A sorority chapter and two fraternity members at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., are facing misdemeanor charges over underage drinking at a party in July that preceded the death of 20-year-old student Won Jang, police said Friday.
Members of the Alpha Phi sorority hosted the party at an off-campus apartment building, where members of the Beta Alpha Omega fraternity provided alcohol to Jang and the other attendees, most of whom were younger than 21, according to Hanover police chief Charles B. Dennis, who said several partygoers then made “a spontaneous decision” to swim in the Connecticut River.
“While at the river, a heavy rainstorm hit the area, and many individuals then left the river in various groups,” Dennis said in a statement. “No one in these groups noticed that Jang was unaccounted for.”
Multiple interviews, including with Jang’s family, confirmed that he could not swim, Dennis said.
Jang was reported missing the following day, July 7, and his body was found in the river. An autopsy determined his cause of death was drowning, and a toxicology report found that his blood alcohol content was 0.167, according to the statement.
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Jang, a member of the Class of 2026, was a biomedical engineering major from Delaware.
Dennis said the Alpha Phi sorority was charged “as a corporation” with facilitating an underage alcohol house party, a misdemeanor. Additionally, two members of the Beta Alpha Omega fraternity, Matthew Catrambone and Samuel Terry, each face a misdemeanor count of providing alcohol to persons younger than 21.
All the defendants were summonsed to appear at Lebanon District Court regarding these charges, Dennis said.
Spokespeople for Alpha Phi’s national organization and Dartmouth chapter did not immediately respond Friday evening to a request for comment.
Catrambone did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His attorney, Eric Wilson, told The Dartmouth that he cooperated with officials and “remains heartbroken” over the death of his friend.
“A thorough investigation determined Won’s death occurred as a result of a tragic accident,” Wilson told the student newspaper, “and the decision to charge Matthew with a complaint alleging providing alcohol to others appears to be unrelated to the tragedy that occurred hours later.”
Terry could not be reached for comment.
Dartmouth suspended the fraternity and the sorority as police launched their investigation into anonymous tips about alcohol or possible hazing.
Those suspensions remain in effect, pending results of an internal investigation and an ongoing conduct process, according to a statement Dartmouth media relations director Jana Barnello released Friday to The Boston Globe.
Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @reporterporter.
