Analysis Of Caitlin Flanagan's Article Death At Penn State Fraternity

In Caitlin Flanagan’s article, “Death at Penn State Fraternity,” a number of important topics are addressed, revolving around a college student’s death in a fraternity house. The student, Tim Piazza, was in the process of being accepted into the fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, and experienced severe hazing, leading him into a life threatening situation. The fraternity brothers refused to do anything to help Tim, as they were not about to face the consequences for hazing. Instead, Tim Piazza died at the hands of people who could have easily saved his life. Throughout the article, Flanagan brings light to many of the flaws in the system intended to prevent hazing and keep fraternity members safe. She suggests that the current ways of handling hazing are unsatisfactory and in

Flanagan is working to reveal the hidden aspects of college and Greek life by using strong diction and personal interviews to describe the attempts at preventing hazing and the college and fraternity members’ lack of responsibility for hazing incidents. First, Flanagan describes the many attempts to prevent hazing in order to better serve college students and fraternity members. One interview with a man named Jud Horras, a former member of Beta Theta Pi, acknowledged the problems within fraternities and assured Flanagan that “changes were coming.” However, Horras avoided the main problem: students are being killed. It seems that hazing is “the norm,” and many people are turning a blind eye to these terrible incidents. Horras claimed hazing was a natural part of fraternity life, and it “was on them” if they got caught doing something so punishable as hazing. This suggests that there are people who are willing to ignore these terrible incidents that are occurring. They are