Director of Greek Life and pledge master plead not guilty in case involving student’s death from alcohol poisoning
By Lea Kahn
The Packet Group
TRENTON The last of the five Rider University administrators and students who have been charged with aggravated hazing were arraigned Thursday before Mercer County state Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson.
Ada Badgley, the school’s director of Greek Life, and student Dominic Olsen Jr., pledge master for Phi Kappa Tau’s spring pledge class, offered pleas of not guilty through their attorneys in a court proceeding that lasted about three minutes.
Ms. Badgley, dressed in a black suit, listened quietly while her attorney, Mariana Rossman of the Philadelphia law firm of Dilworth Paxson, entered a plea of not guilty.
Dressed in a medium gray suit, dark shirt and dark necktie, Mr. Olsen also listened as his attorney, Michael Murphy of Trenton, offered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. Mr. Murphy is a former Morris County prosecutor.
Dean of Students Anthony Campbell, 51, of Lawrence, Phi Kappa Tau fraternity president Michael J. Torney, 21, of Randolph, and Rider student Adriano DiDonato, 22, of Princeton Township, who was the fraternity’s residence director and house master, were arraigned before Judge Smithson last week.
All five were indicted on charges of aggravated hazing by a Mercer County grand jury Aug. 3 in connection with the alcohol poisoning death of Rider freshman Gary DeVercelly Jr. at a Phi Kappa Tau fraternity party on the Rider campus in March. The Rider chapter of the fraternity has been disbanded.
In an informal press conference outside the Mercer County Courthouse, Mr. Murphy said he plans to examine the Lawrence Township Police Department reports and other documents that formed the basis of the grand jury’s decision to indict his client.
”We are troubled (by the indictment),” Mr. Murphy said outside the courthouse. “It is a life-altering experience. (My client) was not present when the consumption of alcohol took place.”
Mr. Murphy described Mr. Olsen, who will be a senior, as “a really, really decent” young man who loves Rider University. He said he told Mr. Olsen to be a good student and focus on his schoolwork. He added that he advised the 21-year-old Kenilworth resident to get on with his life and let the attorneys handle the legal matters.
Ms. Rossman, who represents Ms. Badgley, said she was anxious to look at the evidence presented to the grand jury. She said she expects her client to be exonerated before hurrying off with Ms. Badgley.
Meanwhile, Dean Campbell and Ms. Badgley each have been granted a 30-day paid administrative leave of absence from the university, according to an Aug. 13 letter from Rider University President Mordechai Rozanski.
The two administrators asked for the leave so they could prepare for their defense against the charges leveled against them, Dr. Rozanski wrote. Their leaves of absence took effect Aug. 13.
”At the end of that time, we hope to have more information and then we will evaluate the situation and determine the next steps,” Dr. Rozanski wrote.

