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Dangers of hazing on display at Penn State

3 min read
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In the same way that news coverage of mass shootings has taken on a ritualistic quality, so has the coverage of the deaths of college students in hazing accidents.

We see photos of them with friends or family, fresh-faced and full of potential, engaged in activities they loved – volunteer work, playing music, participating in sports. And we gaze at these images knowing their lives ended far too early, that they were sent to their graves as a result of recklessness and, let’s be frank, stupidity.

Since last week, coverage online, on television and in print has been awash with the smiling face of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza, a New Jersey native who died in February after sustaining fatal injuries in the midst of a hazing ritual at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at Penn State University. On Friday, charges were brought against 18 members of the fraternity by Centre County prosecutors, with eight facing charges of involuntary manslaughter. Aggravated assault, simple assault, evidence tampering and hazing are among the other charges that have been brought.

According to the grand jury, “The Penn State Greek community nurtured an environment so permissive of excessive drinking and hazing that it emboldened its members to repeatedly act with reckless disregard to human life.”

Thanks to video surveillance, members of the grand jury and prosecutors were able to get a step-by-step look at how Piazza died. He arrived at the fraternity house shortly after 9 p.m. Feb. 2 to go through what was dubbed “the gantlet” in order to become a full-fledged brother. Here’s how Philly.com describes it: “One member would later testify that pledges guzzled vodka, shotgunned beers, drank from wine bags, and played multiple rounds of beer pong at a series of alcohol stations, where they downed four to five drinks in two-minute spans.”

Piazza apparently became drunk quickly, and fell down a flight of stairs. Despite the clear need for help, no one in the fraternity called 911. After lingering on a couch for several hours, Piazza tried to get up but fell onto a hardwood floor. A few hours after that, he fell down the steps again. A full 12 hours went by after Piazza first tumbled down the stairs before an ambulance was summoned. He died a day later as a result of head injuries and a ruptured spleen.

In fairness, other on-campus organizations at various colleges and universities have hazing rituals. It’s not limited to fraternities and sororities. One report found half of all college students endure some sort of hazing. But there’s obviously no need for it to involve behavior that puts lives in jeopardy. Administrators should not shrug it off and assume it’s a normal part of campus life, and students should not be afraid to report it.

Bringing charges against the fraternity brothers at Penn State for their shameful, neglectful behavior was the correct call.

Sure, an argument could be made that they are college students, and college students can say and do dumb things they will regret when they are older and wiser.

Moreover, it’s almost certain that Piazza’s compatriots were themselves stumbling in an alcohol-induced fog and might have exercised better judgment had they been sober.

But they are adults in the eyes of the law and should be treated that way.

Will their academic or professional prospects be impaired as a result? Perhaps. But it will bring home a stubborn reality: Actions have consequences.

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