WASHINGTON D.C., DC — The U.S. Senate passed the Stop Campus Hazing Act on Wednesday, a national bill that was brought in part by the parents of a student who died at a Washington State University fraternity house.
Jolayne Houtz and Hector Martinez were the parents of Sam Martinez, who died in 2019 of alcohol poisoning. Police said hazing contributed to his death, citing his participation in a ritual at Martinez’s fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega.
"I think about Sam almost every hour of every day, so no, the death of Sam shattered our family, and it hurts just like it did the day we found out, but it does help to be working actively to prevent more hazing deaths and to try to protect other families from experiencing the pain that we've gone through," said Jolayne Houtz.
His parents helped convince legislators to pass a law requiring all clubs and organizations at Washington colleges report incidents of hazing. Lawmakers increased penalties for hazing in 2023, by passing the “Sam Martinez Stop Hazing Law.”
"But when you start digging a little bit, you realize that hazing is happening all over the place, athletic teams, fraternities and sororities, high schools, workplaces," Jolayne Houtz said.
Now a website they started, hazinginfo.org, will collect new hazing incident data generated by the Stop Campus Hazing Act if signed by President Joe Biden.
“Parents and college students deserve to know which campus groups pose a safety risk. The Stop Campus Hazing Act brings hazing out of the shadows and creates consistency and accountability to the way colleges and universities address campus hazing,” said Houtz in a release.
The Stop Campus Hazing Act also would mandate that each college or university in the U.S. develops a campus-wide, research-based hazing education and prevention program.
It would also require schools to include hazing incidents in the annual crime reports they produce. In addition, a "consistent" definition of hazing is established.