Anti-hazing Meeting Quickly Turned into Joke to SMU Greek Life Members

Students took advantage of anonymous Q&A chat forum to make sexual comments, bullying members of other organizations and making light of hazing.

1600 Greek life members were required to attend mandatory anti-hazing meeting Wednesday night in McFarlin Auditorium. That is where two mothers whose children have died in fraternity hazing incidents at Penn State University and Ohio University shared their sons’ stories.

There was a QR code presented to all the students allowing them to ask questions anonymously. Within minutes the comments on the chat forum turned to sarcastic remarks and bashing “ugly” girls and “fat” frat boys.

The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life at SMU called this mandatory program in light of recent incidents in the community, including hazing alcohol violations and multiple open investigations. Investigations the Student Affairs office would not discuss.

“The university does not discuss any ongoing investigations,” SMU Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Melinda Sutton said. Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Ashley Fitzpatrick declined to mention or acknowledge the disrespectful platform the chat forum quickly turned into. “blah blah,” Ashley Fitzpatrick said.

Some students did take the meeting seriously. Sophomore fraternity member Gus Reed was passionate about the importance of this meeting, and the seriousness of educating college students about hazing in hopes to avoid it or completely eliminate it from the culture of Greek life.

“We should educate them on how to check themselves,” Reed said, referring to older members of Greek organizations. “For the kids potentially getting hazed they need to know the situation they’re in so that they don’t think this is normal.”

Mothers Piazza and Wiant would agree. “Even the most innocuous things can still have damaging effects,” Piazza said. “They could commit suicide, we don’t know at what point is somebody’s breaking point.”

Evelyn Piazza and Kathleen Wiant, mothers of Timothy Piazza (Penn State) and Collin Wiant (Ohio University), share their horrific stories of their sons’ deaths to SMU students to attempt to change the dangerous hazing culture currently surrounding Greek Life.

With multiple organizations currently under open investigation for alleged hazing, the mother’s speeches were meant to inspire the students of Greek life to change the dangerous culture they have been taking part in.

The message of the speeches was completely lost as the meeting went awry due to the open Q&A chat forum and people refusing to respect the speakers by talking over them and making distracting noises from the audience. With all of the investigations still on-going there is no say in when or if any of these organizations are guilty of these alleged charges or if they will face any consequences.

Piazza and Wiant speak regularly about hazing awareness, and it was imperative they visited SMU in the midst of all the Greek life controversy. Multiple Greek organizations at SMU are under open investigation and cease and desist after alleged hazing incidents and even an assault charge.

With many rumors circulating of completely disbanding Greek life altogether at SMU, students still refuse to shift their mindsets and realize the severity and danger in hazing.

To learn more about hazing and how it is effecting institutions and lives across the country visit https://stophazing.org/issue/. To learn about Piazza’s and Wiant’s individual stories of loss because of hazing, or are interested to book them as keynote speakers, visit https://www.antihazingcoalition.org/speakers/ or info@kathleenwiant.com.