U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath introduced a bipartisan resolution in Congress designating Sept. 21-25 as National Hazing Awareness Week. McBath represents Georgia's 6th Congressional District, which includes East Cobb.

McBath filed the House resolution with Rep. G.T. Thompson of Pennsylvania on Thursday, Sept. 24, according to her congressional office. Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana introduced a companion resolution in the Senate. This marks the fourth straight year McBath has led the effort.

"I know what it's like to lose a loved one, and no parent should ever have to bury their child," McBath said in a statement. She added that she was grateful for her colleagues' commitment to protecting students.

The resolution recognizes hundreds of students who have died or suffered severe injuries from collegiate hazing. It comes as colleges prepare for a new federal reporting requirement McBath also championed.

The Stop Campus Hazing Act, which McBath led alongside Klobuchar and Cassidy, became law on Dec. 23, 2024. The law requires colleges that receive federal student aid to report hazing incidents in their annual security reports, implement prevention policies and publish transparency reports listing student organizations found in violation of hazing standards. According to the Clery Center, hazing statistics must first appear in colleges' 2026 annual security reports.

The issue carries regional weight. Max Gruver, a 2017 graduate of Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, died on Sept. 14, 2017, from a hazing event at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house at Louisiana State University. He was a freshman majoring in political communications. The Max Gruver Foundation reports that more than 200 university students have died from hazing in the United States since 1838. Sen. Cassidy credited the Gruver family and other advocates as instrumental in passing the Stop Campus Hazing Act.

The House resolution drew bipartisan cosponsors including Reps. Sheri Biggs, Brian Fitzpatrick, Judy Chu and Raja Krishnamoorthi, among others.

Colleges must file their first hazing-incident reports by Oct. 1.