Anti-Hazing

Creating a safe, respectful, and values-based chapter culture is the responsibility of every Sigma Nu member. The Sigma Nu Member Portal provides chapter officers with a comprehensive collection of anti-hazing resources designed to educate members, support positive new member experiences, and help chapters uphold the Fraternity’s standards.

Whether you’re preparing for recruitment, onboarding new members, planning educational programs, or reviewing chapter policies, these resources offer practical guidance, educational materials, and best practices to help your chapter lead by example.

Chapter officers are encouraged to regularly access the Sigma Nu Member Portal to review the Fraternity’s anti-hazing policies, educational resources, and risk reduction materials, and to share them with the entire chapter.

National Hazing Prevention Week (NHPW) is an annual initiative dedicated to raising awareness, promoting education, and inspiring action to eliminate hazing. Held each year during the last full week of September, NHPW brings together students, campuses, organizations, and communities to engage in meaningful conversations about hazing prevention and the importance of creating healthy, respectful organizational cultures.

Coordinated by the Hazing Prevention Network (HPN), National Hazing Prevention Week aligns closely with Sigma Nu’s founding principles and our longstanding commitment to ending hazing. We encourage you to learn more about Sigma Nu’s partnership with HPN and its mission to empower people to prevent hazing.

How Sigma Nu Participates

Each year, Sigma Nu supports National Hazing Prevention Week by providing chapters with educational resources, sharing hazing prevention content, and promoting conversations that reinforce our commitment to a fraternity experience built on dignity, respect, and ethical leadership.

Across North America, Sigma Nu chapters participate in a variety of campus-wide initiatives, including educational workshops, awareness campaigns, guest speakers, bystander intervention programs, and collaborative events with university partners and other student organizations.

Get Your Chapter Involved

Whether your chapter is participating for the first time or expanding an existing program, National Hazing Prevention Week provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Sigma Nu’s leadership in promoting a hazing-free campus culture.

To help your chapter get started, we encourage you to:

• Explore planning guides, promotional materials, and event ideas available through the official National Hazing Prevention Week website.
• Host Sigma Nu’s “A Different Look at Hazing” workshop, designed for both fraternity/sorority and non-affiliated student audiences.
• Partner with your institution, fraternity and sorority community, student organizations, or campus departments to organize educational events.
• Share your chapter’s activities and success stories with the General Fraternity by emailing news@www.sigmanu.org or submitting your story to Submit News.

If you have questions or would like assistance planning a National Hazing Prevention Week program, the General Fraternity staff is available to help. Contact Headquarters at (540) 463-1869 for guidance and additional resources.

Together, we can honor our Founders’ vision by creating campuses where leadership, respect, and brotherhood thrive—without hazing.

The Hazing Prevention Network (HPN) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to its mission of empowering people to prevent hazing through education, research, and collaborative leadership.

Sigma Nu’s Partnership

As a Fraternity founded in opposition to hazing, Sigma Nu has proudly supported the Hazing Prevention Network since its founding in 2007. This longstanding partnership reflects our commitment to advancing hazing prevention not only within Sigma Nu, but across higher education.

Sigma Nu has contributed to HPN’s mission through financial support and leadership. Numerous staff members, alumni volunteers, and collegiate brothers have served the organization in a variety of leadership roles. Most notably, Past Regent Joe Gilman (Morehead State) previously served as President of HPN’s Board of Directors, while Executive Director Brad Beacham (Texas Christian) currently serves on the Board.

Together with the Hazing Prevention Network and other higher education partners, Sigma Nu is helping lead the national effort to eliminate hazing. By promoting education, accountability, and healthy organizational cultures, we continue working toward the vision our Founders established in 1869—a college experience where brotherhood is built on dignity, respect, and shared values, free from hazing.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed into law on December 23, 2024, amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen hazing prevention through increased transparency, reporting, and education at colleges and universities nationwide.

The legislation represents a significant step forward in the effort to eliminate hazing and was supported by a broad coalition of higher education and fraternity/sorority organizations, including the Fraternal Government Relations Coalition (FGRC)—comprised of the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Fraternity Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC), and Fraternity Sorority Action Fund (FSAF). As a member of the NIC, Sigma Nu has long played a leadership role in advancing government relations and public policy initiatives that promote student safety and positive fraternity experiences.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act applies to all institutions of higher education that receive federal funding and seeks to reduce hazing through greater awareness, prevention education, accountability, and public transparency.

Key Provisions

Annual Hazing Statistics

Beginning with incidents occurring on or after January 1, 2025, colleges and universities must collect hazing statistics and include them in their Annual Security Report, beginning with reports published in December 2026.

Federal Definition of Hazing

For reporting purposes, the law establishes a federal definition of hazing. An act may constitute hazing regardless of whether an individual appears to participate willingly.

Hazing includes conduct that occurs as part of initiation into, affiliation with, or continued membership in a student organization and creates a risk of physical or psychological injury beyond the ordinary risks associated with participation in the organization or institution.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Physical abuse, including beating, striking, whipping, or electronic shocking.
• Sleep deprivation, confinement, exposure to the elements, or extreme physical activity.
• Forced or coerced consumption of food, liquids, alcohol, or drugs.
• Forced sexual acts or sexually degrading behavior.
• Threats or intimidation that place another person in fear of bodily harm.
• Activities that require or encourage violations of federal, state, or local law.

Student Organizations Covered

The law applies broadly to student organizations, including:

• Fraternities and sororities
• Club and varsity athletic teams
• Student government organizations
• Bands
• Other recognized student organizations

Statement of Policy and Prevention Program on Hazing

Institutions must publish an annual Statement of Policy and Prevention Program on Hazing outlining:

• Institutional hazing policies.
• How hazing incidents may be reported.
• Investigation procedures.
• Applicable federal, state, and local hazing laws.
• Research-informed prevention and awareness programs for students, faculty, and staff.
• Primary prevention strategies, including bystander intervention, ethical leadership education, and healthy methods of building organizational cohesion without hazing.

Campus Hazing Transparency Report

Institutions are also required to maintain a publicly accessible Campus Hazing Transparency Report, updated at least twice each year.

The report must include:

• Each student organization found responsible for a hazing violation.
• A general description of the violation.
• Whether alcohol or drugs were involved.
• Institutional sanctions imposed.
• The incident date, investigation date, and finding of responsibility.
• Hazing findings for the previous five calendar years.

To protect student privacy, the report may not include personally identifiable information, consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Learn More

Plaid, a national leader in online hazing prevention education, provides additional information and implementation resources related to the Stop Campus Hazing Act.