To be honest, if people are upset that the house is being used after a terrifying event. Why not just demolish the house? I don’t want to be rude or anything I feel sad for the parents of losing their child, but we can’t just stop using the building because of something that happened in the past. We move on and future people will learn from this consequence. It’s a building and space which is actually needed.
I agree it is appalling conduct, but in keeping with Beta’s general horribleness
However, as has been pointed out numerous times, the property is privately owned by national Beta, run by an alumni board, and on privately owned land. The University has already permanently disbanded the frat and “encouraged” the students to withdraw. I don’t know what legal ability they have to determine what the alumni choose to do with their house.
And nobody refers to Jay Paterno as Jay Pa, nor do the PSU trustees manage privately owned student living properties. The death of Tim Piazza is horrific enough all on its own, without need for embellishment.
Okay…I admit I am not sure if anyone calls Jay by the name Jay Pa with the exception of my family. Having said that, I would think that PSU would have been able to find a way to keep parties from taking place that was the center of the horrific tragedy that was a major new story this during the past two weeks. PSU has a history of reducing the importance of issue going back to the scandal and anyone defending that it took place a year ago(it was February of 2017 - just 8 months ago) is more of the same.
CNN exclusive from today…it is just more of the same…many will either defend, deny or deflect…it is more of the same and PSU should have not allowed rooms in that frat house to be rented out for game day parties. If they could cover up the scandal…they could have done this with just as much effort.
CNN Exclusive - Joe Paterno may have known of earlier Jerry Sandusky abuse claim, police report reveals
http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/09/us/penn-state-paterno-sandusky-police-report/index.html
My state flagship that has favored non residents in the sake of tuition and fees needs to lead by example…I am tired of the excuses.
Sara Ganim’s “exclusive” is only a restating of Curley’s sworn testimony – it is not new information, no matter how much she and CNN want to represent otherwise.
Your (and my) state flagship receives very little funding, percentage-wise, from the state. Who could not pass a balanced, fair, budget if their lives depended on it. But I completely agree that there was a real opportunity to lead, change, and set an example for other institutions with similar problems – and Penn State has taken the least imaginative or compassionate path they could legally find.
I guess the difference is that they now have an actual copy of a police report that can finally end those that defend Joe PA. Jay and his Mom likely dropped thheir NCAA case because this evidence had been uncovered.
This article is from the other fake news…More details emerge on what Joe Paterno knew of Sandusky child rapes
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/10/more-details-on-what-joe-paterno-knew-sandusky-child-rapes.html
In 2016, the Commonweath supported PSU at $228 million
.http://news.psu.edu/story/399516/2016/03/23/budget/penn-states-2015-16-appropriations-released
This was before the PA Attorney General discovered that PSU officials were chosing to admit non-residents before residents even though our in in state residents pay almost the most for any state to attend their flagship
.PA Auditor General: Penn State Tuition Growth Outrageous
http://onwardstate.com/2017/06/22/pa-auditor-general-penn-state-tuition-growth-outrageous/#prettyPhoto/0/
Penn State’s tuition soars and university “appears” to favor foreign students, auditor general says…
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-nws-penn-state-tuition-audit-new-20170622-story.html
Why the state funds the branch PSU schools that compete with PASSHE (and other than Behrend are more like Community Colleges) is a real surprise.
So, we can agree to disagree on those issues. We both agree that PSU had a real opportunity to set an example here(with the Frat situation) and although they made improvements, allowing parties in a former frat house that was the scene of an awful tragedy and was in the new during the past two weeks just shows a lack of class and taste. I know, I know…PSU did not own the house…but we both know they could have stopped it.
