Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 5646, the Stop Campus Hazing Act, on Tuesday. It’s legislation largely inspired by the parents of a young man who died as a result of campus hazing at Penn State University.
Tim Piazza was a Penn State student when he died February 2017 as a direct result of a hazing ritual at his fraternity. The bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA) and co-sponored by 58 other legislators, was shaped by the efforts of Tim’s parents Evelyn and Jim Piazza who have advocated for years to strengthen anti-hazing laws.
The Piazza’s advocacy led to the establishment of the Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research and Reform at Penn State, whose research helped shape the Stop Campus Hazing Act and led to the enactment of some of the strongest anti-hazing laws anywhere in the country in Pennsylvania.
The Act includes many anti-hazing provisions long championed by Pennsylvania Representative Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Thompson’s office said.
In 2017, Thompson led efforts at the Education and Workforce Committee “to ensure institutions have clear policies prohibiting hazing, require institutions receiving federal funding to disclose policies related to hazing, and educate student organizations about the dangers of hazing,” according to a news release.
Additionally, Thompson introduced the End All Hazing Act in 2019, provisions of which are in the current legislation, and led the effort to advance H.R. 5646 through the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the release said.
“Today’s overwhelming passage of H.R. 5646 reaffirms Congress’ commitment to protect students on college campuses across the country,” Thompson said. “This vital legislation will increase transparency and accountability in an effort to ensure that no one will have to experience what the Piazza family has over these past seven years. My prayers go out to Evelyn and Jim Piazza, and I sincerely appreciate their ongoing advocacy and strength.”
Tim Piazza would have turned 27 on September 25.
“Sadly, we do not get to celebrate his birthday with him,” Evelyn and Jim Piazza said, “but we feel he may have given us a wink from above with today’s vote. We are thrilled to see the House passage of the Stop Campus Hazing Act on this day and appreciate Rep. Thompson’s continued and unwavering support of federal anti-hazing legislation.
“Over the last several years, our family, along with other families from the Anti-Hazing Coalition, have been determined to bring this bill forward, and we are now one step closer,” the Piazzas continued. “Tim’s death due to fraternity hazing at Penn State is something no family should have to experience. Through this important legislation, students and their families will have the much-needed transparency by universities to make informed decisions about which student organizations to join.”
This bipartisan legislation is supported by the National Panhellenic Conference, the North American Interfraternity Conference, the Clery Center, and the Anti-Hazing Coalition.
The Stop Campus Hazing Act now awaits action in the Senate.
