BATON ROUGE — The father of LSU hazing victim Max Gruver joined two other parents whose sons died as a result of hazing in a Wednesday appearance on Good Morning America to celebrate the passage of the Stop Campus Hazing Act by the House of Representatives. 

Additionally, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was among the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions members who announced the Senate passage of a resolution to recognize Sept. 23 through 27 as “National Hazing Awareness Week." 

Cassidy and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) were the bipartisan authors of the Stop Campus Hazing Act.

“Students and families should feel safe no matter what college they choose,” Cassidy said. “By increasing transparency, the Stop Campus Hazing Act will ensure that hazing is never ignored. We must get this bill across the finish line and passed into law.”

The Stop Campus Hazing Act would require colleges and universities to disclose hazing incidents and create prevention programs. Stephen Gruver, whose 18-year-old son Max died after a Phi Delta Theta hazing ritual in 2017, said that the bill's passage on Tuesday is one step closer to a future without hazing and hazing deaths. 

"It's greeted with a lot of excitement," Stephen Gruver said. "Max had a lot of choices when it came to the different fraternities that he was looking at. And he knew the bad actors on campus, and he knew not to join those guys because they were they were just bad guys. We had no idea that Phi Delta Theta's were part of that group. And this bill gets that information out to their hands. And so, we can make educated decisions about the organizations that we join."

Gruver participated in Phi Delta Theta's "Bible Study" event, a hazing ritual in which fraternity members would quiz pledges on the history of the fraternity and force them to drink high-volume alcohol known as Diesel when they answered incorrectly. An affidavit showed that Gruver was unfairly targeted during the event, WBRZ reported.

Since his death, the Louisiana State Legislature passed the Max Gruver Act that instituted state-wide hazing definitions and penalties and Hazing Education Prevention. The passage of the Stop Campus Hazing Act in the House is one step closer to national regulations on hazing.

"We need much stronger state laws against hazing for penalties. For instance, in Louisiana, the penalty for hazing was 30 days in jail and a $100 fine. You know, that's just not enough of a deterrent," Stephen Gruver said.

A similar law was passed in Kathleen Wiant's son's name. Collin's Law was passed in Ohio after Wiant's son died in 2018.

The Gruver family was also awarded $6.1 million in damages for Max's death in 2023. Multiple arrests and convictions were also made in Max Gruver's death, caused in part by a .495 blood-alcohol level; the legal limit is .08.

Evelyn Piazza and Wiant agreed with Stephen Gruver's assertion that the legislation is an important step in the right direction. 

"Unfortunately, it took Max's death to create change in the state of Louisiana and create a felony law against hazing in that state, which is a deterrent and will save lives. And we need that type of legislation across the country," Stephen Gruver said.

Piazza, whose son Timothy died in a 2017 hazing incident, said that he would have been 27 years old if it weren't for the dangerous culture of hazing that "extends into all areas; sports bands, other intramural groups, clubs."

According to the National Study of Student Hazing, more than half of college students involved in extracurricular clubs, athletic teams and organizations experience hazing. Since 2000, there have been more than 50 hazing-related deaths, the study added.

"And as parents, we need to talk to our kids and really drill into their heads that hazing is not acceptable. It is intentional harm. It is always done with the intent to harm, and it is unacceptable," Piazza said. "It is bullying for the purpose of bonding and it's abuse. And when you use other terms, it sounds much more offensive than the word hazing."