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This is so sad.
Rider University's Dean of Students and the Director of Greek Life are among five people charged in the death of a freshman from alcohol intoxication after a fraternity party at the school. The case is monumental as it's the first time in New Jersey that a university official has been implicated in a hazing crime. Gary DeVercelly, 18, of Long Beach, Calif., died on March 30. Mercer County police charged 51-year-old Anthony Cambell, the school's Dean of Students, and 31-year-old Ada Badgley, the Director of Greek Life, with aggravated hazing. The ramifications of this for colleges and universities in New Jersey, and across the country, is that it will send some kind of message that the standards of college life, when it relates to alcohol, need to be policed carefully," said Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr.
Ada Badgley is a fine Greek Life professional, and I think it's terrible that the local authorities are trying to take down a Greek Advisor for the heinous actions of fraternity hooligans who insist on hazing. Rider University has long been a campus with serious hazing and risk management problems in their Greek community – long before Ada got there.
Frankly, I hope the students get what's coming to them, and it's tragic that a student's life was ended because of hazing practices that are both illegal and immoral. But criminally charging the Greek Advisor? This could have a very chilling effect on the student affairs field. Who wants to go to work for higher ed money and then get criminally charged for the actions of students who haze?
If you think this is bullshit, as I do, and if you care about the quality of people we are able to recruit into the field of student affairs, then I invite you to visit the website of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office and voice your opinion.
