REACH Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 706 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 7, 2019 Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. CASEY) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 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 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S706.IS S706 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 706 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 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S706.IS S706 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 706 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 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 16 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(30) The institution shall provide a com- 19 prehensive program to prevent hazing (as defined in 20 section 485(f)(6)(A)(iii)). The program shall— 21 ‘‘(A) be a campus-wide program for stu- 22 dents, staff, faculty, and other campus stake- 23 holders (such as alumni and families of stu- 24 dents); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S706.IS S706 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 706 IS ‘‘(B) be a research-based program; 1 ‘‘(C) be designed and implemented in part- 2 nership with a broad coalition of campus stake- 3 holders, including leadership of the institution, 4 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and families of 5 students; 6 ‘‘(D) include information on hazing aware- 7 ness, hazing prevention, the institution’s poli- 8 cies on hazing, how to report hazing, and the 9 process used to investigate hazing; and 10 ‘‘(E) include skill building for bystander 11 intervention, information about ethical leader- 12 ship, and the promotion of strategies for build- 13 ing group cohesion without hazing.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:48 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S706.IS S706 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS