The Brown & White

The first night of pledging for Beta Theta Pi fraternity's 2008 pledge class began with a dinner. The night ended with two of the pledges, one with a blood alcohol content of .505, the other .31, sent to the hospital unresponsive and breathing through ventilators after more than five hours of drinking whiskey shots and champagne, according to police.

The hospitalizations, along with 14 citations for alcohol-related offenses that night resulted in Beta Theta Pi fraternity being suspended by both the university and its national headquarters. Of the 14 citations, 11 were given to freshmen for underage drinking. And because pledges told police that the drinking was part of a pledging event.

Drinking to such a high BAC is often fatal. Rider University student Gary DeVercelly Jr. died last spring with a BAC of .426.

Beta Theta Pi is suspended by the university and its national headquarters as it faces additional charges of furnishing alcohol to minors and endangering the lives of students, said Tim Wilkinson, director of fraternity and sorority affairs.

Fraternity and sorority affairs will let the judicial process run its course before action is taken, but Wilkinson said the charges against the chapter are serious.

"There's a very distinct possibility that the potential punishment will be loss of charter and dissolution of facility," he said.

Wilkinson said in instances of suspension, the university and a chapter's national headquarters often work in partnership when conducting an investigation, but expects the fraternity to have a hearing before the university in March.

Chris Mulvihill, assistant dean of students of the office of student conduct, said he is conducting an investigation. A hearing date will be set soon.

Although the chapter is under investigation, Mulvihill said he could not comment on whether individuals would be held accountable for the incident.

The night began with a scheduled dinner at 6 p.m. at the Beta house, according to interviews conducted by the police with Beta pledge class members in the days following the hospitalizations.

After dinner, all members of the pledge class were taken into the party room and offered shots of Old Crow whiskey for about one and a half to two hours. They were then taken into the chapter room and given champagne to drink out of the "loving cup," which is a ritual at the fraternity, according to a police affidavit.

Police became aware of the drinking after responding to a report of an unresponsive intoxicated male identified as Michael Esposito, '11, at Beta at 11:30 p.m. on the night of the incident. According to police documents, Esposito admitted to consuming shots of whiskey as part of the pledging event. His BAC was 0.31.

It was later discovered that a second male, Tim Malacrida, '11, was transported to the hospital from the fraternity earlier that night. He was unresponsive due to alcohol intoxication, according to the affidavit for probable cause filed by police. According to records, Malacrida's BAC was measured at 0.505. He admitted to consuming shots of Old Crow whiskey and other beverages as part of the pledge event, the records say. Malacrida declined comment.

Following the incident, Beta President, Andrew Edmonds, '09, was charged with one count of furnishing alcohol to a person who is under 21. As president, he is responsible for activities that occur at the fraternity.

Edmonds declined to comment. "I would like to comment on this," he said. "But given an ongoing investigation I cannot say anything at this time."

Maxwell Muheim, '09, was charged with one count of furnishing alcohol to a minor. Muheim said he provided shots of whiskey to the pledges, according to the affidavit.

In an e-mail, Muheim said he could not comment on the incident or the status of the investigation.

"As the investigation is still open on several fronts, I'm not going to comment on the incident at this time," he wrote. "The brothers of Beta Theta Pi have been, and will continue to be fully cooperative with investigators."

Dave Cohen, president of the interfraternity council, said the chapter will remain suspended until the investigation is complete, which means the chapter cannot participate in any social or philanthropic events.

Cohen could not comment on case specifics, but said the IFC is concerned about the incident.

"We're going to try to work to get through the next six weeks of new member education and make sure nothing like this happens again," Cohen said.

A few other fraternities have faced serious disciplinary action this semester, he said.

Chi Phi fraternity faced temporary suspension earlier this semester but has now been placed on disciplinary and social probation. The house is dry and members must undergo training sessions, he said.

"They took responsibility for their actions, and sanctions were imposed," Mulvihill said.

Sigma Alpha Mu is under suspension from the university and its national headquarters and is still under investigation, Mulvihill said.