New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Monday that expands behaviors constituting a first-degree hazing charge under state law.

People who “engage in physical contact or require physical activity that creates a substantial risk of physical injury and causes that injury as part of an initiation ritual” could be found guilty of first-degree hazing under the new law, according the governor’s office. The misdemeanor charge is punishable by up to one year in prison.

The law was prompted by the death of Michael Deng, a 19-year-old Baruch College student who suffered a fatal head injury during a Pi Delta Psi hazing ritual in 2013.

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Previous state law classified first-degree hazing as “intentionally or recklessly” engaging in conduct that causes injury during an organization’s initiation. The new law prohibits “certain physical contact or requiring physical activity” that causes injury as part of an organization’s initiation.

“As we prepare for the beginning of another school year, parents and students alike deserve to have peace of mind that we take hazing seriously and will have zero tolerance for these abuses in New York,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Syracuse University’s Greek organizations have grappled with hazing violations in the past.

In fall 2017, SU suspended the Delta Tau Delta fraternity for Code of Student Conduct violations that included hazing. The Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity was placed on disciplinary probation in January for conduct violations related to hazing. The university suspended the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity in April after a months-long hazing investigation.

In 2015, a 20-year-old SU student and Nu Alpha Phi pledge nearly lost four fingers to frostbite after being forced to do exercises in knee-deep snow. Two members of that now-suspended fraternity pleaded guilty to hazing in the second degree at the time.

Published on August 13, 2018 at 10:17 pm

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18