The University of Toledo is taking an extensive review of its anti-hazing policy, initially effective on February 11, 2011, to ensure all aspects of Collin’s Law are accounted for.
“One of the things that we’re looking at is making sure that the way we define hazing in the policy is current and truly reflects all of the different ways that hazing can appear and show up,”
said Alex Zernechel, associate director of The Office of Student Engagement.
Senate Bill 126, or Collin’s Law, is the Ohio Anti-Hazing Act signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine. The bill went into effect October 7, 2021. The enactment of Collin’s Law makes Ohio the 11th U.S. state to make hazing a felony offense.
Collin’s Law defines hazing as doing any act, or coercing another to do any act, of reinstatement or initiation into any student or other organization that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person, including coercing another to consume alcohol or a drug of abuse. Hazing can include acts of servitude and other acts demeaning in nature.
According to the law, no person shall recklessly participate in the hazing of another nor permit the hazing of any person, a violation of which is a fourth degree misdemeanor. If the hazing incident causes serious physical harm to the victim, it is chargeable as a first degree misdemeanor. If the hazing incident involves coerced consumption or drugs or alcohol that results in serious physical harm, it is a third degree felony offense.
The creation of Collin’s Law came after the hazing-related death of Collin Wiant, a freshman at Ohio University, at a privately-owned location off campus in November 2018. Wiant died from asphyxiation after a hazing ritual for the Sigma Pi Fraternity, Epsilon Chapter, involving sleep deprivation, physical beating, and the forced ingestion of drugs or alcohol. Wiant’s parents, Kathleen and Wade Wiant, didn’t let their son’s story go untold, advocating for the passing of an anti-hazing law in his name.
Collin’s story sparked a national conversation about hazing, and it hit especially close to home for the Rockets when Stone Foltz, a sophomore at Bowling Green State University, died of alcohol intoxication in March 2021 after attending a Pi Kappa Alpha new member initiation event, also held at an off-campus house. Members of the fraternity were later charged with multiple counts of hazing, manslaughter, homicide, and others.
Zernechel said these incidents and the creation of Collin’s law led to the development of the Anti-Hazing training at The University of Toledo to accompany the policy.
“This is an ongoing conversation and it is not a conversation that is unique to us,” said Zernechel. “Every institution is struggling with trying to get the campus and the community to understand the significance of hazing.”
UToledo partnered with AliveTek in 2022 to offer an online anti-hazing training to the campus community, but in 2025, the university will be moving its modules to the online platform Vector, which currently houses all other educational modules for students. The anti-hazing modules offered include Hazing 101, Fraternity and Sorority, and a Faculty and Staff module. Per Ohio law, these modules are to be completed yearly by all members of a student organization, including fraternities and sororities who have a specific training, and staff members who advise or coach an organization and who have direct contact with students.
The University is required to provide a hazing report with a five-year expiration window on their website, to be updated twice a year, once on January 15, and again on August 15. It is only required that incidents with people who have been found responsible for hazing are listed, which excludes allegations or findings of other violations.
The most recent listing on the Hazing Report is an alcohol related hazing incident in October 2018. The older members of the Kappa Delta Sorority encouraged new, underage members to drink a mass amount of alcohol at a Big/ Little event and as a result, the sorority was placed on social probation and received other sanctions including fees, fines, trainings, and placed on a restorative action plan. Given that this event occurred before Collin’s Law, Zernechel says the consequences for this kind of incident would be much more strict now.
Director of The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards Alex Schwartz says the office receives between two and four hazing allegations per semester, and based on the low number of hazing allegations confirmed, it is not a common occurrence on UToledo’s campus.
The Office of Student Conduct investigates every hazing report they receive to determine credibility and the likelihood that an incident of hazing did occur. The investigation includes gathering information on the report and the event, charging an individual or organization with a violation of the student code of conduct and or the law, depending on the situation, and serving individual or group sanctions.
There are also sanctions for not completing the Anti-Hazing training, but the university is still working to clearly define what those consequences are, which will be addressed by the Office of Legal Affairs, Division of Student Affairs, and the Compliance Office in the policy review.
“The sanctions are going to be aimed at being educational, but they may include a restriction from participating in that organization for a certain period of time or until they’ve completed the training,”
Schwartz said.
Alpha Psi Lambda Vice President Nya Quimbaya says that she and her leadership team enforce the anti-hazing training in their co-ed fraternity because they understand the importance and severity of avoiding and reporting hazing incidents on campus.
“I think it’s very important to have continued education,” Quimbaya said. “Always have it in the back of your head to be educated on the subject because there are simple things that people do that can be considered hazing.
Quimbaya and her team ensure all organization members complete the training by delegating tasks, holding members accountable at weekly chapter meetings, and reaching out to members individually if the training has not been completed.
She said her advice for new organizations who are looking to complete the training is to try and get it done sooner rather than later to avoid having someone who cannot continue their participation in the organization.
If a student knows about an incident of hazing or any other student conduct violation, they are encouraged to fill out a student conduct report by using the Report A Concern option at the bottom of the UToledo website. The form can be submitted anonymously, if preferred, and should include all supporting evidence of the claim.