The parents of a fraternity pledge who died after a hazing ritual at Penn State last year will appear on a national television program Sunday with 14 other parents who lost sons in similar incidents. Watch the hour-long program, Dateline, hosted by reporter Andrea Canning here.
The parents, including Jim and Evelyn Piazza, speak out in a group interview about their desire and efforts to end college fraternity hazing, according to a news release about the program. The report covers alleged hazing incidents at Penn State, West Virginia University, LSU, Texas Tech, Rider University and others.
In addition to thePiazzas, Canning interviews Kordel Davis, a former fraternity brother at the Beta Theta Pi house who was at the pledge party the night Piazza was mortally wounded. Davis testified before a grand jury that he tried to get his fraternity brothers to call for help for Piazza, after Piazza fell down a flight of basement stairs, but they rejected the idea. Piazza went without medical help for nearly 12 hours and later died from his injuries.
Other parents featured on the program include Kim and TJ Burch, who will talk about losing their son Nolan while he pledged a fraternity at West Virginia University in 2014. Dateline will air a “never-before-seen” video from inside the fraternity house of the events leading up to Nolan’s death, according to a news release.
Nolan Burch died from alcohol poisoning after being given a bottle of alcohol to consume by himself at a pledge party, according to news reports. His blood alcohol content was .493. The legal limit to drive is .08.
Additionally, the broadcast will include interviews with a current and former university president, fraternity brothers, and a critic of Greek life.
