Tim Piazza died after a fraternity hazing party. Now, his parents are back in court as part of a seven-year battle for justice and reform.

SPRING LAKE, N.J. — Jim and Evelyn Piazza had just arrived home Wednesday from Washington, where they had watched the U.S. House of Representatives pass what could become the first federal anti-hazing law.

It was some measure of gratification for the New Jersey couple, who, along with about a dozen other parents who have lost children in hazing incidents, had been lobbying legislators.

In a bittersweet twist, the vote came one day before what would have been their son Tim’s 27th birthday.

» READ MORE: Two former PSU frat brothers enter guilty pleas in fraternity hazing incident in which Tim Piazza was fatally injured

In February 2017, Tim Piazza, then a sophomore mechanical engineering major at Pennsylvania State University, died following a booze-fueled fraternity hazing party. The case drew national attention in part because video surveillance from the house that night was played in court, showing Piazza and others moving through a drinking gauntlet and chugging alcohol.

“While it won’t help save our kids,” Evelyn Piazza, 56, said of the legislation, which next moves to the Senate, “in most instances, we think this kind of tool would have prevented our kids from going to the organizations that they did, and they would still be here.”

The “Stop Campus Hazing Act” would require all colleges that receive federal student aid to educate students about hazing, report hazing incidents, and publicly reveal groups that violate hazing policies.

» READ MORE: Penn State frat death raises questions for grieving parents

“I think it will be valuable,” Jim Piazza, 63, a recently retired accountant, said during an interview at the Piazzas’ Spring Lake home Wednesday night, where he gave a special shout-out to Republican U.S. Rep. GT Thompson, of the State College area, for his support.

The federal legislation is just one of many initiatives the Piazzas have supported over the last 7½ years in what can only be described as their all-out effort to educate students and parents about hazing dangers, urge law enforcement to prosecute violators, and prod universities to enact punishments — as well as get justice for their son.

Evelyn Piazza estimates one or both have spoken at about 200 schools across the country — from the University of Arizona to Oklahoma State and the University of Kentucky to Villanova, West Chester, Drexel, and Temple — addressing close to 200,000 students. Drexel University in 2021 awarded the couple honorary doctorates.

» READ MORE: National fraternities, parents who lost children team up against hazing

Drexel president John A. Fry said he was struck by the couple’s ability to turn their tragedy into a mission targeted at helping others.

“That is the ultimate in courage and bravery,” he said. “There is no doubt that probably through their work, they saved lives.”

The Piazzas were at the forefront of getting tougher hazing laws passed in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. And they established a foundation in their son’s name; every year, they hold a golf tournament to raise funds for children in need of prosthetic devices — Tim Piazza had been interested in that as a career.

The Piazzas said they have raised about $1.5 million since the first event in August 2017, and 200 children have been helped.

“This is like our life now, and this wasn’t supposed to be our life,” said Jim Piazza, who wore two wristbands he said he never takes off: “Live Like Tim. Never Stop Laughing” and “Piazza Strong.”

On Tuesday, the Piazzas will be in Centre County Court to face the former president and vice president of Beta Theta Pi, where their son endured what would be his fatal injury. Brendan Young and Daniel Casey, who pleaded guilty in July to 14 counts of misdemeanor hazing and reckless endangerment, are the final two fraternity members to be sentenced for their part that night, which the Pennsylvania attorney general described as participating in and facilitating the hazing event.

More than two dozen other fraternity members previously entered pleas to charges including hazing, conspiracy to commit hazing, and furnishing alcohol to minors. (A civil suit the Piazzas filed against fraternity members is ongoing.)

But before the sentencing, the Piazzas will have a chance to speak. Both said they have written their statements, though they haven’t shared them with each other.

“The country’s watching to see what this sentencing is,” Jim Piazza said. “It needs to be meaningful. It needs to be punitive, and anything else is an endorsement that it is OK to do this in Pennsylvania.”

That February night, Tim Piazza headed out to what was supposed to be a fun-filled party at the fraternity he hoped to join. He had instructions: Dress in a jacket and tie and report at 9:07 p.m. But soon after he and other pledges passed through a drinking gauntlet, the strapping 6-foot-2, 205-pound Tim Piazza fell down stairs and later died after no one called for help — for nearly 12 hours.

He suffered a collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen, and “non-recoverable” traumatic brain injury.

At the Hershey Medical Center, where he was flown for treatment, the Piazzas leaned close and told their son they loved him, as a tear rolled down his cheek.

In that moment, the Piazzas couldn’t have envisioned the path before them.

“I thought I was going to leave my job,” Jim Piazza said. “I thought we’d be curled up in a ball somewhere.”

