                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

HAZING UNLAWFUL; CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY; DUTY OF SCHOOL, ETC., OFFICIALS;
PENALTY (§ 18.2-56)

It shall be unlawful to haze so as to cause bodily injury, any student at any
school or institution of higher education.
		Any person found guilty thereof shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
		Any person receiving bodily injury by hazing shall have a right to sue,
civilly, the person or persons guilty thereof, whether adults or infants.
		The president or other presiding official of any school or institution of
higher education receiving appropriations from the state treasury shall, upon
satisfactory proof of the guilt of any student hazing another student, sanction
and discipline such student in accordance with the institution&#8217;s policies
and procedures. The institution&#8217;s policies and procedures shall provide
for expulsions or other appropriate discipline based on the facts and
circumstances of each case and shall be consistent with the model policies
established by the Department of Education or the State Council of Higher
Education for Virginia, as applicable. The president or other presiding official
of any school or institution of higher education receiving appropriations from
the state treasury shall report hazing which causes bodily injury to the
attorney for the Commonwealth of the county or city in which such school or
institution of higher education is, who shall take such action as he deems
appropriate.
		For the purposes of this section, &#8220;hazing&#8221; means to recklessly or
intentionally endanger the health or safety of a student or students or to
inflict bodily injury on a student or students in connection with or for the
purpose of initiation, admission into or affiliation with or as a condition for
continued membership in a club, organization, association, fraternity, sorority,
or student body regardless of whether the student or students so endangered or
injured participated voluntarily in the relevant activity.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 18.1-71; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 2003, cc. 62,
67; 2014, c. 627.