Gov. DeWine signs Collin’s Law enacting harsher hazing punishments
Gov. Mike DeWine signed Ohio Senate Bill 126, also known as Collin’s Law, into state law Tuesday morning.
The law will establish harsher punishments for those convicted with the charge of hazing.
The law was named after Collin Wiant, an Ohio University freshman who died on Nov. 12, 2018 at the unofficial annex of Sigma Pi fraternity.
The Athens County coroner ruled the cause of death to be due to asphyxiation from nitrous oxide ingestion. Wiant was found with “whippets,” which are small cans of nitrous oxide, near his body, according to a previous report from The New Political.
This version of the bill was reintroduced into the Ohio Senate in March after stalling in the Senate Education Committee in December 2020, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch.
The reintroduction of the bill happened shortly after the death of Stone Foltz, a sophomore at Bowling Green State University, at Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity. Foltz died as a result of fatal alcohol intoxication, according to a report from the Columbus Dispatch.
“We can’t wait to get serious about this until we lose another child or lose another college student,” DeWine said at the bill’s signing ceremony. “The nature of life is that we sometimes only get serious about things when there is a great, great tragedy.”
Collin’s Law enacts new language in the Ohio Revised Code defining hazing as “any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act of initiation into any student or other organization or any act to continue or reinstate membership in or affiliation with any student or other organization that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person, including coercing another to consume alcohol or a drug of abuse.”
The Ohio Revised Code did not previously include forced consumption of alcohol or drugs in the definition of hazing.
Previously in Ohio, hazing was a fourth-degree misdemeanor and carried a punishment of up to 30 days in jail and/or a maximum $250 fine.
Hazing will now be classified at a minimum as a second-degree misdemeanor with up to a third degree felony if “serious physical harm” occurs. A second-degree misdemeanor carries a punishment of up to 90 days in jail and/or a maximum $750 fine, while a third-degree felony can be punishable by up to three years in prison and a potential $10,000 fine.
“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter on Ohio's college campuses. Collin’s law will improve safety and increase awareness,” Ohio House Rep. Jay Edwards (R-Nelsonville) said in a text message.
“It will have a positive and lasting impact. With this legislation, we are sending a strong and clear message that hazing will not be tolerated,” Edwards continued.
The law will create an anti-hazing policy across the state, including anti-hazing education and training at higher educational institutions.
Beginning in the 2022-2023 academic year, institutions are now required to publish reports when hazing violations to an institution’s policy occur. Each report will include descriptions of the violation, investigation findings and date the violation was resolved. The initial violation reports must be posted by Jan. 15, 2023.
“Collin always stood up for the underdog. Collin was a protector by nature,” Kathleen Wiant, the mother of Collin Wiant shared in a tearful statement. “I can think of no greater way to honor him than a law in his name designed for the sole purpose of protecting others.”
Collin’s Law will officially go into effect in 90 days in October 2021.