As another new school year begins, A&E has been exploring the dark side of frats and sororities in six-part docuseries Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life. First-hand accounts tell of criminal behavior, horrifying incidents and tragic stories in the tight-knit brotherhoods and sisterhoods.
The show’s August 19 episode delves into the sad hazing death of Timothy Piazza in 2017. He pledged to the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Penn State University and was subjected to a hazing ritual known as “The Gauntlet.” This led to him drinking double-digits worth of alcohol and falling down basement steps, resulting in multiple injuries. Even though he was in a bad way, other members of the fraternity waited hours before finally calling for medical help, fearing that they would get in trouble for what had happened. He later died in hospital.
Following Piazza’s death, 18 Beta Theta Pi brothers were initially charged for their involvement. His parents Evelyn and Jim have dedicated themselves to pushing litigation and new legislation so others don’t have to endure the unspeakable pain of losing a child. Two former university students recently pleaded guilty to 14 counts of hazing and a count of reckless endangerment. The Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law was initially passed in Pennsylvania and other states to prevent hazing deaths by increasing penalties and requiring schools to report and address hazing incidents.
Here the Piazzas open up about having their late son on the episode.
A&E
What was your first reaction regarding A&E exploring Greek life with this docuseries?
Jim Piazza: I think it’s great. I think awareness is key. It’s really important for people to know what happened to our son and other kids as a result of trying to join an organization. I think this outlet could really make a difference in creating that awareness
Why did you decide to participate?
Evelyn Piazza: As difficult as it is to be interviewed and talk about it. It’s important because Tim could be anybody’s son. If it could happen to Tim, it could happen to anybody. It is so important to have this platform to get this information across so that people have the knowledge.
What was the experience like revisiting the events that took place?
Jim: Tim could have been anyone’s child. He was a very nice kid. He liked sports and hanging out with his friends. He was not into partying. He was into video games, sports, just hanging out like most other kids in America. He was just trying to join an organization to make a big school smaller. I used to talk to him about networking. I think that done right a fraternity is a good networking facility. The way it all played out is kind of awful, but he went in with wide eyes thinking he was going to meet a bunch of new friends and they weren’t friends at all.
How was it sitting down for the cameras?
Evelyn: I do a lot of speaking now on college campuses and Greek life organizations. Each time I speak, I talk about that night and Tim and what happened to him. Every time it is painful and ripping the Band-Aid off, but it’s not something I’m unfamiliar with doing.
Jim: Right from the start we thought we had to do something. We have to speak out because if we don’t, who is going to do it? Unfortunately, we didn’t know there would be a bunch of hazing deaths after Tim, but we felt it was our obligation and something Tim would want us to do. As painful as it might be, it was the right thing to do. We wished people had done it before and we heard the message before because we didn’t have that awareness.
Former student and frat member Kordell Davis speaks for the first time here about his experiences on such a large platform. Has he reached out?
Evelyn: We haven’t really talked to him. He and I traded messages on occasion. He contacted me one time to let me know 60 Minutes was doing something in an episode on Sam Martinez and they were looking for a video of the night Tim was hazed. Other than that we haven’t had much contact with any of the members of Beta Theta Pi.
Where are we in expanding the anti-hazing law into more places?
Jim: Unfortunately, until recently someone had to die before this state was willing to entertain changing the law. We were able to get Pennsylvania changed, New Jersey, and other folks have been able to get changes made in Georgia, Ohio, and Louisiana. Those are related to deaths. We have seen some states now, and we’re part of the effort, that are willing to entertain changing the law and have changed the law, even where there has been no death. This is significant because I think if the laws are made more punitive and enforced, then I think we will see a drop in this behavior and this will be a deterrent. Unfortunately, it has to be done at a state level and not at a national level. We are working on national legislation to enhance transparency and a little bit of accountability. We’ve had that in the world for the last few years on the federal level and lobbying for it.
What kind of update can you provide on the active cases you have related to Timothy’s death?
Evelyn: We had the last two defendants, the president and pledge master of the fraternity, just pled guilty maybe two weeks ago to their charges. Now we have avoided a jury trial, which was scheduled for September, and will have sentencing on October 1.
Jim: And this is almost eight years later. There have been legal fees being run up by the defendants for almost eight years now. If that’s not a deterrent, I don’t know what would be.
Is there anywhere you want to direct people to help your cause?
Evelyn: We have the Anti-Hazing Coalition with other parents and Greek life organizations. That’s one of the places you can find us. It’s also where you can contact us for our model state felony legislation for hazing. And also, how to find out how the federal legislation is going.
Jim: We also have our foundation as well. It’s www.liveliketim.org.
Evelyn: Our foundation is not for hazing but for specialized prosthetics for kids who can’t afford them. That was what Tim wanted to do with his life.
What kind of impact this show will have?
Jim: At a minimum, I know it will create awareness or revisit awareness among people who may have lost sight of our situation. I think that’s a good thing. We’re on the cusp of kids going back to school. It’s perfect timing for parents and kids to be talking. Don’t be part of these things. If you see it happening, stop it because you can held accountable for just being around. I think the awareness is critical. Figures crossed it will be impactful.
Evelyn: Right now there are only 16 states that have felony hazing laws on the books. There are five states that don’t even have hazing laws. The rest are all misdemeanors. So, people really need to look it up and do an online search to see what hazing laws are in your state. If it’s not a felony, contact your local state senators and representatives and ask for it because it is so important to have those tools in place to hold people accountable and for this to be a deterrent.
House of Horrors: Secrets of College Greek Life, August 19, 9/8c, A&E