2 Months After Student's Frat House Death, Penn State President Pens Open Letter To Greek Community

As an investigation continues into a frat party where a sophomore died, Penn State President Eric Barron published a lengthy blog post condemning Greek organizations that continue to openly flout university rules.

Barron's "Open Letter to Penn State’s Greek Community" was published Monday on Penn State's website.

The letter comes just two months after the death of Timothy Piazza at a frat house. As a result of that fatal incident the university recently cancelled their 2017 fall Rush recruitment and imposed a host of aggressive new restrictions on Greek organizations around campus, including strongly enforcing underage drinking regulations and limiting attendance at social events.

However, these rules were largely ignored during the recent Parent's Weekend, as observers noted that nine of Penn State's 82 frats and sororities intentionally violated at least one rule, Barron explained.

The worst offender: Sigma Alpha Mu, which Barron says violated almost every new rule on the book. They held a party in which parents themselves were visibly intoxicated, numerous underage students were wandering in and out, and no licensed third-party server was used.

Barron suggested that the continued defiance of the rules, especially when executed so brazenly, could mean "the beginning of the end of Greek life at Penn State."

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Piazza, the 19-year-old sophomore from New Jersey, died on Feb. 4 after he fell down a set of stairs during a hazing ritual at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After the fall, he was placed on a couch, where he remained for 12 hours before someone called authorities. The fall caused a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen and traumatic brain injury, which led to his death two days later.

Barron said that Beta had presented itself as "model" fraternity: an expansive, multi-million dollar mansion, no signs of large parties, video surveillance, and a live-in monitor. That whole facade was a "charade," Bannon said.

Beyond Piazza's tragic death, the strict new rules are in place for other reasons. Penn State said that their investigation into Greek social life revealed alarming statistics: sorority students are 50 percent more likely to be sexually assaulted, while fraternity men are 62 percent more likely to commit sexual assault.

"If new rules can just be ignored, or behavior just goes underground, and if there is no willingness to recognize the adverse impact of excessive drinking, hazing, and sexual assault, then is there any hope?" Barron said.

Image via Penn State