PULLMAN, Wash. — A bill aimed at ending hazing on college campuses nationwide now sits on President Joe Biden's desk, waiting for his signature.
KREM 2 News spoke to the mother of a WSU freshman whose death prompted her family to take action.
This November marked five years since Sam Martinez died from what is believed to be the result of hazing. Now, this national bill would require schools nationwide to include any hazing incidents in their annual crime reports.
Martinez died from alcohol poisoning during a ritual while in the fraternity Alpha Tau Omega. His mother, Jolane Houtz, said the information she found after his death left her in shock.
"That same fraternity had a year's long disciplinary track record of hazing, drug and alcohol violations, and other misconduct," Houtz said. "If we had known that, Sam would still be alive today."
The family's grief led them to craft "Sam's Law," to make hazing a gross misdemeanor. Any incidents involving bodily harm open up the possibility for it to be charged as a felony. The law took into effect in 2022.
But their work didn't stop at the state level.
The Stop Campus Hazing Act passed the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. The bill requires institutions to publish hazing policies and report organizations that violate them.
Houtz said it's the result of her and other families' work after losing children to hazing-related incidents. Houtz also said her work and the connections she's made since her son's passing made her realize hazing isn't exclusive to Greek organizations.
"I know families who have lost their children due to hazing as they were trying to join a marching band, athletic teams, [it] is another place where hazing happens all too frequently," Houtz said.
It's an occurrence Houtz said still happens in Washington State, even with the state law in effect.
"When I last looked about three months ago, most of them were not doing it, even though it's the law," Houtz said.
Houtz said she hopes once the national bill becomes law, incidents like the one leading to her son's death won't happen again.
"I think we hear about it when there's a death, and that's the most tragic outcome, but there are plenty of people who suffer consequences of hazing, whether they're physically injured or mentally, emotionally hurt by being hazed," Houtz said. "It's really important that we talk about this and bring the information forward."
Sam's family also helped start a database known as hazinginfo.org. Users can find reporting on hazing incidents across nine states. They are working on new technology to eventually reach all fifty states.