Page History

Campus and Community Engagement; Campus Activities: Responsible for educating organization leaders around adherence to policy by offering training resources and coordinating logistics with the organization’s leadership team to provide training. Monitors and oversees completion statuses in CampusGroups. Sets and monitors expectations for advisors and organization leadership. Meets with the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards to review and manage post-incident sanction completion and behavior mitigation. Provides resource information to organizations and individual members in need of support.

Advisors: Responsible for adherence to policy and submits reports of violations and inappropriate behaviors around organization and individual behavior and supporting in educating student leaders. Submit referrals via the University’s Hazing website (www.hazing.cornell.edu) and/or to Student Conduct and Community Standards.

Student Conduct and Community Standards: Investigates hazing reports and manages hearings then delivers and monitors sanction completion. Notifies national organization headquarters, as needed. Reports criminal behaviors to law enforcement.

Skorton Center for Health Initiatives: Provides institutional leadership on hazing prevention strategies (e.g., Cornell's Hazing Prevention Model), delivers prevention focused educational trainings to students and employees on hazing, bystander intervention and how to recognize and respond to hazing, collaborates with SCL Communications team to curate the University hazing website (hazing.cornell.edu), collaboratively implements communication strategies and campaigns about hazing prevention, conducts research on students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to hazing among Cornell students, uses data driven-strategies to address hazing, and participates in public engagement and collaborative opportunities with national hazing prevention organizations and universities across the country to address hazing. The Skorton Center also collaborates with Campus Activities to provide educational trainings on hazing and bystander intervention education (e.g., Intervene, How to Recognize and Respond to Hazing).

Student and Campus Life Communications: Coordinate with colleagues in the Skorton Center around timely and accurate communications (may include, but not limited to, website posts, community messaging) of hazing related incidents.

• Hazing Prevention Among Student Registered Organizations flowchart
• Cornell Student Code of Conduct
• OSCCS flowcharts
• The Big Red Guidebook
• Club Advisors, chapter 8
• Registered Student Organization Annual Registration
• Registered Student Organization Officer Quiz
• Registered Student Organization Advisor Quiz
• Approved organizations lists
• How to Recognize and Respond to Hazing (Spring 2024 online version of Skorton Center training for students)
• Cornell University’s Hazing Website
• Cornell University’s Hazing Prevention Model
• JACH Publication on Cornell University’s Hazing Prevention Model
• Stop Hazing: Hazing Prevention Consortium (Cornell participated from 2013 – 2016 in the first cohort)

• CampusGroups
• Campus Kaizen Guardian
• Canvas
• Drupal website software: (hazing website)

• Organizational and individual behaviors around identifying and responding to hazing behaviors comprehension of training materials and available resources will vary per individual.
• Advisors’ knowledge, attitudes toward hazing practices, and familiarity with Cornell’s definition of hazing and the Student Code of Conduct policy vary per individual. Education about hazing and how to recognize and respond to it is not required of advisors.
• Organizational and individual behaviors may be influenced based on the training focus and expectations set by their advisor.
• Educational trainings on hazing, bystander intervention, and culture change strategies including positive group team building (that does not involve hazing) are not tied to eligibility to join groups, teams, or organizations or serve in leadership positions within a registered student organization.
• Advisors strategize and use discretion of when and where to refer organizational and individual behaviors to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
• The advisor is chosen by the Campus and Community Engagement and is subject to change.
• Violations of the Student Code of Conduct may result in loss of recognition and the inability of the organization to acquire funding, host events, and qualify for club insurance, but investigations may not result in an identification of involved individuals. When this occurs, individual offenders are permitted to remain on campus and may repeat behavior.
• Collusion, resulting in inappropriate disclosure of information between those who have been hazed and perpetrators of hazing, may occur during the investigation.
• Unclear understanding of who has final approval of the content that is posted on the hazing website.

Education/Prevention:

1.       Officers submits the annual student organization registration form.

2.       Officer and Advisor form is generated.

3.       President, VP, Treasurer, Advisor each complete form, including "quiz" on important university hazing policies and attest to reviewing and understanding the Hazing defination.

4.       Completion reports are generated out of CampusGroups & monitored by Campus Activities.

5.       Members are expected to familiarize with The Big Red Guidebook, which includes information and resources related to hazing.

6.       Organizations are sent details and highly encouraged to attend National Hazing Prevention Week activities held annually each Fall (organized by Sorority and Fraternity Life).

7.       Organization Leadership, Advisors, and Campus Activities members monitor organizational and individual behavior and provide resources as needed.

8.       Allegations against group, team, organization and/or individual are reported to campus authorities.

9.       OSCCS provides data analytics with Campus Activities.

Adjudication:

1.       Incident report is received by OSCCS.

2.       Assessment and next steps determined by OSCCS and Involved Parties.

3.       When warranted, incident is reported to national organization headquarters to be handled externally concurrently with campus and/or legal sanctioning.

4.       Incident is resolved through formal complaint, alternate dispute resolution or dismissed.

5.       OSCCS provides written description of incident outcome to Skorton Center, who reviews and collaborates with Student & Campus Life Communications to post the summary to https://hazing.cornell.edu/violations

6.       Criminal behavior is reported to law enforcement for external proceedings, concurrently with campus sanctioning.

Accountability:

• National Organization, where appropriate, may impose sanctions and/or fines.
• Cornell sanctioning by OSCCS may include but is not limited to loss of university recognition, funding, and ability to host events.
• Criminal behavior managed externally by law enforcement.
• Individual(s) may be removed from organization and/or campus.

• Campus Activities to track hazing prevention education completion against leadership, advisor, and member rosters.
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards track # of reported allegations with their outcomes.
• Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards track recidivism.
• The Skorton Center for Health Initiatives administers surveys to assess students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to hazing.

• OSCCS: Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards
• MC: Mitigating Control

Between  2001  and  2015,  Cornell  University  developed  a  comprehensive  (i.e.  multi-component) public health hazing prevention model that addresses  individuals,  organizations,  and  the  broader  environment.  This model includes eight elements: leadership and  culture  change  strategies;  policy  initiatives;  educational  initiatives;  positive  team-building;  reporting  options;  enforcement;  support  for  victims;  and  transparency  regarding  violations.  For more information visit www.hazing.cornell.edu