‘It’s an issue that’s not going away.’ Ex-PSU student speaks out on frat hazing in documentary
About a decade has passed since former Penn State student James Vivenzio left Virginia to come to Happy Valley, enough time to span three presidential administrations and a handful of Olympics.
The 28-year-old departed without a degree in hand from Pennsylvania’s premier university, but his time in State College has stuck with him every day since.
Vivenzio has been vocal about his experiences at a Penn State fraternity where he said he was hazed. He was the one who blew the whistle on Kappa Delta Rho’s secret Facebook page, which featured photos of unsuspecting naked woman. He later sued the university, among others.
He also spoke with the grand jury that investigated the death of Beta Theta Pi pledge Timothy Piazza, later saying at a December 2017 press conference that he “tried to do what he could do to save lives.”
His latest hazing prevention effort is with “Hazing,” a nearly 90-minute documentary that made its television premiere Monday and is available for streaming on the PBS Video app.
“What I went through, I really didn’t want anyone else to experience. You go to college not to get hazed, (but) to get an education. You join a fraternity not to get hazed, (but) to meet people,” Vivenzio said Monday before the film’s TV premiere. “It’s supposed to be a social experience ... but what I went through was just the complete opposite of that. What I witnessed was completely wrong. That’s why I spoke out about it from the get-go.”
Filmmaker Byron Hurt spoke with other families, survivors and fraternity members over the course of a decade for the documentary. He described hazing a “systemic issue,” rather than isolated incidents at high schools and colleges across the United States.
There are no national reporting requirements for hazing incidents, and the definition often varies state by state. Much of what is known about hazing comes from nonprofits or researchers.
That includes Hank Nuwer, an adjunct professor of journalism at Ball State University who has researched and written extensively about hazing. At least one U.S. school, club or organization hazing death has been reported every year since 1959.
“I want people to question what they can do to be a part of the solution and to not be a part of the problem,” Hurt said. “I know that may sound simplistic, but I really do hope that the stories that we tell in this film — including James’ story — will really give people permission and a space and empower people to share their stories and to speak out. And to challenge what is a very complicated system of abuse that young people get trapped into year after year after year.”
Vivenzio is set to graduate in December from George Mason University with a bachelor’s degree in business management. That may not be the end of his educational journey.
He’s considering pursuing a law degree, in part because of what he experienced at Penn State. But no matter where Vivenzio ends up professionally, he has every intention of continuing to be an anti-hazing advocate.
“I just really want this to be an issue that does not get forgotten,” Vivenzio said. “It’s an issue that’s not going away.”