Indictments in hazing stir fears; College administrators worry over their liability

The Star Ledger ^ | August 19, 2007 | ANA M. ALAYA

[Eric Blair 2084]

The recent indictment of two Rider University administrators following the alcohol-related death of a student at a fraternity is prompting colleges and universities across the state and country to review their alcohol policies.

But perhaps a bigger worry for schools is the amount of liability they might be asked to bear for students' dangerous behavior.

"I can assure you there are a lot of conversations taking place on campuses about this," said George Brelsford, dean of students at Rowan University in Glassboro. "Certainly we are watching this case very closely. We are reviewing everything we do as it relates to alcohol and student groups. You always ask yourself the same question in higher education: 'Could that happen here?'"

The two Rider officials, Dean of Students Anthony Campbell, 51, of Lawrence, and director of Greek (fraternity) life, Ada Badgley, 31, of Lawrenceville, were indicted on charges of aggravated hazing after an 18-year-old freshman collapsed at the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house on the school's Lawrenceville campus. The student reportedly had chugged nearly a full bottle of hard liquor at a pledge party. Also indicted in the March incident were three students affiliated with the fraternity. All have pleaded not guilty and a court date has been set for Sept. 10.

While prosecutors have released few details about the case surrounding the death of Gary DeVercelly of Long Beach, Calif., the impact of the case could be far-reaching.

College officials across the country are scrambling to beef up their alcohol policies and plan to discuss responsible behavior with students when schools open in September. Some experts speculate a guilty verdict could signal a sea change in liability risks on campuses, causing insurance premiums to escalate and colleges to distance themselves from Greek organizations, or even attempt to ban them.

[Eric Blair 2084]

When they came for the drinkers during Prohibition, I did not speak out, as I was not a drinker.

When they came for the employees of the oldest profession in the world, I did not speak out, as I had no interest in purchasing sex.

When they came for the purveyors of what was deemed to be "obscene" or "offensive", I did not speak out, as I was not a fan of entertainers like Lenny Bruce or Howard Stern.

When they came to ban the female mammary gland from TV, I did not speak out, because Brian Boitano told me not to.

When they came for the marijuana smokers, I did not speak out, as I was not a marijuana smoker.

When they came for the steroid users, I did not speak out, as I was not a steroid user.

When they came for the _______ (insert nominally objectionable behavior here), I did not speak out as I was not a _________ (fill in the blank).

When they came for the pornographers, I did not speak out, as I was not a pornographer.

When they came for the people who don't wear seatbelts, I did not speak out, as I always wore my seatbelt.

When they came for the gun owners, I did not speak out, as I was not a gun owner.

When they came for the gamblers, I did not speak out, as I was not a gambler.

When they came for the cigarette smokers, I did not speak out, as I was not a smoker.

When they came for the overweight and the obese, I did not speak out, as I was not overweight or obese.

When they came for the drinkers (again), I did not speak out, as I was not a drinker.

Then they came for me...and there was nobody left to speak out.

[Eric Blair 2084]

Big Brother, Nanny State, Grant Junky, Bogus Study, Junk Science, Social Engineering, Sheeple Control, Health Nazi Ping!!!

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[coloradan]

to review their alcohol policies

What does this have to do with alcohol policies? It's against the law (presently) to provide alcohol to minors. What other policies could possibly be lacking, in the face of this fact?

[lesser_satan]

Talk about an exercise in futility. College kids like to drink. That's about as immutable as gravity.

Frankly, I'd rather have them too obsessed with drinking and fornicating to pay attention to the leftist indoctrination machine that is academia.

[Calpernia]

When I pledged my sorority, my big sister’s haze for me was to come work with her as a dance therapist with autistic children.

I stayed on for an additional 5 years when my pledge week was over.

[Eric Blair 2084]

What does this have to do with alcohol policies? It's against the law (presently) to provide alcohol to minors. What other policies could possibly be lacking, in the face of this fact?

Surely you understand the "progressive" (read: Socialist) mind like I do. Existing laws don't mean anything. If they enforced the laws on the books there would be no need for their infinite wisdom. You don't have to look further than the Illegal Immigrant (whoops, did I just say that, I meant 'undocumented workers') amnesty debate to see that:

Existing laws???!!! We don't need no stinkin existing laws. Forget the fact that while I'm not a geezer, I'm still young enough to remember when I was grandfathered into the legal drinking age of 18 in our nations capital.

[Eric Blair 2084]

You got off easy. As part of my fraternity initiation I had to go to the college store on campus and buy a Penthouse magazine and vaseline while all the women in my co-ed dorm stood behind me on line.

