In wake of OU student's death, Ohio governor and senators call for tougher anti-hazing laws

Ohio’s governor and two U.S. senators are calling for greater punishment and accountability for hazing crimes in the wake of the death last year of an 18-year-old Ohio University student who had been a pledge for a now-expelled OU fraternity chapter.

Gov. Mike DeWine’s spokesperson Dan Tierney said Tuesday that DeWine would like to see Ohio’s criminal hazing statute updated, with the minimum potential penalty for anybody found guilty of hazing being upped from a fourth-degree misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony (which penalties increasing based on the “harm caused by the defendant”).

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has co-sponsored the END ALL Hazing Act, which was introduced to the U.S. Senate last June, according to spokesperson Rachael Hartford. The act would require colleges to publish lists of findings for student organizations that have violated university policy on hazing, among other changes. Brown also joined Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, earlier this year in introducing the REACH Act (Report and Educate About Campus Hazing) to the U.S. Senate.

Ohio’s other senator, Rob Portman, said in a statement on his website on Oct. 31 that he supports the END ALL Hazing Act, and directly connected it to the death of 18-year-old Collin Wiant after he was found unresponsive at the alleged off-campus fraternity annex of the Sigma Pi OU fraternity chapter.

Read more: https://www.athensnews.com/news/campus/in-wake-of-ou-student-s-death-ohio-governor-and/article_45580330-0642-11ea-b5b9-975c3ac530ba.html