From the GJ Presentment: Gary Dibileo initiated the GroupMe text thread in which
the obstacle course assignments were handed out to the volunteering brothers.
Sue22, I believe he fell down the stairs because he was drunk which started the chain of events post-alcohol consumption not because he was pushed but it appears the prosecutors threw every charge they could think up at them so in each case something or somethings will be pled is my guess. Also perhaps they don’t understand this in the UK, but I guarantee you that each family has been told by their lawyers not to say anything that might be able to be use as showing remorseful “guilt” on the part of the kids so don’t hold your breath waiting for statements, the only statements that will be heard or seen will be by lawyers or approved by lawyers.
Where did the father say that he never had to have the talk with his son re drinking? I haven’t seen all 3 interviews – just NBC – so either I missed it or he said it elsewhere.
Whether the father had the talk or not, I think they all knew what he was getting into (obviously not as horrific as it turned out to be). Timothy has an older brother at PSU – he was on the NBC interview and said that when Tim wanted to pledge he told him to be careful and walk away if it got too crazy; he said that he didn’t feel like he fit into frat life and felt like Tim may not either but still supported it bc Tim wanted to do it.
And I’m sure I’ve said it before but every last guy involved – including the pledge brothers – are absolute sons of b----. The guy had an older brother ON CAMPUS. Hell at 10 pm when he “ruined their fun” by falling down, they could have dragged his body out of the house, called the older bro and said - come get your brother, he’s ruining our fun and we’re not going to deal with it. Fairly positive the guy’s real brother would have shown up and he would have gotten help before 11 pm and before the other half dozen falls that happened and before he was punched in the gut in a shattered spleen. Clearly the older brother has an idea of how pledging goes bc the following day Tim’s roommate called him and asked if he had seen Tim bc he hadn’t come home. The older bro had a feeling and called the local ER and was told to come in bc his brother was there. And then poor guy had to call his parents and tell them what happened and that Tim was being life flighted to Hershey bc the local ER couldn’t handle his injuries.
All of it is horrific but I felt so bad for the parents when they told NBC they asked the doctors – would it have turned out different if he had been treated within an hour or even 5 hrs – and they said yes.
@jpc763 -
My scouts were upset when singing for your lost stuff was banned at summer camp. A couple of our guys had really good voices and would do the performing. I tend to think that the singing was banned all over, not just in your troop. H once lost something and had to sing the “Let’s go Barbie” song. Also, at the camp my boys attended, scouts were not forced to sing. They could retrieve their items later if they chose not to. I think that singing for a lost item just can’t be compared to the Piazza situation and I say this as someone who is so totally tone deaf, the scouts would throw my stuff at me just so I wouldn’t sing! Singing a few notes vs. chug a lugging vodka straight… If Tim Piazza had had to sing a couple of arias instead, he’d be alive today.
@techmom99 - I was in NO WAY trying to compare Boy Scouts to the actions at BetaTheta Pi at PSU. I was trying to show that hazing exists in organizations other than fraternities. Even the Boy Scouts ave a history of hazing.
I think you lost me. Singing for lost things is neither illegal nor dangerous.
Running around with beanies is neither illegal nor dangerous. You do not, as a rule, actually die of embarrassment.
Forcing, coercing, or even offering that much alcohol to someone underage is both.
I guess all of those present could be sedated, thrown down a staircase twice, then hit in the stomach and call it even, but that’s really old school.
Board members from Beta Theta Pi issued a statement:
Full statement embedded in this article:
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/news/crime_courts/article_9824e02e-39a8-11e7-8520-43bfdb3c468a.html
Interesting statement from Beta Theta Pi. Still amazed that not one individual from either the fraternity or University had the decency to attend his service not to mention accompanying Tim on his ambulance ride. To me, it is a reflection of character and the culture at Penn State.
9 tragic revelations shared by parents of Penn State teen who died at frat
We get it.
If multiple doctors can be called up to the stand and corroborate what the surgeon said about 12 hours of delay being the key - I imagine at least a couple of them will be getting involuntary manslaughter charges (not to mention obstruction of justice charges)
Thanks bodangles! Glad you got it. My hope is that PSU admin and the Board of Trustees gets it someday! Has yet to happen.
“Still amazed that not one individual from either the fraternity or University had the decency to attend his service”
Seriously, if it were your child, would you want them there? Personally, I wouldn’t want to see any of the degenerates ever again, and none would be welcome at my child’s service.
I wouldn’t want to have to face them but I would want to know they had the decency to show up, sign the guest register and sit discreetly in the back.
PSU could have sent someone to represent them and pay respects on behalf of the university. Perhaps someone from student life, campus ministry, Timothy’s dorm or the department of his major. Don’t forget that he was a sophomore and had already spent a year on campus. It was clear from the parent’s interview that it was a sore spot that no one from PSU was present at any of the services.
The optics look bad especially in view of some of their claims against the university.
I agree MomfromPA. That is what makes it such a hard problem to deal with - kids make decisions when drunk and under peer pressure they would not otherwise make.
I might not have wanted the kid’s charged or who were complicit in what happened, but other pledges would have been OK. I agree that someone from the college, even a chaplain, a counselor, or his adviser should have attended.
Plus there older son is a student at PSU. How about university support to his family and him as a current student as well? Bad form.
Penn State fraternities have history of criminal charges…from Happy Valley’s local paper
http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/education/penn-state/article149624884.html
“To put those numbers into perspective, there are 53 fraternities at Penn State and 45 of them fall under the Interfraternity Council’s regulation. Of those 45, 34 have had criminal charges in the past 20 years. The total number of their court cases is 103, most of which have one or two counts each.”
This isn’t boys being boys. Most definitely puts a dent in the “few bad apples” theory.
@bester1 “Here comes the defense…
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/Defense-lawyer-in-PSU-frat-case-calls-charges-against-his-client-inappropriatesaid-his-client-.html”
What kills me is the photo.
He seems to be smirking like this is a big joke. I still don’t think these young men really get it or are truly sorry. It is all a game.
“What kills me is the photo. He seems to be smirking like this is a big joke.”
I don’t think we can read much into that – we don’t know if he was responding to a friendly voice in the crowd or what.
We can’t and we shouldn’t. Have you ever seen the cover of a “magazine” like People? They make their living off of misinterpreted pictures (and stupid people).