Tim Piazza and Marquise Braham told their parents they just wanted to make some new friends by joining college social groups called fraternities. Neither of them got much of a chance.

The two young men died after taking part in extreme rituals for admission into the all-male student groups. They were not even 20 years old.

Now, their parents are launching a campaign to end these rituals across the United States. They are joined by the parents of Max Gruver and Brian Kowiak, two students who died in similar ways. And they have partnered with national leaders of fraternities, and of female student social groups called sororities.

Fraternities and sororities are private social groups common to many colleges and universities in the U.S. They have a long history as part of the American higher education experience.

Parties, housing, projects

Students pay membership fees. The groups hold parties and other social events. Some offer shared housing. Members usually also must take part in community service programs. And members often help each other find jobs after they graduate.

But there is a darker side to Greek life, as involvement in fraternities and sororities is often called. The term comes from the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet the groups use to make their names.

The process of becoming a member sometimes involves what is called hazing. This is when current members force pledges, those interested in joining, to take part in dangerous, abusive or possibly illegal activities.

Last week, Piazza's father, Jim, and Braham's father, Rich, began preparing for a number of television appearances. They will use those appearances to announce their anti-hazing campaign.

"I know it might seem strange to some people that families who lost their children to fraternity hazing are now working with fraternities and sororities to eradicate hazing," Jim Piazza told the Associated Press.

"But," he added, "we will do anything that we can to save a life and to prevent another shattered family."

His 19-year-old son died last year after his fraternity "brothers" ordered him to drink a huge amount of alcohol. He became severely intoxicated. He fell repeatedly, including down stairs and into an iron fixture. It was almost 12 hours before the fraternity members called for medical help. He received treatment at a hospital, but it was too late. Tim Piazza died from his injuries.

​Numerous arrests

Police arrested almost 30 members of Piazza's Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Pennsylvania State University in Centre County, Pennsylvania. All higher-level charges have been dropped. Three people have since admitted their guilt to lesser charges and one is already under house arrest.

The Piazzas have reached a settlement with the fraternity to end the civil legal action the family had sought.

Penn State student Marquise Braham, 18, killed himself in 2014. His suicide took place after a series of extreme Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity hazing rituals, about which he had protested to school officials.

Currently, the legal system — and that's the police, district attorneys and judges — "seem to view hazing as it's kind of like kids' stuff," Rich Braham said.

These fathers say they are happy to have found allies at the top of the North American Interfraternity Conference and the National Panhellenic Conference. Together, these organizations represent nearly 100 fraternities and sororities nationwide. And their leaders are ready and willing to work with Piazza and Braham.

Judson Horras is the president of the North American Interfraternity Conference. He said a first goal is of this new joint effort is to press lawmakers in all 50 states to strengthen anti-hazing laws. They want lawmakers to make it a felony to force a student to drink alcohol.

Some states reluctant

Some state governments have been slow to strengthen such laws in the past. But Horras said he believes Greek organizations can get them to change their policies.

"Keep in mind fraternities and sororities have 9.1 million students and alumni as members," Horras said. "That's part of the network we're building now to make this happen across North America."

His organization is also trying to solve the alcohol issue itself. By this time next year, he said, highly alcoholic drinks will be banned from all fraternity housing of organization members.

"We can do more together than we can alone to address this societal problem," said Carole Jones, chairman of the National Panhellenic Conference. "The fight against hazing requires that an entire community step up, including sorority women, who can and must do our part to create safer campus cultures."

The Greek life leaders also plan to have parents like Piazza and Braham speak to as many as 25,000 college students this school year. They will talk about the dangers of hazing. And members of fraternities and sororities will be asked to speak to high school and middle school students.

"We realize that it takes many years to change a culture," said Piazza. "We're not going away. We'll be here next year, the year after, the year after that."

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."