Last night, the Parents of a Penn State student who died in a hazing incident talked with students from IUP about the dangers of hazing and pushed for more anti-hazing laws.
(Jim Piazza, Interfraternity council president Noah Schwartz, Evelyn Piazza, and Panhellenic council president Alexis Pollock, discuss last minute details on the talk at Fisher Auditorium on Monday night. Picture by Josh Widdowson)
Jim and Evelyn Piazza were both at IUP’s Fisher Auditorium last night to talk with students at IUP and members of the community about the dangers of hazing. They know those dangers first-hand as their son, 19-year-old Timothy, died in 2017 in a hazing incident at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, where he drank 18 alcoholic beverages and fell down a set of stairs. After he fell down the stairs, no one called for medical assistance.
The Piazzas have so far given 25 talks about the night their son died, and Evelyn said that it is a painful experience every time.
–Evelyn Piazza
Jim said that they have spoken with several student leaders as part of their other talks, and he said that the message has had a profound impact on those student leaders.
-Jim Piazza
Last night’s program was put on by the combined efforts of IUP’s Interfraternity council, the Panhellenic council, and the office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Noah Schwartz, the president of the Interfraternity council, talked about why the groups brought the program to the public.
–Noah Schwartz, president of the IUP Interfraternity Council
Turnout was big for last night’s talk with the message that hazing should not be tolerated anywhere.
