Hazing Reports and Public Disclosures

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Statement of Availability of Hazing Statistics in the Annual Security Report
WVU Hazing-Related Policies
WVU and WV State Code Hazing Definitions
Annual Security Report vs. Campus Transparency Report

Statement of Availability of hazing statistics in the Annual Security Report

West Virginia University has and continues to track and investigate allegations of hazing on and off campus pursuant to the Stop Campus Hazing Act, signed into law in 2024. West Virginia University began collecting allegations of hazing that were reported to have occurred on Clery Geography for specifically for the inclusion on the Universities Annual Security Report. These statistics started to be collected during the 2025 calendar year and will be included in the 2026 and subsequent Annual Security Reports published by the University.

View the current Annual Security Report for WVU Potomac State College:

https://studentexperience.potomacstatecollege.edu/files/d/84c72247-97b5-499a-8f7d-83f01a360d31/2024-psc-annual-security-and-fire-safety-report-with-appendix.pdf

WVU Potomac State College Hazing Related Policies

Hazing is a prohibited offense under the WVU Potomac State College Campus Student Code found here.

West Virginia University / WV State Code definitions of Hazing

The Student Conduct Code and Discipline procedure for the WVU Potomac State College campus can be found here defines hazing as:

“Hazing” means any action or situation which (1) endangers or adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of another person or persons; (2) would cause extreme embarrassment or adversely affect the dignity of another person or persons; or (3) causes another person or persons to destroy or remove public or private property. This includes, but is not limited to, any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, forced consumption of any food, alcohol, drug or other substance, any activity which would subject an individual or individuals to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation or forced exclusion from social contact. Hazing with or without the consent of a student is prohibited. Initiations or activities of student organizations are prohibited from including any feature that is dangerous, harmful, or degrading to the student. A violation of this prohibition renders both the organization and participating individuals subject to discipline. Any student who knowingly witnesses or acquiesces in the presence of hazing is also subject to discipline.

Pursuant to West Virginia Code §18-16-2,

“Hazing” means to cause any action or situation which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental or physical health or safety of another person or persons or causes another person or persons to destroy or remove public or private property for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership in, any organization the members of which are primarily students or alumni of an institution of higher education. The term includes, but is not limited to, acts of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, required consumption of any food, liquor, drug, or other substance, or any other required physical activity which could reasonably be deemed to adversely affect the physical health and safety of the person or persons so treated, and includes any activity which would subject the person or persons so treated to extreme mental stress, such as sleep deprivation, forced exclusion from social contact, required conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other required activity which could reasonably be deemed to adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the person or persons so treated, or any willful destruction or removal of public or private property: Provided, That the implied or expressed consent or willingness of a person or persons to hazing may not be a defense under this section.

Under West Virginia Code §18-16-3,

Any person who causes hazing is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $1,000, or confined in jail for not more than nine months, or both fined and confined.

Annual Security Report Vs. Campus Transparency Report

Allegations of Hazing at WVU Potomac State College are reviewed and collected for two separate reports, The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act Annual Security Report and the Hazing Transparency Report. There are key differences when making determinations on how hazing cases get reported, specified below:

Annual Security Report:

As in other Clery reportable crimes, if hazing is reported and it is reported to have occurred on Clery Geography, then it is calculated on the respective annual security report. WVU Potomac State College Published its Annual Security Report on or before Oct 1.

For the Annual Security Report purposes:

1. The allegations must meet the definition of the Hazing as describe the Stop Campus Hazing Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/5646/text). Importantly, this federal law differs from the hazing as defined the WVU Potomac State Campus Student Code.

"The term `hazing', for purposes of reporting statistics on hazing incidents u nder paragraph (1)(F)(iv), means any intentional, knowing, or reckless act committed by a person (whether individually or in concert with o ther persons) against another person or persons regardless of the willingness of such other person or persons to participate, that--

"(I) is committed in the course of an initiation into, an affiliation with, or the maintenance of membership in, a student organization; and

"(II) causes or creates a risk, above the reasonable risk encountered in the course of participation in the institution of higher education or t he organization (such as the physical preparation necessary for participation in an athletic team), of physical or psychological injury including--

"(aa) whipping, beating, striking, electronic shocking, placing of a harmful substance on s omeone's body, or similar activity;

"(bb) causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, extreme calisthenics, or other similar activity;

"(cc) causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to consume food, liquid, alcohol, drugs, or other substances;

"(dd) causing, coercing, or otherwise inducing another person to perform sexual acts;

"(ee) any activity that places another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words or conduct;

"(ff) any activity against another person that includes a criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law; and

"(gg) any activity that induces, causes, or requires another person to perform a duty or task that involves a criminal violation of local, State, Tribal, or Federal law.''.

