Ohio has a new law that stiffens penalties for people convicted of hazing at the state’s college campuses. Now, the public colleges themselves are taking actions to prevent hazing.
The Inter-University Council, which represents Ohio’s public universities, has what it calls a zero-tolerance approach to hazing. It includes, among other things, automatic dismissal of students who are guilty of hazing.
Rodney Rogers, president of Bowling Green State University, where Delaware-native Stone Foltz died in March after an alleged hazing ritual, said this is "a logical next step" after Ohio lawmakers passed a new law to crack down on hazing that Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law earlier this month.
"We will help eradicate hazing," Rogers said. "That is our goal."
Cory Foltz, the father of Stone Foltz, urged college presidents to enforce the plan.
“We are counting on you to never leave any one of your students behind so no other family will ever endure the pain of losing a loved one like we did. Please, no more deaths from hazing," Cory Foltz said.
The new law was passed after the death of Stone Foltz and Dublin-native Collin Wiant. Wiant died after ingesting nitrous oxide during a hazing incident at a now-defunct Ohio University fraternity in November 2018.
Bowling Green authorities said Stone Foltz was allegedly blindfolded and told to drink an excessive and ultimately fatal amount of alcohol during an off-campus hazing ritual. Fraternity members took him to his apartment afterward where a roommate later found Foltz unconscious. He died three days later.
The university anti-hazing principles also include going after student groups that encourage hazing and educating students, parents and alumni about the dangers associated with it.
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