But then Tim Piazza’s girlfriend, who attended Susquehanna University, asked them to speak there. One of her sorority sisters who attended Bucknell made another ask. And then a mother who also lost her child to hazing asked Evelyn Piazza to fill in for her and speak at a fraternity leadership institute.

She agreed, and Rae Ann Gruver, whose son, Max, died the same year as Tim Piazza in a hazing incident at Louisiana State University, joined her. Some young men cried and embraced them afterward, Evelyn Piazza said.

“One told me that I reminded him of his mom, and he had to leave in the middle and go call his mom and tell her he loved her,” said Evelyn Piazza, who wears wristbands for her son, Gruver’s son, and several others.

That’s when it really hit her: “We have something. We can reach people with this.”

The couple, along with other families who lost children to hazing, formed a group so they could work together to educate and press for reform — and support one another.

It hasn’t been easy adjusting to life without Tim. Whenever someone new she meets asks if she has children, Evelyn Piazza said, her heart races.

“They are not expecting the answer I’m going to give them,” she said.

» READ MORE: Parents whose children died take collective aim at hazing

Their other son, Michael, now an accountant in Philadelphia, still struggles, too, she said.

Moving to a new house was especially hard. It meant putting a lot of Tim’s belongings in storage. In their old house, his room had been untouched, like “a hallowed space,” she said. She would shut the door quickly after entering, “so as not to disturb the air inside.”

In the aftermath of Tim Piazza’s death, Penn State permanently banned Beta Theta Pi, instituted new restrictions on Greek life, created a center for fraternity and sorority research and reform, and released one of the first report cards on Greek life, with statistics on misconduct violations.

The couple early on settled their civil suit against Penn State. They still wish the university was doing more.

Jim Piazza cited a rash of reports earlier this month of freshmen being taken to the hospital for intoxication. He said he suspected hazing and fraternity pledging played a role and sent a note to Penn State administrators about it.

“They could have people out and about checking and providing better oversight,” Jim Piazza said. “I just don’t think they are doing that.”

The Piazzas also expressed frustration about Pi Kappa Alpha, a fraternity that was suspended by Penn State but continues to operate independently with support from its national office.

Penn State, Jim Piazza asserted, should expel the students.

Penn State said in a statement that it remains rigorous in its response to hazing.

“Our standard has not wavered, there is no place for hazing at Penn State, and we investigate every incident that is reported so that we can take appropriate disciplinary action if an organization or individual is found in violation of our policies or the law,” the school said.

The school said it is looking into “a few serious allegations related to excessive drinking” that Piazza had referred to.

“We have not yet received information through our investigation to identify a chapter that may have been involved,” Penn State said.

The university also said it is limited in its ability to regulate those fraternities that have lost university recognition, but has created a web page to alert the community to their suspensions.

“When any individual student is found to have committed a hazing or alcohol violation, we can and do hold them accountable,” the school said.

The university also asserted that when health and safety concerns arise or violations occur, “staff intervene on site, make appropriate referrals, and follow up with the chapter at a post-event meeting.”

Jim Piazza said Penn State should invite him and his wife to campus more to speak to students about hazing. They’ve been there some, but “not enough,” he said, noting that the couple does not charge and only asks for their expenses to be covered.

“Who better to tell the story?” Jim Piazza said.

The Piazzas also said they wish law enforcement would charge hazing violators more often. Jim Piazza said he is aware of incidents at Penn State since the new state law with tougher penalties, named for his son, was enacted.

“We are aware of no charges against anyone since Tim died,” he said.

But overall, Jim Piazza said, he thinks there is more awareness today — and more action. Boston College in 2023 suspended its men’s and women’s swim teams over hazing allegations, he noted. Northwestern University fired its football coach that same year amid hazing and racism allegations.

“We’ve heard from parents or students that told us ‘Hey, my son, my daughter was at a function, somebody fell down the stairs … blackout drunk, and we got them help, and because of that, we were told we saved their life,” Jim Piazza said. “That feels great, temporarily.”

» READ MORE: Piazzas file suit against 28 former Penn State frat members in son’s death, settle with the university

In court on Tuesday, Jim Piazza said, he would like to see the defendants get “some level of meaningful jail time,” which he notes has happened in some hazing cases.

But in court documents noting he has no prior criminal record, Young, 28, requested through his attorney a sentence of probation and a term of no more than three to four years. Details on what Casey plans to seek at his sentencing were not available.

Jim Piazza also would like to see genuine remorse.

“If they said … ‘I want to pay my dues, whatever those are, and then I want to help you guys,’ that would be something,” he said.