Woe to those caught in the blame game
When the stuff hits the fan, you have to point the finger of blame at somebody.
That appears to be the logic behind the recent decision to indict two Rider University administrators, Dean of Students Anthony Campbell and Director of Greek Life Ada Badgley, in the alcohol poisoning death of freshman Gary DeVercelly Jr. in March.
Last week, the two administrators along with three students who were part of the now defunct Rider chapter of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity where the binge drinking took place were indicted on charges of aggravated hazing in the death of the 18-year-old student. Dean Campbell has already had his appearance in court, where he pleaded not guilty, and Ms. Badgley was expected to appear today.
Last week, a letter from some 1,200 Rider students and alumni called the indictments of Dean Campbell and Ms. Badgley "deplorable." We would call them utterly confusing.
Higher-ups of any institution hold some responsibility for the successes or failures of their charges. But what happened on that night in March, when the Rider Phi Kappa Tau fraternity held its "big/little night," had nothing to do with these administrators. They weren’t cheering the "bigs" or "littles" in this frat house to drink more. They weren’t serving as watch for any security officers who might have been patrolling the area. They weren’t there.
On hand were three former Rider students, Michael Tourney, the president of the Rider Phi Kappa Tau fraternity; Adriano DiDonato, the residence director and house master of the fraternity house; and Dominic Olsen, the pledge master for the spring 2007 pledge class. And while it will be up to the courts to decide their level of involvement in this incident, at least it makes sense they would be accused. As members of the Phi Kappa Tau house, they had to be aware (unless they were amazingly ignorant) of what was going to be taking place that night. "Bigs," frat brothers, drank excessive amounts of alcohol with "littles," prospective members, in a bonding ritual that amounts to little more than teenagers having an excuse to get completely wasted.
But, if the courts are going to take the unprecedented step of punishing administrators with heavy fines and jail time for every dim-brained, dull-witted and outright idiotic thing college students with no parental supervision decide to do in our institutes of higher education, we are in serious trouble.
First, it’s the dean of students who gets accused. Then, it’s the security staff. Where were they the night Mr. DeVercelly drank a bottle of vodka in 15 minutes? Shouldn’t they have been there, ripping that bottle from his mouth, telling him that such a stupid and dangerous thing could kill him?
What about handing down an indictment for Mordechai Rozanski, the president of Rider University? Doesn’t the buck stop with him?
The number of bad decisions that can be made on your average college campus is enormous. This is the risk of putting any group of people into a civilization bubble and allowing them freedoms that had previously not been available. Should regrettable incidents happen, it is up to those directly involved to pick up the pieces of these tragedies and move on, or be held accountable for their actions.
Dean Campbell and Ms. Badgley could be working with the rest of Rider University in figuring out what should be done to address this serious issue. Stronger enforcement of substance abuse policies? An outright ban on the Greek system, which, has always seemed less about community service and camaraderie and more about unchecked debauchery? All of the above? That will unfortunately have to wait while they are on paid leaves of absence, preparing defenses against accusations that should never have been issued in the first place.