Penn State Completes 32 Beta Theta Pi Student Conduct Investigations
Penn State’s Office of Student Conduct has officially completed the investigations and discipline of 32 individuals related to Tim Piazza’s death at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, the university announced today.
Because of federal guidelines on student privacy, no individual student names will be released. However, the university outlined the results of the investigations.
19 Conduct Withdrawals
Nineteen of the students investigated decided to take a “conduct withdrawal” before Penn State finished its disciplinary process. These students will have a note on their transcripts as such, and if they ever want to come back to Penn State, they’ll have to finish the disciplinary process.
7 Conduct Violations
Seven of the remaining students who completed the conduct process were found to be in violation of the Code of Conduct — for hazing and “creating a condition that endangers” — and were disciplined, ranging from probation to expulsion. Penn State did not give a solid figure for how many of these students were expelled.
6 Not Charged
The other six students who completed the disciplinary process were not charged with any violations and as such were not disciplined by the university.
“Dangerous drinking and negative behavior within the Greek-life community are longstanding issues impacting campuses nationwide, and we have said ‘enough is enough,’” said Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs. “Penn State remains committed to addressing negative outcomes, and preventing them where we can. To achieve the transformation we seek, commitment and partnership is needed from chapters, alumni boards, housing corporations, councils and national organizations to put student safety first, and encourage chapter members to bring issues to those among us who seek to address them.”
Penn State’s Student Conduct process is of course separate from criminal proceedings. Eighteen former Beta Theta Pi brothers faced charges originally, but after preliminary hearings some of those have since been dropped, including all felony charges in the case.
District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller has refiled the most serious charges that were dismissed. Because of student privacy guidelines, it’s unclear how many of these legal cases overlap with the student conduct cases outlined above.
Your ad blocker is on.
Please choose an option below.
Purchase a Subscription!