June 25, 2007 - Rider Takes Action to Prevent Alcohol Abuse

On behalf of the Rider University community, I continue to extend our thoughts and prayers to the family of Rider freshman Gary L. DeVercelly, Jr.  There is no way to fully mitigate the great pain of this tragedy and its terrible impact on the DeVercelly family and on our campus community.  What we must do now, however, is to learn from it and do all we can to try to ensure that nothing like it happens again at Rider University.  While alcohol abuse by college students is a national challenge, Rider is redoubling its efforts to prevent it.  Vital to this discussion is the continuing education of our students, faculty and staff on both campuses about the dangers of alcohol misuse and abuse.  This is my commitment to Gary and his family and the more than 5,000 other families whose sons and daughters attend Rider.

In early April, I established the Presidential Task Force on Alcohol, Personal Responsibility, and Student Life, led by Donald Steven, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and comprised of faculty, staff, and students from across both campuses.  The task force reviewed Rider’s alcohol policies, enforcement, education, outreach and Greek life in the context of national best practices and submitted a report to me earlier this month.  The report outlines a set of recommendations on policies, programs, and actions that will help protect the health and safety of our University community in so far as it is affected by the use and misuse of alcohol.  I have reviewed the report with my senior staff and the Board of Trustees, all of whom fully support the task force’s recommendations.  I want to thank Provost Steven and the entire task force for their diligence, dedication, and the many hours of work in preparing this important document.

Many of the recommendations will be implemented this summer for the start of the fall semester with the help of an implementation group I have established and the allocation of personnel and other resources.  Other recommendations require additional time and will be implemented during the 2007-08 academic year.  Further, in line with the task force's recommendations, we will annually assess our progress to be certain that we are meeting the goals we have set for ourselves.

A copy of the full task force report is available by clicking on this link. A summary of the recommendations that will be initiated this fall include:

• establish a University-wide social events policy that prohibits alcohol related events in residence halls or Greek houses
• strengthen sanctions and require parental notification for all alcohol policy violations
• establish residence-based directors in all Greek houses and strengthen the role and expectations of Greek house managers
• establish a rigorous set of expectations of Greek chapters and individual members that support chapters’ missions and founding values, and assess them annually with the help of a Greek life oversight committee
• hire a substance abuse prevention and education coordinator
• increase Public Safety staff to ensure consistent enforcement of the alcohol and social events policies and to strengthen Rider’s community policing program
• establish a University Good Samaritan policy that encourages students “to seek help first” for medically compromised students who are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs without fear of campus repercussions
• establish a comprehensive first-year experience that supports the transition from high school to college through a variety of prevention focused education and outreach efforts that begin with summer orientation and continue throughout students’ first year and beyond
• establish partnerships with Lawrence and Princeton Townships, the surrounding community, and local bars and liquor stores to reduce the opportunities for  high risk drinking and related behaviors

Through these and other task force recommendations, I am confident that Rider University will emerge a far stronger, safer, and healthier learning community for all. We do this in Gary’s memory.  We want to assure the DeVercellys that he will not be forgotten on our campuses.

Sincerely,

Mordechai Rozanski
President