Governor Nikki Haley signed into law a bill that requires fraternities and sororities of South Carolina public universities to publish their policy violations and misconduct reports.
The legislation is known as the "Tucker Hipps Transparency Act" as it is named for Tucker Hipps, a Clemson student who died while pledging a fraternity at the university. Hipps' body was found in Lake Hartwell after he had gone on a run with fellow pledges on a morning in 2014.
Hipps' story was one that drew attention to intense hazing of college fraternity pledges. Greek organizations across the country come under fire for hazing and for offenses involving alcohol or drugs. The Tucker Hipps Transparency Act seeks to make the public aware of any such offenses before deciding if they or their children should join any of the organizations.
According to Section 2 of the bill, universities will be required to put out a full report of all alcohol, drug, hazing, sexual or physical assault offenses. The reports must include the name of the organization and when the citation was issued. Any offense dating back to Dec. 31, 2012 must be reported.
In an interview with WSPA News on Friday, Hipps' mother, Cindy, spoke about the passing of the new legislation. She had been pushing for the act to be signed into law since her son's passing.
"Hold the organizations accountable by transparency," Hipps said. "That gives us the tools to say, 'No, I don't want to belong to this organization because they have problems.'"
Hipps expressed gratitude for the "miracle" that was the bill's last-minute signing. Although, she is not prepared to stop there. She plans to continue pushing so that hazing can be dealt with more seriously.
"I do feel good that, one day, we'll be able to have a moment where we can actually honor Tucker in our hearts and not think about how he died, but why he died," Hipps said.