Provost's Message to the Faculty
Colleagues,
The tragic death of Rider student Gary DeVercelly is a terrible blow, affecting the entire Rider community. As faculty, our students are our life and this sudden, unexpected loss seems both bewildering and senseless.
The University's memorial service for Gary was held on Saturday afternoon in Gill Chapel, which overflowed with students, faculty, staff and friends. Together we grieved and mourned Gary's passing. Among the comforting moments was a beautiful performance of the Lutkin Benediction, by a group of students from Westminster Choir College. Afterwards, at the reception, on behalf of the faculty of the University, I expressed my heartfelt condolences to the DeVercelly family. I have also extended my sincere appreciation to our colleague, Kelly Lake, of the Department of English, who spoke at the service and who gave a very moving account of her remembrances of Gary in her CMP 120 class last semester. Kelly's recollection of Gary's kindly spirit and good humor and of his true engagement in the learning experience reached us all and helped us greatly as we struggled with this tragedy.
In his remarks at the memorial service, President Rozanski committed us, the Rider community, to honor Gary's memory in two ways: “First, by dedicating ourselves to learn from this tragedy so that it doesn't happen again. Second, by establishing the Gary L. DeVercelly Jr. Scholarship for freshmen. Every future student who is awarded this scholarship will be presented with a narrative of Gary's life and character in the expectation that Gary's gentle and loving spirit will live on through a succession of similarly talented and vibrant young people.”
We are already at work developing several initiatives. Dean of Students Tony Campbell is convening a group comprised of students, faculty, staff and others to develop a set of recommendations and an action plan to address the issues that this tragic incident raises, a plan which may set a national example. We will invite a national expert to join us to provide advice on best practices. If you personally have any experience or knowledge that you want to share, please let me know. I would like to hear your ideas and learn from your experiences. The challenge will be turn this tragedy into positive action so that, as Mort has indicated, this never happens again.
As we return to regular classes this week, may I ask you please to keep a keen eye out for any student who appears to be distressed and possibly in need of counseling or support. Our counseling and campus ministry staff are available to students, faculty and staff in Lawrenceville and in Princeton. Please contact: the Counseling Center at 896-5157 (Lawrenceville) or 921-7100 ext 8275 ( Princeton). If you have questions or concerns about a student, please call the Dean of Students Office for assistance at 896-5101 (Lawrenceville) or 912-7100 ext 8263 (Princeton).
A final note: if you had any experiences with Gary in one of your classes and would like to share them with the DeVercelly family, please feel free to write about them and send them to me. I will share them with the family.
Sincerely,
Don
Donald Steven
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