The alumni who are staying in this house had absolutely nothing to do with Tim’s death. It is a beautiful, newly renovated, multi million dollar, privately owned property. Leaving it empty won’t change the Piazza’s loss. There is a lawsuit which has been filed by a chapter benefactor, to recoup his $8.5M, as he is disputing that it was a gift. The money raised by alumni staying here is going to fund these legal fees. Whether anyone wants to hear it or not, these men are grieving as well. Their chapter means something to them. Their closest friendships were formed in that house. This is not some raucous party where they are inviting undergrads to throw down. This is a group of adults who are likely getting together like a wake to mourn the loss of what was, knowing that the days that they can convene there are numbered. This tragedy has impacted so many. While I think about the Piazza family with a heavy heart, on an almost daily basis. I have compassion for everyone involved, including these Beta alumni.
Penn State alumni invited to stay at fraternity house where hazing death took place, angering pledge’s family…
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/doors-open-penn-state-alumni-frat-home-pledge-died-article-1.3482758
I guess the former frat brothers grieving because they are losing their former frat house takes precedent over the family that lost a son just a few months ago to the legacy of bros the decided not to help? Poor men.
From the article.
“The Piazza family views the plans as “disgraceful and disrespectful,” said Tom Kline, their attorney.”
9 reasons the hazing case against Penn State frat brothers fell apart…
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2017/09/fraternity_hazing_penn_state_t.html
Beta Theta Pi House Open to Fraternity’s Alumni During Football Weekends…
http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/beta-theta-pi-house-open-to-fraternitys-alumni-during-football-weekends,1473673/
Read the comments from above article.
Alums invited to stay at Penn State frat where pledge died…
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/alums-invited-stay-penn-state-frat-pledge-died-49713375
Problems persist at Penn State…
http://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2017/09/11/problems-persist-penn-state/653131001/
From the op-ed in #927:
I do not think Penn State is the only suburban/rural school in existence. Nor is it the only school with a big football culture. What’s left to do for entertainment? I don’t know, how about the things those of us who don’t join Greek life do? We are a MAJORITY at the school, after all.
Nothing about this case is unique. Humans are innately awful. There is hazing at many schools. There are sexual assaults at universities across the United States every single weekend. One of the most high-profile ones in recent years was the one from Stanford. One has to wonder about Stanford, then…or maybe it’s not a school affiliation that is the problem, but the fact that people do horrible things and nothing is ever going to stop that.
I’ve mentioned before, maybe even on this thread, that last year I heard a couple of girls complaining that Piazza’s death had ruined their year because they couldn’t drink anymore. That’s not something the school taught them.
@bodangles Penn State will always be that university that will get hatred against anything. Do you think if something happened in an Ivy school or a top University have the same reaction as to penn state? People look down at penn state because of the football scandal, but they don’t understand that sports does NOT DEFINE what university is all about.
“they don’t understand that sports does NOT DEFINE what university is all about.”
If so, Penn State is doing a piss poor job of marketing this message.
Hardly the students’ fault – and yet we’re the ones who have to deal with the faux-concern of there just being “something wrong with that place.”
Partying at Penn State fraternity house, where pledge died, is inappropriate and insensitive…
http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/partying-at-penn-state-fraternity-house-where-pledge-died-is/article_bd43d4a0-97ef-11e7-9cf2-17caf314d274.html
“Bad taste. Lousy timing. Just plain wrong for about 19 different reasons. It’s not difficult to come up with an answer for why this is wildly inappropriate.
And the probability that not a single alumnus said, “Wait a minute. We really ought to rethink this,” is even more infuriating.”
"In the email sent last week, the alumni said they remained shocked and saddened by Piazza’s death.
Forgive us if we think that sounds a bit hollow at this point.
If they really feel some level of sorrow, then perhaps they will have an epiphany, and realize that having a party where the 19-year-old died is a bad idea, for so many reasons."
This may not be the students fault(and I do not think it is, but I did not notice any students protesting the use of the house this past weekend)…but PSU has certainly and undeniably built a culture that will cover up anything that denies the opportunity for an alumni party or puts a blemish on the Football team(see ongoing denial of the scandal) and that is a shame.
In roughly 35 years of living in Pennsylvania, I had never thought about the role of Magistrate Judges (in Philadelphia, Municipal Judges) in conducting preliminary hearings on criminal charges. Unlike 99.9% of the electorate, I do pay attention to judicial elections, but I never really focused on candidates for magisterial judgeships.
