The grand jury took an in-depth look at how Greek life functions at Penn State University .
Now, it’s making recommendations on how the university can prevent another death like Timothy Piazza’s.

Over the past 10 and a half months, the grand jury has been investigating how Greek life is governed and punished at Penn State. According to the grand jury, the Interfraternity Council — or IFC — which is made up of Greek life members — is the group that oversees fraternities. The council also imposes punishments for hazing and other violations.

“They decide if it in fact happened. they decide if it is in fact warranted to fine them for it and they decide what the punishment. The fourth thing we determined is they decide if they share any of that with Penn State University,” Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller said.

Parks Miller said there was no implementation by Penn State to make it a fail-safe system. 
According to Parks Miller, university officials told the grand jury fraternities were separate from the school.

“They hire and they pay the salaries for adult advisors for the IFC…They’re spending money on it, they’re spending money on it. PSU controls all of the IFC’s money and all the dues collected from the frats to be an IFC member,” Parks Miller said.

Parks Miller said Penn State had the ability to take control of the fraternities before Piazza’s death.

“So when Tim dies and they say, ‘there’s nothing we could have done.’ They did. As soon as Tim died, they said ‘we’re taking control of the IFC.’ So, they could have done it before, they just didn’t. That would have been the more credible response, right? ‘We should have done it before.’”

The grand jury issued several recommendations on how the university and the state of Pennsylvania can prevent another death, including:

• Punishments that could result in felony hazing, suggesting it be called “Tim’s Law.”
• A confidential hotline to report hazing.
• For Penn State should individualize punishment for hazing, not just the fraternity.

“We are looking to be partners along with Senator Cormin and the legislature to bring about a law which will have much stiffer penalties, which will also include meaningful fines to fraternities, an will also include the potential of forfeiture of property of fraternizes who misbehave in an egregious fashion,” the Piazza’s Family attorney Tom Kline said.

“I really tried all I could to save the lives up there. I tried to tell the people that would listen,” hazing victim James Vivenzio said.

Vivenzio, 23, is a former Kappa Delta Rho brother at the university. His reports of hazing led to the discovery of a secret Facebook page — filled with photos of women, passed out.
That was in 2015, but Vivenzio said more needed to be done two years ago. 

“There is an interview of me saying death is imminent up at Penn State unless there is some serious change. And it was extremely tragic for me a year later to read the news and find out that Timothy Pizza passed away,” Vivenzio said.

Rich Braham’s 18-year-old son Marquise committed suicide after being hazed at Penn State Altoona in 2014. He still feels the absence of his son everyday. 

“It’s been 3 years and 9 months and a day since Marquise died. Thanksgivings kind of suck. All The holidays suck,” Braham said.  

The grand jury’s findings on how Greek life operates at Penn State has left both of them in shock and calling for change. 

“Penn State: You screwed up…we’re here today due to that. Ya know, it’s time to take responsibility and move on. We shouldn’t be here at all…the fact that we’re here over deaths, over something I really did try to stop. That’s on my conscience,” Vivenzio said.  

“This report is explosive. People should act immediately with these changes cause they’re just smart and make sense,” Braham said.  

As of right now, all Beta Theta Pi court proceedings have been postponed indefinitely. 

Penn State released the following statement in regards to the grand jury findings:

“The Penn State community continues to mourn the death of Timothy Piazza and all victims of hazing across the nation. The University will not forget these tragic deaths, as we continue our efforts to change the Greek-life culture. Our new safety and reform initiatives represent a significant departure from the Greek system’s broken self-governance model and provide a pathway to improving student safety here and nationwide. The University is seeing the Grand Jury recommendations today for the first time, and I have asked the University’s Greek Response team, a group of senior administrators, to carefully review the recommendations to see how they may further inform our aggressive efforts already taken. Penn State strongly disagrees with many characterizations of the University and our record of action as presented by the District Attorney, but we remain deeply committed to turning the pain and anguish of this tragedy into reforms that continue to improve the safety and well-being of our students,” said President Eric J. Barron.

Penn State is disappointed with the conclusions of the report issued by the DA. As the University’s response makes clear, the Report misunderstands or entirely disregards Penn State’s tangible commitment to improving safety, as well as public universities’ relationship with alumni boards, housing corporations and national organizations, which have oversight of these private organizations. Widespread problems of binge drinking and hazing persist at universities across the country, as tragic headlines in recent weeks have shown. However, it is not a solution to simply point an accusatory finger.

For more than a decade, Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims and other University leaders have stepped up education and prevention programs like medical amnesty, substance free housing, mandatory alcohol education and tougher enforcement of student conduct violations. In the immediate aftermath of Timothy Piazza’s death, the University determined that the self-governance model of Greek-life, which is the predominant model across the country, is broken. We have taken direct responsibility for safety monitoring and for oversight of organizational disciplinary conduct proceedings, and our fraternity and sorority chapters must accede to this arrangement or lose University recognition. We banned Beta Theta Pi forever, have suspended or revoked recognition for seven other Greek-letter organizations and have implemented extraordinarily far-reaching reforms, many of which have not previously been tried by any other universities.

A number of the recommendations in today’s Grand Jury Report are similar to safety initiatives already implemented or in progress. The University’s response includes reference to many of these safety initiatives, such as a relationship statement, Neighborhood Alcohol Enforcement Team (NEAT), and fraternity and sorority life requirements. The University’s expectations and determination have been made clear through our aggressive actions. We are resolved through an aggressive, safety agenda that builds on preexisting Penn State programs to make new progress and to refine our measures to make meaningful change.

All colleges and universities—large, small, public and private — have attempted to deal with problems of hazing, underage alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct that are found in these independent student organizations. These issues are violations of Pennsylvania law, and, in the past, when made aware of misconduct, Penn State acted firmly, investigating and responding decisively by revoking recognition of chapters and holding individual students accountable.

The University is supportive and has been working with elected officials on tougher legislation to curtail hazing and other unsafe practices. For months, we have advocated strengthening hazing laws, and, for years, we have worked with our community leaders to enhance penalties for violation of alcohol laws. The horrific nature of Timothy Piazza’s death must catalyze others in the Commonwealth and nationally, from elected officials to university presidents to help develop solutions to the scourge of reckless drinking and hazing that are prevalent. Further, participants in the Greek life system — students, parents, alumni and the local and national Greek organizations, including their affiliated housing corporations — need to do much more as we all focus on student well-being.

This is a problem that will require the concerted action of everyone if we are to create sustainable change. These are complex issues, and the University’s initiatives will be evaluated and modified over time, as necessary, to achieve our objectives. We remain deeply committed to leading efforts to address these problems plaguing academic institutions nationwide.