An 18-year-old freshman at Rider University died of alcohol poisoning last Friday after drinking excessively at an on-campus fraternity house.
Gary DeVercelly, a management major from Long Beach, Calif., was rushed from the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house to the intensive care unit early Thursday.
He died at 10:50 a.m. March 30 with his parents at his side, according to Rider News, the University’s student newspaper.
“In my four years here, we have covered a number of deaths. Each death has touched us, but this one was different,” said Mike Caputo, executive editor of the Rider News. “This weekend the campus was in shock. Usually in this nice weather people are outside, but the atmosphere was just this eerie, somber silence.”
Hundreds of students participated in a prayer vigil on Thursday night. On Saturday there was a memorial service held in honor of DeVercelly in Rider’s Gill Chapel, which over 400 students, faculty, and adminitratos attended, according to Caputo.
Caputo said that the words spoken by DeVercelly’s father, Gary DeVercelly, Sr., were particularly touching.
“I’m a stranger to Gary, but it was hard for someone not to tear up when his father spoke,” he said.
An autopsy conducted Saturday revealed that DeVercelly’s blood alcohol content was .426. New Jersey law considers someone with a blood alcohol content of .08 or above to be legally drunk.
Investigation is still underway regarding the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, which hosted the Wednesday night party, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s spokeswoman.
DeVercelly was a new member of the fraternity and the prosecutor’s office and the Lawrenceville Police Department are investigating the possibility that the death was a result of hazing.
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