Applicable Local, State, and Tribal Laws on Hazing

Applicable Local, State, and Tribal Laws on Hazing

Section 1190 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes provides that no student organization or any person associated with any organization sanctioned or authorized by the governing board of any public or private school or institution of higher education in this state shall engage or participate in hazing.

Any hazing activity upon which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with an organization sanctioned or authorized by a public or private school or by any institution of higher education in this state is directly or indirectly conditioned shall be presumed to be a forced activity, even if the student willingly participates in such activity.

Any organization sanctioned or authorized by the governing board of a public or private school or of an institution of higher education in this state which violates 21 O.S. § 1190, upon conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be punishable by a fine of not more than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) and the forfeit for a period of not less than one (1) year all of the rights and privileges of being an organization organized or operating at the public or private school or at the institution of higher education. Any individual convicted of violating the provisions of 21 O.S. § 1190 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be punishable by imprisonment not exceeding ninety (90) days in the county jail, or by the imposition of a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by both such imprisonment and fine.

For purposes of Oklahoma law, the following definitions apply:

“Hazing” means an activity which recklessly or intentionally endangers the mental health or physical health or safety of a student for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with any organization operating subject to the sanction of the public or private school or of any institution of higher education in this state:

“Endanger the physical health” shall include but not be limited to any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the elements, forced consumption of any food, alcoholic beverage as defined in Section 506 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, low-point beer as defined in Section 163.2 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, drug, controlled dangerous substance, or other substance, or any other forced physical activity which could adversely affect the physical health or safety of the individual; and

“Endanger the mental health” shall include any activity, except those activities authorized by law, which would subject the individual to extreme mental stress, such as prolonged sleep deprivation, forced prolonged exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the individual. The full statute is available here.