The death of 20-year-old Stone Foltz, a Bowling Green State University sophomore who died this month after an alleged fraternity hazing incident, has renewed calls for change at the state and federal level.
Kathleen Wiant’s son, Collin, died at an Ohio University off-campus fraternity house in 2018.
“For the last weeks of Collin’s life, he had endured extreme hazing. He was beaten, belted, waterboarded, and forced drugs. Out family, individually and collectively, has experienced the most painful type of heartbreak unimaginable because of hazing," Wiant says.
Wiant is supporting a bipartisan bill sponsored by state lawmakers that would create harsher penalties for hazing and would make it a felony if drugs or alcohol are involved.
She is also supporting federal legislation sponsored by Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown that require hazing incidents to be reported as part of annual crime reports from colleges and require universities to educate students about the dangers of hazing.
