OPINION: Anti-hazing law with WA roots would help save lives

This editorial was published in The Seattle Times.

Jolayne Houtz and Hector Martinez lost their 19-year-old son in 2019. And like many parents who have had that experience, they vowed to keep his memory alive. The Bellevue couple used the enormous personal tragedy of their son’s death to help thousands of others.

Samuel Martinez died after being hazed as a Washington State University freshman while pledging Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. He was coerced into drinking large amounts of alcohol and died of alcohol poisoning.

That set his parents on a mission to seek justice for Sam and to make sure other students and families don’t suffer the same fate. Their diligence paid off in 2021 when Washington’s Legislature passed the Sam Martinez Stop Hazing Act. The law made hazing a gross misdemeanor, rather than a simple misdemeanor. It also made hazing a felony if it results in substantial bodily harm. Washington was the 15th state to elevate hazing under those circumstances to a felony.

The law also ups the penalties for hazing from a maximum of 90 days to a year — and up to five years for a felony conviction.

The couple’s lobbying efforts, along with those of other parents nationwide who have lost children to hazing, have made an impact nationally. After years of advocacy and research, a bipartisan bill that addresses hazing and creates accountability has passed the U.S. House and Senate and awaits President Joe Biden’s signature.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act would require public and private colleges to publicly release information and statistics on hazing incidents, much like the current law requires colleges to make public on their websites reports on campus crimes such as sexual assault and burglary. Houtz twice went to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the bill.

The pending law also requires colleges to create anti-hazing education and hazing-prevention programs.

Secrecy is the shield that protects hazing. Both of these requirements will help students and their parents make informed decisions about which organizations are safe to join. It also emphasizes the seriousness of hazing and puts all campus organizations on alert that there will be consequences for their members’ actions.

“I think the most compelling thing about this bill is that it impels colleges and universities to share what they know about these groups ... so that students and parents have access to that information,” said Houtz, a former Seattle Times reporter and founder of the website hazinginfo.org.

Students should feel safe while participating in college activities and parents deserve the tools to make sure they will be.

TNS