In the past couple of weeks, however, not only has there been the decision in this case by a non-attorney Magistrate Judge, but Municipal Judges in Philadelphia have thrown out felony charges in two very high-profile cases. In one, two Penn freshmen severely beat another and threw him down some stairs. The DA charged them with felony assault; they claim they were intervening to rescue an intoxicated friend from a guy who was trying to take advantage of her. And just yesterday, a judge dismissed all charges against the Amtrak engineer who crashed a train two years ago, killing eight people and injuring hundreds more.
In the Penn case I think the prosecutor is considering re-filing the charges as well. The victim was actually a sophomore and his family is somewhat politically connected in Philadelphia. The 2 men who attacked him and the girl were freshmen who knew each other from high school. Allegedly when they burst into the room the victim and the girl were simply sitting on the bed. Cannot imagine that this municipal judge would conclude that this was simple assault – they broke his nose and his hand and threw him down a flight of steps. Sounds like felony assault to me.
@bester1 “This may not be the students fault(and I do not think it is, but I did not notice any students protesting the use of the house this past weekend).”
Were you there this weekend? I’m just wondering how you know this? Do you have a source(s)? I know that you google Penn State on a daily basis and cite articles whether editorial claptrap or accurate, so I hope you can share.
In addition, who’s the “we” that finds “this a bit hollow”? You and your family who coin phrases like “JayPa”?
Oh, please, @NASA2014. Penn State is hardly the first or only university subjected to criticism. And pretty much every school with a good football team that isn’t named Stanford or Michigan gets attacked for being nothing but a “football school.”
@bodangles is correct. PSU’s location is far from an explanation for the egregious behavior of some at PSU. People Behaving Badly will take place pretty much anywhere you find people. (I literally just got done reading this before I came here: https://nyti.ms/2eV8feO)
@Hanna, I’m hardly a cheerleader for Penn State, but I don’t think it’s either fair or accurate to claim that sports define the school, not where I live in suburban Philadelphia anyhow. I hear just as much about how happy the students are at PSU and how highly valued their graduates are (based on a WSJ article from a few years back).
This entire situation is bad enough without folks over-generalizing.
the cost of the administrative handling of both the Piazza murder and the Sandusky case will be, for a very long time, an association with horrible, egregious, illegal behavior. That’s a burden for them to bear. I don’t know much about far away schools but what I read in the paper, and no paper covers academia. So I think of rapists/Stanford, drunks/Michigan, rapists/Florida, fake classes/UNC…I’m sure those schools are also more than…
The students are, as everywhere, a mix of good, bad, dumb, ambitious, immoral, etc. I am one who thinks frats and sororities are artifacts of bygone ages that every school could live without, but that’s just me.
But I thought of this thread today on my walk, when hundreds of impeccably dressed, patient, thoughtful, nervous and well-prepared students waited in immense lines – not for a sporting event, or concert tickets, but to enter the career fair. The line literally wrapped around the building. They are, mostly, admirable human beings on a learning curve.
@greenbutton, I think you have that exactly right, and I also think that’s the case at most places of higher education around the country.
FYI, if you like to follow the news in the world of higher ed, Inside Higher Ed covers a lot of this stuff five days a week for free (you can subscribe to their daily newsletter if you just want the headlines), and the Washington Post has a blog called “Grade Point.” You can subscribe to their weekly newsletter without charge.as well.
The Chronicle of Higher Education is the granddaddy of these publications, but most of it is behind a paywall. If you work at PSU, you can probably access it via the library.
It’s hardly what defines it, of course. but, you’re corrent that there’s no lack of sordid stories every week coming out of higher ed.
https://www.insidehighered.com/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/?utm_term=.a76a29732d1a
http://www.chronicle.com/?cid=UCHETOPNAV
Just wanted to make it clear that in my recent posts I was not intending to argue with bester. 
I just took issue with the position of the author of that particular article.