New Direction 8 The student newspaper of the Rider community since 1930 Volume 77, Issue XVIII - Friday, March 30, 2007 FRESHMAN IN CRITICAL CONDITION PKT members living in the ‘Possible house, who are not a part of the University meal plan, were given access to meals for the hazing day. In sharp contrast to a resort-like exuberance that incident’ greeted the season’s first warm By Mike Caputo afternoons earlier this week, a stunned quiet prevailed across the Lawrenceville campus yes- A student remained in crit- terday. Throughout the day, ical condition last night after students could be seen gather- what was deemed by the Mercer ing in small groups, talking County Prosecutor’s office to about DeVercelly. be a “possible hazing incident” DeVercelly’s family mem- involving alcohol at the Phi bers flew in from California Kappa Tau (PKT) fraternity and went directly to the hospi- house. tal yesterday afternoon, where Gary DeVercelly, an 18-year- they met with Rozanski and old freshman from Long Beach, Campbell, the dean of students Calif., was found unconscious said. Members of Greek organi- after suffering cardiac arrest. zations gathered in Gill Chapel He was resuscitated through for an 8 p.m. prayer service. CPR by EMTs, according to Photo By Karly Hamburg “Tonight we come togeth- officials. DeVercelly was rushed The Phi Kappa Tau fraternity on the Lawrenceville campus was off limits after freshman Gary er for a different reason,” said to Capital Health System, Fuld Father Bruno Ugliano, who Campus, in Trenton, where he DeVercelly, of Long Beach, Calif., became seriously ill after consuming too much alcohol. hosted the service. “We come was in the intensive care unit. Lawrence Township Police Rozanski released a statement an educational community take together as a community, to Another student, identi- Department (LTPD) arrived on sending good wishes to the very seriously.” unite as brothers and sisters in fied by authorities as William the Lawrenceville campus at family of DeVercelly and reiter- An investigation at PKT hearts and in mind to raise our Williams, a 19-year-old fresh- 1:52 a.m. Thursday upon noti- ating the University’s stance on conducted by LTPD and the prayer to Gary, our bother, who man from Haddonfield, N.J., fication that a student was vom- alcohol abuse. prosecutor’s office forced the right now is in the hospital.” was also rushed to the Fuld iting from heavy consumption “Our thoughts and prayers fraternity members out of DeVercelly and Williams emergency room. Williams, of alcohol. DeVercelly allegedly are with him and his family in their building later Thursday are “associate members” of who already left the PKT house drank three-quarters of a bottle hopes for his complete recov- morning. According to Dean PKT, said a University official, and was in Poyda Hall when of Absolut vodka within a 15- ery,” said Rozanski. “Alcohol of Students Tony Campbell, which indicates they are going medical services arrived, was minute time span, according to abuse by college students is a the members were instructed released on Thursday afternoon a University official. national issue and remains an to stay with friends until the following treatment. President Mordechai important concern that we as investigation was cleared. The See Alcohol, p. 3 High-profile coverage not new to Rider frats By Jeff Frankel conduct and one was suspended for a and Olivia Tattory year. ‘We didn’t (report) it to go frat-bashing, we The pledges were told to wear baggy didn’t do it because of a personal vendetta The alleged hazing incident 1930s clothing and wear hats with the involving drinking that occurred late capital letter X, and were told to speak against Phi Psi. We did it because we felt Wednesday night into the early morning like black entertainer “Stepin Fetchit” something was wrong.’ hours of Thursday is not the first time as they cleaned the fraternity house. - Louis J. Colombo that a Rider fraternity has made national The house had about 35 members, but Class of ’95 headlines for an unwise decision. no African Americans, The Star Ledger On Jan. 4, 1993, members of Phi reported. Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) Fraternity attend- The combination of hazing and rac- received their fair share of both praise “We didn’t do it to go frat- ing the Interim Semester Program held ism produced a perfect storm of negative and criticism for blowing the whistle on bashing,” said Colombo. “We a “nigger night” and told the potential national publicity, including coverage the fraternity’s actions. didn’t do it because of a personal pledges to dress and speak in a way that on The CBS Evening News with Dan “The criticism is not to your face,” vendetta against Phi Psi. We did it was demeaning to African Americans, Rather. A press conference conducted by Scherberger told The Rider News at the because we felt something was wrong.” according to Don Brown, director of then-President J. Barton Luedeke in the time. “Nobody will come up and face Students and faculty attended the multicultural affairs. Student Center Theater drew a dozen you.” judicial hearing held in the Student The fraternity was suspended by its TV crews. “Except for when they yell out from Center and a lottery system was used to national organization indefinitely, and The incident came to light when an upstairs window,” added Colombo. fill seats. The campus news media were the school brought disciplinary charges reported by two students, freshman The two students, along with four against a total of 10 members. Five Hagen Scherberger and sophomore others, distributed a letter throughout See History, p. 3 were charged with hazing and indecent Louis J. Colombo. They said they campus describing the pledge event. Visit the Rider News Online at www.rider.edu/ridernews/ 033007p1.indd 1 3/29/07 10:44:19 PM 2 Friday, March 30, 2007 Double the glory: Students win big at Model UN By Lauren Varga said, “conference on disarmament, rep- resented by seniors Serena Koelle and Anthony Coruccini; and Economic A weight was lifted off Head Commission for Latin America and the Delegate Serena Koelle’s shoulders when Caribbean (ECLAC), which was rep- she heard Rider’s Model United Nations resented by senior Alyssa Ruggiero and team screaming, “We got an award.” junior Amin Wanczyk. The 16 hand-picked Because Rider was a Non-govern- delegates from Rider ment Political Organization last year it represented Peru this past week at could not sponsor resolutions or vote. the National Model United Nations “It was a lot different for us this Competition in New York City for year,” said Koelle. “We were able to take the 40th year; they proudly took a more active stance in the commit- home two awards: outstanding posi- tees.” tion papers and a distinguished In past years the team has had more delegation award. Photo ByStephanie Nardi time to prepare for the conference. “We worked so hard for the The Model UN participants proudly display their awards in Fine Arts. The team However, this year the conference was entire week,” said Koelle. “Just traveled to New York City from March 18-22 to represent Rider as Peru. moved up from April 10-14 to March to know that it paid off was really 18-22. rewarding.” she said. main topics of discussion. But, in spite of the lack in time the According to Model UN Adviser Dr. The awards are based on demon- The country of Peru is responsible Model U.N. team polled through and Barbara Franz the group had received strating rules of procedure, remaining for representing itself on 10 different got the job done. honorable mentions in the past, most diplomatic, staying in character and committees. Rider represented eight of “I thought the team was much recently in 2002, but never two awards writing resolutions that are relevant to those committee s. closer this year than we were last year,” at one time. your specific country. Not only was According to Koelle, last year’s said Koelle. “We all interacted really “To get two [awards] at once is just this year different because the dele- delegates expressed interest in want- well together. Everyone understood that a really big honor,” said Koelle. gates received two awards, but they also ing individual committee awards. This it was going ot be an overall team effort And Franz said she feels that in received individual awards. year, representatives from within each that was going to win an award.” order to be successful “the whole group Rider’s 16 Model UN members committee voted to determine which needs to be very strong.” split themselves into pairs of two and delegation from that council stood out “There can’t be one weak link,” joined different committees. Rider the most to them. - Additional reporting by Olivia Tattory and Laura represented Peru and focused on three “We got two of those awards,” she Mortkowitz Alcohol responsibility tips Correction The non-emergency number on the Princeton campus should have been (609) 921-7100, followed by x. 8135 at the For the those who choose to drink, keep in mind the following tips, suggested by CADE prompt. (Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Education.) For students on the Lawrenceville campus, the non-emer- gency number is x. 5029. • Know your limit. The emergency number for both campuses is (609) 896- • Space your drinks. Have two per hour at the most. 7777. • Be aware that all drinks do not contain the same amount of alcohol. For example, a Long Island Iced Tea could have as many as seven shots of alcohol, which could take up to six hours to metabolize.