11 DEC 2017 · Sarah Sprigg Ms. Ruderman WRD 110 4 December 2017 Transcript Rough Draft [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephants fades in] Sarah Sprigg It was the 3rd of February, nearly a year ago, the air was filled with winter and the fraternity houses at Pennsylvania State were filling with eager pledges. The Beta Theta Pi actives were concocting their annual “gauntlet,” a method of testing a pledges ability to chug obscene amounts of alcohol and play the part of a tough guy. This event would take place the following day, the day that would change, not only, the reputation of their fraternity forever, but also the lives of everyone involved. But before I tell you about that day, I will give you a little context. [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephants fades out] According to Aldo Cimino, hazing, in its simplest terms, is ”the abuse of new or prospective group members.” Hazing has been practiced on fraternity pledges, athletes, soldiers, and other groups of individuals since the Medieval times. Hazing is tradition, it turns young boys into men, it teaches respect, right? Or is that just how people justify harassing, tormenting, or even in some cases, killing naive pledges? I wanted to dig a little deeper, so I interviewed my father. [phone rings] Sarah Sprigg Have you ever experienced hazing? Chip Sprigg Yes, I was in a high school club called Fedilian back in the late 60s and as apart of out initiation process they paddled us on various weekends. [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephant fades back in ] And then apart of the H-night, which stood for Hell Night, they beat us pretty good. You would end up getting a leather behind from it. [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephant fades out ] Sarah Sprigg I reached out to a few fraternity pledges, but out of fear they all denied my request to be interviewed. However, they told me a few of their stories. They all had similar accounts of common activities such as cleaning the house after parties, being sober drivers for actives, completing homework for members, waking up in the middle of the night to complete extraneous exercises, taking the citation when parties are busted, paying for all of the alcohol for parties, memorizing chants and the names of all the members of the fraternity and other instances of hazing. But some of the stories that stood out to me were consuming live goldfish, being placed in cages and peed on by actives, drinking alcohol until they puke, and one pledge, who resembles a character from a television show, was forced to memorize all of te characters lines in a few episodes, so the he could perform whenever the actives demanded. But this was all I could get out of them. [Trouble by Cage the Elephant fades in] These accounts describe events that actually happen, to real people, every single day. When I tell you about the events that occurred on the 3rd of February, keep in mind that it is not just a story. The event actually happened, Tim Piazza is real, and it happened a little under a year ago. Thanks to an alumni of the fraternity, cameras were installed to monitor the fraternity activities. Therefore, the fraternity’s top secret night was caught on camera. The night began with a line of pledges inside the Beta Theta Pi house, awaiting their acceptance into the fraternity. The boys filed into the living room, and without wasting any time, the gauntlet began. According to an account of the event by Caitlin Flanagan, the gauntlet is described as “quickly drinking a massive amount of alcohol in an obstacle course.” The description of this event seems harmless, perhaps even fun, but what comes next my be harder to understand. After the gauntlet, the camera reveals an extremely intoxicated Tim Piazza. The kind of drunk better suited for a hospital bed than a fraternity couch. Maybe Tim recognized this? Maybe he knew he needed help and knew he would not find it here? So Tim stood up and made his way to the front door. [door clanks] However, an incapacitated Tim, was unable to open the door. He stumbled across another door. However, the door did not lead where Tim thought it would. Expecting flat ground, instead of steep stairs, Tim falls. He fell down 15 feet of stairs, and every step banged him, beat him up, and bruised him. His fraternity brothers carried him up the stairs. They completed a few consciousness tests and Tim failed to pass any of them, not even a flicker. Here are the facts: Tim is unresponsive, intoxicated, and fell down a flight of stairs, he is covered in dark bruises and blood and not one person thought to call the police. These boys are not doctors, but is it not common knowledge that people die from falling down stairs every year? Finally a sign of life, if you consider vomiting and twitching, to be hopeful. Semi-conscious, Tim attempts to stand-up only to then fall back down to the floor, bashing his head into the ground. The cameras capture a fraternity member walking up to Tim,. Will he see that something is wrong? Will he save Tim’s life? The boy gives Tim a sturdy shake, there is no reaction, the boy walks away. [Trouble by Cage the Elephant fades out] During Tim’s fading consciousness, he attempts to escape a few more times without success. Morning came and a few members came across a pair of shoes at the fraternity house. [Mysterious music fades in] Shoes belonging to Tim, who was now curled up in the basement, hardly breathing, with chilled skin, barely hanging on. The boys found him, carried him onto the couch, reassembled his ruffled clothes and then took the time to clean up the empty liquor bottles, red solo cups and any other sign of inappropriate or even illegal behavior. Did they call 911? No, not yet. Before they were willing to risk their fraternities reputation, they researched his symptoms. What is wrong with Tim? Hazing breeds chaos and boys passing out, or throwing up is called Saturday. But this time was different. Tim would never wake up again. Finally around 11 A.M. they called the police. It took 12 hours before anyone called for help. In those 12 hours, any hope for Tim’s life disappeared. They discovered that Tim had ruptured his spleen during the fall, and blood had filled his abdomen. Mr. Piazza, Tim’s father, asked the surgeon if Tim’s life could have been saved if they had called earlier, to which he responded “unequivocally, yes.” But they did not call soon enough, maybe they didn't know what they were doing. Maybe they had an idea, but surely they knew, that the events that took place that night, were wrong. Unfortunately, on the night of February 3rd, when those boys were waiting, eagerly, inside the house, they had an idea of what would occur when they walked through the doors. They were not surprised by the demeaning games and they surely expected the alcohol. But they signed over their dignity in exchange for a title and an illusion of brotherhood. [Mysterious music fades out] Why would these boys willingly subject themselves to torture? For the popularity? Acceptance? Fear? Maybe it is because for months, fraternity actives have told them how useless and replaceable they are. Maybe it begins with laughing off the ridicule, because, hey, they are just kidding, but then it turns into sleepless nights, broken bones, and then self-doubt. Hazing kills individuality, leaving them completely convinced that they are worthless without their fraternity. Hazing supports a culture of fear, instead of bravery. When an active member tells you to run 5 miles, you run 5 miles. [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephant fades back in] When an active member tells you, Tim is fine don't worry about him, you believe him. Hearing this story might infuriate you, in fact it should. But I urge you not to blame the boys for Tim’s death. They were irresponsible, they were selfish, but I can almost guarantee each and everyone one of them that crossed paths with Tim Piazza that night wonders, every single day, how they could have missed the signs. These are not taxing criminals, they are just boys. They made a mistake that they will never forget, but they cannot be to blame. Yet again hazing has been called to the stand. Hazing has taken hundreds of lives and it is unapologetic. It hides behind hallow traditions and cruel intentions. Laws against hazing, only make fraternity members better liars. The truth is if hazing is to ever die, fraternities must die first. [Cigarette Daydream by Cage the Elephant fades out]