Hazing
Hazing is any activity, regardless of a person’s willingness to participate, that humiliates, degrades, or endangers the mental or physical health of someone in order to join or continue membership in a group, team, or student organization. Engaging or participating in hazing is prohibited, as is retaliation or threats of retaliation against any person who reports, is a victim of, or is a witness to hazing, or who is involved or cooperates with the investigation of hazing.
Examples include, but are not limited to, any of the following used to leverage joining or maintaining membership in any group, team, or organization:
- Sleep deprivation
- Social isolation
- Public degradation
- Intimidation
- Creation of artificial or excessive stress
- Public nudity
- Deprivation of privileges
- Assignment of duties not assigned to other members
- Threats or implied threats
- Requiring situationally inappropriate attire
- Forced or coerced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug, or other substance
- Forced or coerced sexual acts
- Forced or coerced calisthenics or other similar exercise
- Beating, paddling, branding, or other forms of assault
- Kidnapping
- Expected participation in illegal activity
Note that some of the examples above would be violations of other university policies as well.
Under state law, anyone who is present when hazing occurs is required to report it to law enforcement, and university policy requires hazing to be reported when you become aware of it, whether or not you were present. You can report hazing by:
- Calling the Tufts University Police Department at 617-627-3030.
- Submit a report via EthicsPoint, a third-party service that allows you to stay anonymous by completing their online form or calling 1-866-384-4277.
- Reporting an incident to the Office of Community Standards using this online form or by contacting them directly at 617-627-1644 or CommunityStandards@tufts.edu.
This language was taken from the Tufts University Community Standards.