The recent death of Won Jang, a 20-year-old Dartmouth student and fraternity member, is every parent’s worst nightmare. After years of a successful academic career and ultimately getting accepted to one of the nation’s premier universities, his family was undoubtedly proud that all of his hard work had paid off, and he was on his way in life.
And then tragedy struck when it was least expected.
Won’s death following a night of drinking at a sorority house and then a group activity at the Connecticut River is hardly the first such incident like this. Since the year 2000, there have been 70 fraternity-related deaths – some by drowning - after the underage decedent attended an alcohol-infused party at a fraternity or sorority house. These deaths continue despite a host of new laws and recent efforts by universities and the national headquarters of fraternities and sororities to reign in the bad behavior.
I have been representing the victims and families of college students who have died or been seriously injured following a night of orchestrated drinking events at fraternities and sororities for decades, and it is clear to me that the problem is only getting worse. More laws, rules, and mandatory lectures will not solve this. That has been tried, and it has not helped much. The only chance of curtailing these unnecessary deaths is for prosecutors to start filing criminal charges against every fraternity and sorority officer who helped set up the events where the illegal drinking took place and every officer who knew it was going to take place but did nothing to stop it. Doing so, along with universities immediately expelling each officer when this happens on their watch, would send a loud and clear message that society will no longer tolerate any more senseless deaths of our best and brightest.
Misdemeanor charges were filed this week against two fraternity members who provided alcohol to Won, who was under the age of 21, and the sorority itself was also charged. In many states, however, those charges would have been third-degree felonies, not misdemeanors, with stiffer penalties. There was a death here, and misdemeanor charges are not enough. Dartmouth has announced that the offending fraternity and sorority are suspended while their investigation continues, but Won died four months ago, and they have had enough time to investigate.
The offending fraternity and sorority should be permanently expelled from campus, not simply suspended. You can be sure that the officers of the fraternity and sorority knew about the illegal serving of alcohol to underage students, and this was probably not the first time it happened. The officers should also be expelled for failing to do the jobs they were charged with doing when they accepted the leadership positions they volunteered for.
Finally, almost every fraternity and sorority chapter has a chapter advisor, an adult who volunteers to oversee the chapter and make sure that the members behave properly and comply with the rules, regulations, and laws of the state and university where the chapter operates. When parties are held where alcohol will be served illegally to those under the age of 21, the chapter advisor has a duty to know about that before it happens and to intervene before anyone gets hurt. When tragedies like this one happen, the liability of the chapter advisor needs to be looked at as well.
Won was majoring in biomedical engineering and one can only imagine what contributions he was poised to make for the world had his life not been so tragically cut short.
With 70 deaths since the year 2000, enough is enough.
Current efforts to stop the dangerous consequences of illegal drinking on college campuses are not working, and it is time to get tougher; much tougher.
About David W. Bianchi
David W. Bianchi has been a lawyer for 45 years and practices with Stewart Tilghman Fox Bianchi & Cain, P.A. in Miami, Florida. He has been described in the media as “America’s leading hazing lawyer” and has represented clients in fraternity and sorority-related death and injury cases in many states for 25 years. He is the author of several amendments to existing laws that impose tougher penalties for fraternity and sorority members whose conduct injures others.