logo logo
Donate
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Social Justice
    • Racial Justice
    • Climate Justice
    • Disability Justice
    • Economic Justice
    • Health Justice
    • Immigration
    • LGBTQ+
  • Civic News
  • Nonprofit Leadership
    • Board Governance
    • Equity-Centered Management
    • Finances
    • Fundraising
    • Human Resources
    • Organizational Culture
    • Philanthropy
    • Power Dynamics
    • Strategic Planning
    • Technology
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Leading Edge Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Webinars

Continued Hazing Deaths Prompt Nonprofit Sector Response

Carrie Collins-Fadell
May 23, 2017
“Day 183: Bottling Day.” Credit: Three If By Bike

May 15, 2017; NBC News

When Penn State sophomore Mike Piazza’s family discovered he had died from injuries suffered at a fraternity party, hearts were broken. But when the details of his death started to spill out, they hit families who had been through the eerily familiar scenarios with an extra-hard gut punch.

Piazza was a shy engineering major who had followed his older brother to Penn State with a dream of one day making technologically advanced prosthetic limbs for children and veterans. However, everything went terribly wrong when he fell over 15 feet down a flight of stairs after a fraternity initiation in which the pledges were drinking large amounts of alcohol. Although found unconscious immediately afterward, he received no medical attention for hours. He would succumb to the injuries suffered from the fall.

“His story felt so familiar to us—a bright, young college student looking for friendship through a fraternity, overdosing on alcohol during a hazing event…just like Gordie almost 13 years ago,” reads a statement from the Gordie Center for Substance Abuse Prevention released in response to Tim’s death.

In 2014, Lynn “Gordie” Bailey Jr. died just three weeks after arriving on campus at the University of Colorado. The 18 year-old was a pledge for the Chi Psi fraternity and drank large amounts of alcohol along with other pledges. Appearing visibly intoxicated and unconscious, those who could have saved Gordie’s life instead left him to sleep it off for over 10 hours before it was discovered he had passed away from alcohol poisoning.

The Gordie Center, the nonprofit founded after his death, seeks to educate students about blood alcohol content through wallet cards, magnets, and posters about the signs of alcohol overdose and the dangers of hazing through a documentary. They also host a Gordie Day during National Hazing Prevention Week in September.

Author Andrew Lohse, who chronicled hazing at Dartmouth University in his 2014 memoir, Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy, blamed fraternities such as Beta Theta Pi at Penn State and Chi Psi for being ruled by “incredibly strong groupthink.” Lohse noted that it can be especially dangerous in fraternities, which he says are about submissions of power.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

“It’s about dominance, it’s about control and that fraternities are built on a secrecy that breeds peer pressure and frowns upon speaking out of turn,” Lohse mused. That, he said, needs to end within the entire Greek-letter community—and it needs to start with changing the fraternity psychology. Lohse commented that the Piazza case is one example where one person standing up is all it would have taken to change the outcome.

As these tragedies have played out on campuses across the country, it also has become clear that more attention needs to be put on passing and promoting the existence of Good Samaritan laws. In Pennsylvania, local law enforcement was saddened the students at Penn State weren’t more aware of the fact they would have overlooked the underage drinking in order to provide possibly life-saving medical intervention to Piazza. One fellow pledge even begged to take Piazza to the hospital; he was was told to mind his own business.

The Starkey family knows all too well that Good Samaritan laws can save lives. Carson Starkey was participating in a fraternity drinking ritual in while pledging a fraternity in December of 2008 when he became unresponsive. Sigma Alpha Epsilon members at California Poly Tech put Carson in a vehicle to take him to the hospital, but ultimately abandoned the trip for fear of getting themselves and their fraternity in trouble. Many students in these situations report a fear of getting help for a friend in trouble because they are terrified of losing their scholarship or positions on sports teams because they are themselves participating in underage drinking.

In Carson’s case, the group instead aborted the hospital trip, returned to the house, and left Carson on a mattress. Carson never woke up and died of alcohol poisoning. After his passing, the family formed the nonprofit Aware Awake Alive. They have worked diligently since Carson’s death to pass legislation allowing for limited immunity for those who call 911 when someone is in trouble. They have also worked to educate everyone on the signs of alcohol poisoning. The work is critically important, as 12 young people die every day in the United States from underage drinking, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

When it comes to the legal battle following the loss of Penn State’s Mike Piazza playing out in Pennsylvania, no one wins in these situations, no matter the outcome. Penn State’s image is damaged, and Beta Theta Pi will never exist again on Penn State’s campus. Those who were there and did nothing to save this man’s life will have to live with emotional and criminal fallout. Most profoundly, the light of Mike Piazza was extinguished forever, leaving an absence his family and friends will always feel.

The nonprofit sector continues to step up to produce thought leaders with specific plans of action. Those in charge of anyone’s safety—on school grounds, in places of worship, or in a work environment—would be savvy to take advantage of their resources and free assistance so that history does not have to repeat itself. Partner with these great organizations to send a powerful message and save lives. Without partnerships, lives like Gordie’s, Mike’s, and Carson’s will continue to be lost unnecessarily.—Carrie Collins-Fadell

About the author
Carrie Collins-Fadell

Carrie is a nonprofit leader currently residing in Phoenix. An NPQ writer since 2013, she enjoys writing on a variety of topics, including legacy giving and animal welfare issues, and is always rooting for a Detroit renaissance.

More about: Higher EducationNonprofit News

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
What Does Gaza Solidarity Protest Look Like on Campuses Today?
Akin Olla
On the Front Lines: How Campus Organizing Can Inform Movements Today
Aashna Miharia
What Happens When Your NSF Grant Is Canceled?
Nicole Walker
Being Anchored: The Challenge of Cultural Change
Rita A. Hodges
Madeleine L’Engle’s Books Were Never Meant to Be “Safe”
Charlotte Jones Voiklis
Advocates Mobilize to Stave Off Cuts to Federal Student Loan Programs
Marian Conway

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
July 24th, 2:00 pm ET

Organizing in Divided Times

The Relational Infrastructure We Need to Protect Democracy

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
September 24th-25th, 2:00 pm ET

Advanced QuickBooks for Nonprofits

Expert Guidance for Experienced QuickBooks Users

Register

    
You might also like
Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia on lawn in front of Butler Library. Palestinian flags in front, crowd near building.
What Does Gaza Solidarity Protest Look Like on Campuses...
Akin Olla
Students attend Palestinian solidarity protest on the steps of Sproul Hall at the University of California, Berkeley.
On the Front Lines: How Campus Organizing Can Inform...
Aashna Miharia
US Capitol Building
Trump Budget Bill Spells Trouble for Nonprofits
Isaiah Thompson

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders
  • Submissions

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.