Alumni of Beta Theta Pi have been invited to stay at the now unoccupied fraternity house on the Penn State campus where Timothy Piazza suffered fatal injuries in February, according to an email obtained by the Associated Press.
The email was reportedly sent to dozens of alumni this week, inviting them to use the house for catered meals and Friday night gatherings in the house’s “tap room.”
After Piazza’s death following a pledge event at the house, the fraternity chapter was permanently banned from the university and former members living in the house were ordered to vacate. Fourteen fraternity brothers and the chapter still face charges in connection with the case, though a district judge last week dismissed the most serious charges of assault and manslaughter.
The accommodations being offered to fraternity alumni start this weekend for those alumni in town for the Penn State-Pitt game and is extended for the remainder of the home football schedule.
Alumni can pay $50 for a bed or $350 for a private, three-bed accommodation. Funds raised will reportedly go to the fraternity’s legal costs.
The email also included the menu for brunch and late-night meals, as well as photos of the food set up.
Piazza family attorney Tom Kline told the AP the plans ‘disgraceful and disrespectful.’
State College Borough officials also told the AP the house is in a zone that allows many different activities, but the housing board would need a permit to use it for something other than a fraternity house.
While it’s still currently under the control of Beta Theta Pi’s alumni housing board, the fate of the house is uncertain as it’s caught in a legal battle between the board and alumnus Don Abbey, who funded million of dollars in renovations for the house he now claims was a loan.