Equally important, the federal law defines what a student organization is:

"The term `student organization', for purposes of reporting under paragraph (1)(F)(iv) and paragraph (9)(A), means an organization at an institution of higher education (such as a club, society, association, varsity or junior varsity athletic team, club sports team, fraternity, sorority, band, or student government) in which two or more of the members are students enrolled at the institution of higher education, whether or not the organization is established or recognized by the institution ."

2. At least one occurrence of the allegation must have been reported to have occurred on WVU Clery Geography. Clery Geography is defined as:

On-Campus: Defined as “any building or property owned or controlled by an institution of higher education within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution’s educational purposes, including student halls; and property within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution that is owned by the institution but controlled by another person, is used by students, and supports institutional purposes (such as a food or other retail vendor).”
On-Campus Student Housing (Subset of On-Campus): Defined as “any student housing facility that is owned or controlled by the institution or is located on property that is owned or controlled by the institution and is within the reasonably contiguous geographic area that makes up campus.”
Noncampus Building or Property: Defined as “any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization recognized by the institution; and any building or property (other than a branch campus) owned or controlled by an institution of higher education that is used in direct support of, or in relation to, the institution’s educational purposes, is used by students, and is not within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution.” Note: Fraternity- and sorority-owned chapter houses fall into this category as do off-campus locations owned or controlled by West Virginia University.

Public Property: Defined as “all public property that is within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area of the institution, such as a sidewalk, a street, other thoroughfare, or parking facility, and is adjacent to a facility owned or controlled by the institution if the facility is used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to the institution’s educational purposes."
Separate Campus: Defined as "a separate location that the institution owns or controls, is not reasonably geographically contiguous with the main campus, has an organized program of study, and there is at least one person on site acting in an administrative capacity.”

Interactive Maps of All WVU Clery Reportable Geography, including the WVU Potomac State College campus can be found at the following link and clicking the “Clery reportable locations” tab: https://police.wvu.edu/clery-act/overview

If these two requirements are met, then the hazing incident is documented on the Annual Security Report. There does not have to be any investigation, arrest, or any disciplinary proceedings. Simply, a report of hazing occurring on any Clery geography is sufficient.

For these qualifying reports, the Annual Security Report reflects then as numbered statistics, separated by Clery geography columns. No information relating to individuals or organizations involved in the report is published.

Note : As mentioned in the investigation process section, some allegations of hazing are reported anonymously and/or lack critical details concerning the location of the event(s). In these cases, if no other information is available or obtained throughout the inquiry/investigation process Clery geography cannot be confirmed and the incident will not be documented and reflected on the Annual Security Report.

If you or someone you know is going to report a hazing incident, please include a detailed description and the location of the event(s), if possible.

Campus Hazing Transparency Report

New for 2025, the Campus Hazing Transparency Report summarizes findings concerning any established or recognized student organization found to be in violation of WVU’s standards of conduct relating to hazing as defined in the campus student code.

This new report will be published on a bi-annual basis if, between the last published report, new cases have been investigated and findings of responsibility against an established or recognized organization have occurred.

As described in the investigation and sanctioning process, there are multiple potential outcomes before, during, or after an investigation is conducted. For purposes of this report, only cases that have gone through the formal conduct process (I.E. Investigation – charged – found responsible for hazing) will be documented in this report. In some instances, allegations of hazing may be formally charged against a student(s) or an organization but then be resolved through an agreed resolution before a hearing takes place. In these cases, a determination will be made as to if the responding party accepts some degree of responsibility for hazing and if so, these cases will also be included in the campus hazing transparency report. Any reports of hazing that do not meet either of these requirements will not be included in this report.

If no cases were reported and meet these criteria since the previously published report, the report will contain a message stating so.

Unlike the Annual security report, cases of responsible findings published in this report will contain additional information, including:

Description of violation
Date Incident was alleged to have occurred
Date investigation was initiated
Date the investigation ended with finding of hazing violation
Date institution provided notice to organization of outcome
Whether or not the violation involved the abuse of illegal use of alcohol or drugs, the findings of WVU, and any sanctions placed on the student organization.

Reports of hazing that are published on this report do not need to have occurred on Clery Geography. Per the Campus Student Code, action can be taken for allegations of hazing on and off campus.

While the purpose of the Annual Security Report is intended to provide readers with an overview of reported crime for a campus, the Campus Hazing Transparency Report is intended to provide readers with information related to specific recognized or established organizations who have been found responsible for hazing violations, thus helping them make informed decisions about what organization they may wish to join.