III) a comprehensive program to 2 prevent hazing that shall— 3 ‘‘(aa) be a campus-wide program 4 for students, staff, faculty, and other 5 campus stakeholders (such as alumni 6 and families of students); 7 ‘‘(bb) be a research-based pro- 8 gram; 9 ‘‘(cc) be designed and imple- 10 mented in partnership with a broad 11 coalition of campus stakeholders, in- 12 cluding leadership of the institution, 13 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and 14 families of students; 15 ‘‘(dd) include information on haz- 16 ing awareness, hazing prevention, the 17 institution’s policies on hazing, how to 18 report hazing, and the process used to 19 investigate hazing; and 20 ‘‘(ee) include skill building for 21 bystander intervention, information 22 about ethical leadership, and the pro- 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:53 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2525.IH H2525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2525 IH motion of strategies for building 1 group cohesion without hazing.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 08:53 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2525.IH H2525 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS