For the past several years, Princeton has chosen to divulge few details of hazing incidents in biannual disclosures required under New Jersey law, instead only describing the broad strokes of student conduct alongside the penalties imposed.
In August, however, the University took an unusual step: announcing, via an email to the undergraduate student body, additional and specific descriptions of several hazing incidents, including an “egregious” 2023 case where fraternity pledges pushed cinder blocks across a field using their bare chests and then had hot sauce poured on their wounds.
The details, which have not been previously publicly reported, accompanied a new “StandUp To Hazing” training required for all undergraduates.
Pledges in the 2023 incident, Dean of Undergraduate Students Regan Crotty ’00 wrote, also participated in “consuming dangerous amounts of nicotine mixed with milk, drinking large amounts of alcohol or other liquids/substances, swallowing goldfish, and having cigarettes put out on their skin.”
She added that while “such serious cases may happen infrequently,” the University “regularly adjudicates” hazing situations, such as cases of “assigning errands/tasks to other students, blindfolding them, smearing them with shaving cream, and requiring nudity.”
The StopHazing course led students through modules with the objectives of learning to “recognize a range of hazing behaviors and scenarios” and “differentiate healthy and unhealthy group behaviors.”
Hazing is legally defined in New Jersey as any act in connection with either joining or remaining in a student or fraternal organization that knowingly or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of another person. In 2024, the Stop Campus Hazing Act (SCHA) became federal law, requiring universities that participate in federal student aid programs to report hazing incidents in their annual security reports.
Princeton University already publishes biannual updates on hazing in accordance with a 2021 New Jersey anti-hazing law, but the SCHA notably requires that universities disclose the names or student organizations that violate hazing policies in a “campus hazing transparency report.” The first hazing transparency report must be released by Dec. 23, 2025, and include data from July 1, 2025, through the date of release.
The training is part of Princeton’s three-year partnership with StopHazing, a national hazing research and prevention organization. The University convened a Hazing Prevention and Response Task Force as part of StopHazing’s Hazing Prevention Consortium (HPC), announced to students in 2024.
From 2023–2024, the task force focused on campus communications and assessments, including a site visit from StopHazing, student and staff interviews, student survey data collection, and the completion of a self-study hazing prevention rubric, according to University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.
Morrill wrote in a statement that the task force shifted to utilizing the assessment results to determine which “recommended strategies for hazing prevention emerged as highest priorities for implementation on our campus.”
“This triangulation led us to prioritize training undergraduate students in basic hazing prevention as our next step at Princeton. Implementation of this training entailed providing StopHazing’s “StandUp to Hazing” as a mandatory online course for all undergraduate students in Fall 2025,” Morrill wrote, adding that varsity athletics coaches and ODUS and ODOC staff also received the training.
The third year of the HPC will focus on “long-term capacity building in hazing prevention initiatives,” she said.
The University traditionally publishes its biannual updates on the website of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students soon after Aug. 1 and Feb. 1 in accordance with the typical six-month reporting periods. Despite this, the University did not upload its most recent report until Sept. 16, following a request for comment from the ‘Prince,’ according to document metadata. The report was still labeled “August 1, 2025.”
There were no adjudicated violations of the University’s policy prohibiting hazing and no federal or state criminal charges related to hazing reported to the University, according to the report, which ran from Jan. 1 to Aug. 1.
Elisabeth Stewart is a senior News writer and assistant News editor emeritus for the ‘Prince.’ She typically covers religious life, student identity and campus life, and eating clubs and co-ops.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Correction: This article has been updated to clarify New Jersey law on hazing and to more accurately represent a comment from University Spokesperson Jennifer Morrill. The ‘Prince’ regrets these errors.
Read More
S.C.R.A.P. Lab pausing some composting efforts in wake of scrapped U. funding
Luke Grippo and Raphaela GoldPrinceton’s (S.C.R.A.P.) Lab is pausing some composting operations for the 2025–26 academic year due to the recent hiring freeze.
Princeton’s (S.C.R.A.P.) Lab is pausing some composting operations for the 2025–26 academic year due to the recent hiring freeze.
By the Numbers: Goals and medals for the Tigers’ start to the fall
Harrison BlankThis week in By the Numbers, women’s cross country took first in their first two meets, led by sophomore Meg Madison. Amid these accomplishments, the Tigers won over three-fifths of their games and had winning records both at home and on the road.
This week in By the Numbers, women’s cross country took first in their first two meets, led by sophomore Meg Madison. Amid these accomplishments, the Tigers won over three-fifths of their games and had winning records both at home and on the road.
Princeton police step up town Jewish Center patrols after repeated graffiti around town
Leela HenslerIn August, a series of antisemitic graffiti incidents in Princeton parks prompted police investigations and heightened patrols at the town’s Jewish center.
In August a series of antisemitic graffiti incidents in Princeton parks prompted police investigations and heightened patrols at the town's Jewish Center.