April 3, 2007, 1 p.m. - An Update Regarding the Tragic Death of Gary DeVercelly
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I want to thank the entire Rider University community for the outpouring of love and support extended to Gary DeVercelly's family during the terribly painful days of the past week. The DeVercelly family has told us that your compassion and prayers meant a great deal to them. I also want to thank the many students, prospective students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, Trustees, and friends who have sent emails of sympathy for Gary's family and support for me and the University.
As you know, on Thursday night, our community came together in a silent prayer vigil for Gary. On Saturday, we gathered again for a memorial service to mourn, and to celebrate Gary's life. Both events took place in an overflowing Gill Chapel.
In order to keep the community fully informed, I have provided updates as events unfolded to students, faculty, staff, parents, prospective students, Trustees, and alumni. Donald Steven, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, has also reached out to faculty with an informative and heartfelt letter. As part of these ongoing communication efforts, we will soon announce a number of informal group meetings on both our campuses. The purpose of these dialogues is to provide an opportunity for members of the Rider community to share their thoughts and feelings regarding this tragic incident.
In my remarks at the memorial service, I promised the DeVercelly family that we are committed, as a community, to do all we can to see that a tragedy such as this never happens again. I will soon be announcing the formation of a task force, led by our Provost, to review and assess Rider's policies on the use and abuse of alcohol, enforcement, education, outreach, and Greek life, as well as the issue of individual and group responsibility. More detailed information regarding the group meetings and the task force will be made available shortly. In the interim, we have placed Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity on administrative suspension pending the outcome of the police investigation.
I also want to inform you that the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office announced yesterday that the Mercer County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Gary's death, which resulted from alcohol intoxication, was "accidental pending police investigation." We continue to give our full support to the investigation of the Lawrence Township Police and the Prosecutor's office. As part of that effort, we have been asked to make the following announcement:
The Lawrence Township Police Department and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office have requested that anyone who was at the Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity House on the night of Wednesday, March 28, 2007, into Thursday, March 29, 2007, or anyone who has information with regard to the incident which resulted in the death of Gary DeVercelly, to contact Lawrence Township Police, Detective Joseph Lech, at (609) 844-7133. Your cooperation will be appreciated.
We will continue to provide updates via email and our Web site.
Sincerely,
Mordechai Rozanski
President
For further information, please visit: Updates on the Gary DeVercelly Tragedy.
