Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller will announce on Friday a grand jury’s findings and recommendations on Greek life culture at Penn State in the wake of Beta Theta Pi pledge Timothy Piazza’s death in February.
A press release from the DA’s office said the report comes after a 10-month investigation ‘regarding hazing and excessive alcohol consumption cultivated by fraternity life at Penn State University in light of the death of Timothy Piazza while pledging the Beta Theta Pi fraternity on February 2, 2017.’
Piazza sustained fatal injuries during a bid acceptance event and party at the now-banned Penn State fraternity. Investigators said he was given at least 18 alcoholic drinks in a period of one hour and 22 minutes. Piazza fell multiple times throughout the night and at the time of his first fall, head-first down the basement stairs, his blood alcohol content was estimated to be between .28 and .36. Paramedics were not called until 10:48 a.m. the following morning and Piazza died on Feb. 4 from brain injuries and internal bleeding.
The case was taken to a countywide grand jury and in May charges were filed against 18 fraternity brothers for a range of crimes related to Piazza’s death and hazing. After a preliminary hearing, refiling of charges and filing of new charges, 27 now face charges in the case.
In addition to recommending the initial charges, the grand jury presentment took a look at Greek life at the university and its role in creating an environment that may have led to Piazza’s death. The presentment said the grand jury would ‘develop a full report concerning the conduct of the Pennsylvania State University Interfraternity Council and, perhaps, the conduct of the university itself.’
During the grand jury’s criminal investigation, executive members of the IFC, among others were called to testify. The presentment said the testimony revealed ‘the Penn State Greek community nurtured an environment so permissive of excessive drinking and hazing that it emboldened its members to repeatedly act with disregard for human life.’
Piazza died, the presentment said, as a result of ‘extreme reckless conduct’ by Beta Theta Pi members who ‘operated within the permissive atmosphere fostered by the Pennsylvania State University Interfraternity Council.’
In the months since Piazza’s death, Penn State has instituted sweeping changes to fraternities and sororities, with significant focus on alcohol use and new member recruitment.
The university took control of the fraternity and sorority misconduct process and placed a moratorium on social events with alcohol. When alcohol is allowed again, the number of socials with alcohol will be restricted to 10 per semester per chapter (down from 40). No hard liquor will be allowed and beer and wine may be served only by bartenders certified through a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board program.
No daylong social events will be allowed and attendance at parties, whether indoors or outdoors, will be limited to the legal capacity of the house.
New student affairs staff members were hired, eight of whom are tasked with monitoring fraternities and sororities through random compliance checks. The Neighborhood Enforcement Alcohol Team (NEAT), a collaboration organized by Penn State and State College police, also was reinstated in the fall.
Penn State also formalized training and education plans for issues including alcohol, hazing and sexual assault for new and current members, and a program for parent and member education was instituted.
For the new member recruitment process, only full-time students who have completed at least 14 credits and have a minimum 2.5 GPA are eligible to participate. The process may only last six weeks (down from the previous 12) and each chapter must have a new member process and education plan approved by the university’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life before beginning recruitment.
A Greek life score card was issued for the first time giving information about each chapter’s membership, academic performance, governing council conduct, and State College Borough points for violations. The score card lists the number of hazing violations, alcohol violations, sexual assault violations, and other violations for each chapter.
Since new measures were implemented, the university has suspended several fraternities for violations.
