Drew University has always valued respect and dignity for every person. To that end, hazing has never been tolerated nor accepted on campus. Therefore, no person should need to engage in behavior that jeopardizes their welfare to belong to an organization or group.
In 2021, New Jersey signed Timothy J. Piazza’s Law (SB 84), strengthening anti-hazing restrictions. This law decreased the threshold for what constitutes a criminal act of hazing and expanded the legal authority of the state to address hazing concerns. Additionally, the state required each institution of higher education to create and update a report of alleged hazing violations and their outcomes to be updated and published on the website twice annually.
Policy Highlights
Hazing Definition
Any activity expected of someone joining or participating in an organization that humiliates, degrades, abuses, endangers them, and/or is a violation of local, state, or federal law. An activity falling under these guidelines is considered hazing irrespective of a person’s willingness to participate.
Definition of an Organization
Means a fraternity, sorority, association, corporation, order, society, corps, club or service, a social or similar group, whose members are primarily minors, students, or alumni of the organization or an institution of higher education; or a national or international organization with which such a group is affiliated.
Potential Outcomes
Any individual charged with and found responsible for hazing may have penalties imposed up to, inclusive of, the termination of their relationship with the University. For students, this may include expulsion and, for employees, potential termination. Additionally, any organization may lose the ability to function on campus, including losing all access to funding.
Reporting Acts of Hazing
All acts of hazing can be reported via the University’s incident reporting system at File a Report. Additionally, any individual can reach out to Campus Security at (973) 408-3379, or to Enrollment Management and Campus Life at [email protected].
Report of Alleged Hazing Violations
As required under Timothy J. Piazza’s Law, Drew University will publish data twice annually on charged violations of hazing. The reports will contain the following information:
- The date on which an individual was charged with a violation of policy or law (personal information of the individual will not be charged.)
- A general description of the violation, any findings of an investigation, and, if applicable, the penalties imposed.
- The date the matter was resolved.
The reports will be updated and published on August 1 and January 1 of each year. These reports cover any charged allegation of hazing for the past five years where records were available.
January 2024
There were no alleged violations of hazing for five years prior to January 1, 2024.
August 2024
There were no alleged violations of hazing for five years prior to August 1, 2024.