The Price You Pay to Fit In: Kentucky’s Anti-Hazing Laws

Blog Post | 110 KY. L. J. ONLINE | February 23, 2022

The Price You Pay to Fit In: Kentucky’s Anti-Hazing Laws

By: Zoe Jessie, Staff Editor, Vol. 110

Chanting, rituals, and pledges, oh my! American Fraternities and Sororities have created a culture that speaks volumes about what young adults are willing to do to fit in. American sports teams are testing their athletes on the field and in the locker room to prove their loyalty. Although these institutions cultivate teamwork, friendship, and dedication, do they also cultivate a “do whatever it takes” mentality to impressing your peers?

Hazing, defined as an initiation process involving harassment[i], is a staple in many young adult institutions across the United States. Specifically, colleges and universities cultivate hazing environments through sports teams, fraternities, sororities, and clubs. Hazing has extreme psychological effects such as fostering respect, group cohesion and cultivation of social order.[ii] The landscape of hazing in Kentucky only solidifies that the practice of testing new initiates is not only common but encouraged.

Anti-Hazing Laws in Kentucky

Kentucky Revised Statute § 164.375 places a burden on the state colleges of University of Kentucky and University of Louisville to adopt policies which prohibit any situations that “recklessly or intentionally endanger mental or physical health or involves the forced consumption of liquor or drugs for the purpose of initiation into or affiliation with any organization.”[iii] This policy includes penalties and punishments for the violations, including suspension and recession of the organization to operate.[iv] The Universities must include the provisions in the bylaws of all organizations operating on the campuses and given to the enrolled students.[v] 

Since the statute places the burden of regulating hazing on the colleges and universities, much hazing law is internalized in the policies of these institutions.[vi] The University of Kentucky’s Hazing Prevention Policy includes its own definitions of hazing, as well as its own procedures for hazing violations.[vii] These procedures include, but are not limited to; reporting to the Student Code of Conduct, reporting to appropriate law enforcement, and possible sanctions for the organizations in questions.[viii] The University of Louisville has its own Hazing Policy with similar language, although it is less extensive.[ix] Even private Kentucky Universities have their own hazing provisions in their student handbooks.[x]

The case law on Kentucky hazing activities is few and far between. Many actions arising out of hazing activities are private causes of actions against school districts from the parents or family members of the affected party.[xi] Additionally, cases brought against fraternities themselves have historically absolved the fraternities of an affirmative duty to supervise its members.[xii] As tort cases against fraternities increase, liability against them has seemingly decreased based on the standard that fraternities must voluntarily assume liability in their policies to face penalties.[xiii] Thus, even in cases where fraternities have “extensive investigatory processes” regarding alcohol consumption, courts still found that the national organization still had no duty to protect or oversee their chapters’ negligence.[xiv]

To haze or not to haze:

The most common incidents surrounding hazing in Kentucky involve excessive drinking.[xv] The most tragic event in recent commonwealth history involved a Kentucky student hitting a 4-year-old boy with his car after a day of drinking with his fraternity.[xvi] 4 years after the incident, a jury found that the student was only guilty of a DUI instead of reckless homicide, constituting a $500 fine and a misdemeanor charge.[xvii] Hazing has expanded beyond fraternities into the coveted sports teams of the universities. For example, the University of Kentucky fired the entire coaching staff of cheerleading team for hazing activities involving excessive drinking and nudity under the coaches’ watch.[xviii]

Although the efforts to reduce hazing in the commonwealth is ever-growing, the problem remains. Since the anti-hazing efforts are essentially left up to the organizations and institutions regulating them, is the pressure to stop enough? That question may have been answered recently when a fraternity member died at a party.[xix] Although the drinking was not a result of direct hazing, the members stated that previous hazing practices “cultivated a culture of non-compliance in which such activities were accepted.”[xx]

Conclusion

Anti-hazing laws are not going far enough. Losing a job, shutting down an organization, or even a wrongful death suit does not seem to be enough to protect those in harm’s way. At the end of the party, competition, or event, who is really paying the price?

[i] Hazing, Merriam-Webster https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hazing (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).

[ii] Gregory S. Parks, Pledge to End Hazing, 11 Wake Forest L. Rev. Online 111, 114-119 (Sep. 29, 2021), http://www.wakeforestlawreview.com/2021/09/pledge-to-end-hazing/.

[iii] Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 164.375 (West 2022).

[iv] Id.

[v] Id.

[vi] Id.

[vii] University of Kentucky Hazing Prevention Policy, Admin. Regul. 6:10 (May 6, 2011), https://www.uky.edu/regs/sites/www.uky.edu.regs/files/files/ar/AR6-10.pdf.

[viii] Id.

[ix] University of Louisville, Student Handbook, Hazing and Initiation Activities Policy https://louisville.edu/dos/students/studentpoliciesandprocedures/student-handbook/student-handbook/#hazing (last visited Jan. 31, 2022).

[x] Transylvania University, Student Handbook 52 (Aug. 2018), https://www.transy.edu/sites/default/files/pictures/Transy-Student-handbook-2018.pdf.

[xi] Jenkins Indep. Sch. v. Doe, 379 S.W.3d 808, 810 (Ky. Ct. App. 2012).

[xii] Grand Aerie Fraternal Ord. of Eagles v. Carneyhan, 169 S.W.3d 840, 848 (Ky. 2005).

[xiii] Id.

[xiv] Shaheen v. Yonts, No. 5:06-CV-00173-TBR, 2009 WL 87458, at *4 (W.D. Ky. Jan. 13, 2009), aff'd, 394 F. App'x 224 (6th Cir. 2010).

[xv] See A Dangerous Tradition: Hazing on College Campuses, https://safetymanagement.eku.edu/blog/a-dangerous-tradition-hazing-on-college-campuses/ (last visited Feb. 21, 2022).

[xvi] University of Kentucky student, fraternity suspended after child’s death, The Enquirer, (Sep. 18, 2018 6:39 PM), https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2018/09/18/university-kentucky-student-fraternity-suspended-after-childs-death/1352074002/.

[xvii] Chelsea Jones & Chad Hedrick, Jury reaches verdict for Jacob Heil, WYMT, (Oct. 14, 2021 9:37 AM EDT), https://www.wymt.com/2021/10/14/day-4-heil-trial-jury-begins-deliberations/.

[xviii] Neil Vigdor, Coaches of Storied Cheerleading Team Fired After Hazing Scandal, N.Y. Times, (May 18, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/university-kentucky-cheerleading-hazing-scandal.html.

[xix] Krista Johnson, University of Kentucky: Death of student found unconscious at frat didn’t involve hazing, Courier Journal, (Dec. 22, 2021 3:28 PM ET), https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2021/12/22/thomas-hazelwoods-death-didnt-involve-frat-hazing-university-kentucky-uk/8997469002/.

[xx] Id.