University athletic administrators all across the country are welcoming back their athletes for the 2023-2024 athletic season. Athletes and coaches alike will meet with their compliance administrators for a refresher on National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) bylaws, nutritionists to discuss proper nutrition, and even the media relations staff to discuss media obligations. What sometimes can be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of college athletics, and the desire to get to practice field as quickly as possible, is the need to ensure that coaches, administrators, and athletes alike are being trained on proper behavior and reporting mechanisms. Though sitting through multiple presentations may not be as fun as hitting the weight room, failure to appropriately train athletes, coaches, and administrators may have catastrophic impacts on an institution and for individual employees.

Though the most recent hazing scandal may have brought this issue into focus again, hazing prevention should be at the forefront of every athletic administrator and coach’s mind. In addition to the NCAA issuing a hazing prevention handbook, over the last few years as the number of hazing incidents and media stories increased, lobbyists and lawmakers at the federal and state levels have gained traction at implementing and updating laws relating to hazing. Attempts at enacting a federal law related to hazing have been unsuccessful to date. However, 44 states now have new or amended laws prohibiting hazing. The regulations, penalties and requirements vary significantly by state, with some imposing multiple responsibilities on groups of individuals. Therefore, it is critical for administrators and coaches to have a full understanding of the law’s requirements. Failure to do so could result in criminal penalties for individuals.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]