It’s the truth. Somebody please hit the report abuse button. I don’t want anybody else to know.

[Clintonfatigued]

Wow, you make your case very clearly.

[Calpernia]

You may think your pledge was hard because of the immediate embarrassment.

There was long term affects on mine. Having your patients that you work with and see progress with institutionalized will rip your heart out forever.

Not to mention the nice bite marks I now sport.

::shrugs:: I guess either of ours is better then dying of alcohol poisoning though.

[an amused spectator]

College kids like to drink.

And college kids like to shoot each other after they've been drinking.

Fortunately, Virginia Tech took pre-emptive action against these tendencies, and hasn't had any problem since...

Or not. I can't remember which one it was.

[Eric Blair 2084]

Yeah well, don’t get your hopes up too high by underestimating the stupidity of college kids. They’re perfectly capable of drinking, fornicating and listening to leftist propaganda at the same time.

They think that “Republicans” are the party of Big Government who are trying to tell them what to do.

Some people here just feed the stereotype.

[an amused spectator]

Actually, you kinda got a point there.

It almost looks like the goal is to get so MANY laws on the books that you can arrest anybody for anything, anytime.

That's the beauty of selective enforcement - you can punish or reward according the whims of "the rulers".

[TigersEye]

Well, Eric, I hope you're not expecting to see a lot of sympathy for this case of the nanny state biting the rear end of some of the biggest nanny-staters.

College officials across the country are scrambling to beef up their alcohol policies and plan to discuss responsible behavior with students when schools open in September.

An oxymoron in motion. Who could be more unqualified to discuss personal responsibility than college officials? Pfft! I blow cigarette smoke in their general direction.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I’m getting to the alcohol poisoning part. Nobody ever died, but there are some funny stories to tell.

[Alberta's Child]

Here's the best hazing story I heard from my college days.

I went to school on an urban campus in a pretty crummy city in the Northeast. Across the street from the campus was one of the worst high schools in the U.S. -- with an all-black student body and an all-black faculty and staff.

A group of my closest classmates were pledging for one of the more colorful fraternities in that school, and for their hazing they were required to take part in a "scavenger hunt" organized by the rest of the fraternity brothers. They were basically given a list of items to collect, and were told they had a week to collect them all.

One of the items on the list was a hat from the doorman at one of New York City's most exclusive hotels. One of the pledges went to the city and stole it right off the guy's head.

But that guy had it easy. Another item on the list was a watermelon -- signed in black marker by the principal of the high school across the street.

Two guys literally walked into the school with the watermelon and a heavy black marker, and asked the guy to please sign the thing. From what I heard, he was very good-natured about the whole thing.

[TigersEye]

If you did that today you’d have more co-eds following you back to your dorm room than you could shake a stick at. Let me reword that... On second thought; let the wording stand. 8^)

[Calpernia]

I’m sure.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I think I know what you mean. Elitist leftist college professors who are shocked! Shocked! I tell you....when the progressive agenda they trumpet chews them up and spits them out.

You have to admit...THERE MUST BE A GOD! Who else is funny enough to come up with a joke that good? Eddie Murphy? Sam Kinison? Pffffftttt!!

It’s too funny for mortal men to think of.

[TigersEye]

That’s exactly what I mean. I’m a smoker; they’ve already taken me away. I,m a gun owner; they’ve already taken me away. My truck burns more gas than an SUV; they’ve already taken me away. I eat more meat then veggies; they’ve already taken me away. These are the people who applauded all of that and...I’m just not there for them anymore.

[Eric Blair 2084]

OK, since this thread has lost it’s original intent and the poor guy who chugged a bottle of vodka and died is now laid to rest...(BTW I am going to have a long talk with my son about that, I don’t care if he is 5 years old)...

If this is going to be a discussion of the worst hazing indidents of all time, I can top all of them. It wasn’t my Fraternity, but another fraternity on campus had a Big Brother/Little Brother night.

The whole idea was that after weeks of abuse the pledges could finally strike back. They would have a dinner in which all of the pledges would bring a date and the Brothers would serve them as “waiters” for the whole night.

There was only one catch...the pledges had to be handcuffed to their dates. Small price to pay.

Except that they didn’t realize that the chocolate brownies they were eating were laced with Ex-Lax. Then they had to walk back to the dorms from the Fraternity House.

I can only imagine the rest of the story. Being 18 years old, finally getting the courage to invite the beautiful girl down the hall on a date, than that happens...I cringed when I heard it at the local college bar when I was 21.

Well, I suppose it’s a good story to tell after the fact on a forum 20 years later for them. I’m sure it wasn’t funny at the time.