Anti-Hazing Coalition

In 2018, four families joined with the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values (AFLV), Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA), HazingPrevention.Org and others to form the Anti-Hazing Coalition. As part of the AHC, several of the parents speak at college and high school campuses, as well as to organizations, to share their sons’ stories and educate about hazing prevention.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity invited the parents of three fraternity men who lost their lives from hazing to the 83rd John O. Moseley Leadership School. This is a recap of their session.

Marquise Braham was majoring in bio-medical engineering at Penn State Altoona and was secretary of his residence hall association. He joined a fraternity to get further involved. Marquise was hazed and in his second semester and was urged to haze others. Over his spring break in 2014, Richard and Maille Braham lost their son when he took his own life. Since then Rich has been an advocate against hazing and has spoken at many colleges and universities. Rich is a Managing Editor at ABC News and lives in Queens, New York, with his wife Maille and two children, Selene and Sebastian.

Rae Ann and Stephen Gruver describe their son Max as a “gentle giant.” He was a sports fanatic and wrote for a sports website even before starting as a journalism major at Louisiana State University. Just weeks into his first semester, Max died after being forced to consume 190-proof alcohol in a fraternity hazing activity. The Gruvers have been fighting hazing ever since, including founding the Max Gruver Foundation and working to pass new hazing laws in Louisiana. Rae Ann is a Clemson University graduate and member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and Stephen is a graduate of University of North Carolina at Charlotte. They live in Roswell, Georgia, with their son Alex and daughter Lily Kate.

Lianne and Brian Kowiak’s son Harrison was an accomplished athlete and scholar, attending Lenoir-Rhyne University on a golf and academic scholarship. Harrison lost his life because of fraternity hazing during his sophomore year in college at the age of 19. Today, Lianne is a hazing prevention advocate and board member of HazingPrevention.Org, having spoken to thousands of students at universities and high schools. Her mission is to raise awareness and education to the dangers of hazing and to save lives. Lianne and Brian live in Tampa, and their daughter Emma is in college.

Tim Piazza dreamed of one day helping children and veterans through development of state-of-the-art prosthetics. His parents, Jim and Evelyn, describe him as a “loving kid” who invested in relationships with his family, friends and girlfriend. Yet in 2017, at 19, Tim passed away after a fraternity hazing ritual where he was forced to drink at least 18 drinks over an hour and a half and suffered injuries after a fall. Since then, Jim and Evelyn have been working to stop hazing. They were instrumental in passing a bill in Tim’s name to strengthen Pennsylvania’s hazing laws, and started the Timothy J. Piazza Memorial Foundation to provide help for children and adults who need prosthesis--doing their part to fulfill Tim’s dream. They live in Readington, New Jersey, and their son Mike currently attends Penn State. Jim is a partner in a large professional services firm and graduated from Rider University. Evelyn graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.