WASHINGTON — Two New Jersey Democrats have introduced an anti-bullying measure named after a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after learning his intimate encounter with another man had been broadcast live online.
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, introduced by Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Rep. Rush Holt, would require colleges and universities that receive federal money to adopt policies explicitly prohibiting harassment based on a student's sexual orientation, race, gender and other factors.
The institutions would have to distribute the policies to students and notify them of counseling, mental health and other services available for bullying victims.
"While there is no way to eliminate the cruelty that some students choose to inflict on their peers, there should be a clear code of conduct that prohibits harassment," Lautenberg said in a statement. "It is vitally important that all students have the opportunity to learn in a safe and secure environment."
The measure seeks $250 million from 2013 through 2018 to help schools expand or create anti-bullying programs and set up anti-harassment grants to be administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
The measure was introduced late Wednesday in the Senate and Thursday in the House of Representatives. It's unclear whether Congress will take it up in the lame-duck session. If it isn't passed this year, it will be reintroduced in the next Congress, which will convene in January.
"In the wake of the Tyler Clementi tragedy, we should help colleges across the nation strengthen their anti-harassment programs and make campuses a more positive and safe atmosphere," Holt said in a statement.
Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are co-sponsoring the Senate bill. Democratic Reps. Robert Andrews, Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Steve Rothman and Albio Sires, all of New Jersey, and Linda Sánchez of California signed on to the House measure.
Clementi, 18, jumped from the George Washington Bridge in September. Two 18-year-old Rutgers freshmen — Clementi's roommate, Dharun Ravi of Plainsboro, and Molly Wei of Princeton — are charged with violating Clementi's privacy by spying from another dorm room through a laptop video camera.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating whether Ravi and Wei should be charged with criminal bias. They have withdrawn from Rutgers.