Oct 28, 2018 3 min read

It is surely a source of bottomless sadness to the friends and family of Timothy J. Piazza that his brief life will be remembered primarily for its agonizing final hours.

You’ll recall Piazza was the 19-year-old Penn State University sophomore who died in early 2017 while pledging to join the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. In spite of the fact that the fraternity house was supposed to be alcohol-free, it was awash in booze and Piazza guzzled down 18 drinks in about 80 minutes. He stumbled around the fraternity house, fell down a flight of stairs, and ultimately died of a traumatic brain injury. In the months since, 26 of Piazza’s would-be fraternity brothers have been charged in his death, and two have already pled guilty.

Piazza was one of the 80 or so deaths that have occurred in the United States since 2005 as a result of hazing incidents at college or university fraternities. Defenders have long argued Greek organizations engage in charitable endeavors and help students make lifelong friendships and connections that can be used in their professional lives. On the other hand, detractors counter that fraternities in particular are outposts of debauchery, where hard partying greatly eclipses do-gooding. And, as evidenced by the Piazza case and others like it, the partying is sometimes far more harmful than run-of-the-mill, boys-will-be-boys fun. All told, 3 in 5 college students have been subject to hazing, according to the website StopHazing.org.

For that reason, it’s heartening the commonwealth has at last joined most of the rest of the country in putting a law on the books that stiffens penalties for hazing. On Oct. 19, Pennsylvania became the 45th state with an anti-hazing law after Gov. Tom Wolf signed a law named for Piazza requiring high schools, colleges and universities to implement anti-hazing policies, along with reporting procedures.

If someone is seriously injured or killed during hazing, the new law makes it a felony. Expulsions, fines and the withholding of diplomas could also happen because of it, as well as the confiscation of fraternity houses where hazing has taken place. If hazing is likely to cause a relatively minor injury, it’s a misdemeanor offense.

After the bill was signed, Piazza’s parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza said lawmakers “have given the justice system the tools to punish this egregious behavior and we only can hope they use these tools so that the law becomes a deterrent to prevent other families from having to endure the loss and pain that we have.”

One state law obviously won’t stop hazing entirely. Young people in their late teens or early 20s are not known for thumbing through the statute books before embarking on foolhardy or perilous behavior. And the law that now bears his name won’t bring Timothy J. Piazza back to those who miss him. But it could help prevent other young people from unwittingly following in his footsteps.