A man whose son died during a 2017 fraternity hazing ritual at Penn State University warned students and parents of the ills of the practice in an interview with Fox News Digital, saying anyone could become a victim. 

Jim Piazza’s son, Timothy, was recruited to join the Beta Theta Pi chapter at the school in February 2017. He was invited to a bid acceptance party, where he and several other pledges were forced to consume a handle of vodka. 

They were then forced to drink more hard liquor before competing in an alcohol “obstacle course,” which included “beer pong stations, and other stations where they had to drink varying forms of alcohol, wine bags, beer shotguns, that type of thing,” Jim said. 

Timothy Piazza and his family dressed in Penn State gear. Timothy died from a hazing incident in 2017.  (Jim Piazza)

Parents need to tell their children to focus on learning and developing skills for a career, and to avoid getting into trouble inside or outside of academia, Jim said. 

As for fraternity pledges going through rush this fall, Jim said that based on the structure and dynamics of fraternities, they have the power to control their own fate, and don’t have to be victims of hazing. 

“At the end of the day, the pledges have a little bit of power in that they could just band together and say, we’re not doing that, because the fraternity members need them,” he said. 

“They need the money, right? They need money to move in the house, and they need the money to pay the dues,” he continued. “And we know of groups that have said, ‘no, we are not doing that,’ and the fraternity members gave them a hard time at first, and then after a while it was like, ‘OK, well, we still need the pledge class, so fine.’” 

A photo of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house at Penn State University. (AP Photo)

Jim criticized some fraternities at the national level, and some chapters of some fraternities at various schools for not taking anti-hazing policies seriously enough, saying that “they’re not getting it” and that “same old, same old” hazing habits still continue.

However, he has not soured on Greek life as a whole. 

“I don’t have a problem with Greek life,” he said. “I think it has a lot of good things that it could give to the students. It can make a big campus small. It could create friendships that are everlasting. I think it teaches individuals that take the leadership roles how to be leaders.”

Beta Theta Pi did not return a comment request.