Too bad I can’t be interviewed about this ruling because I would like to say: “do you know what I’m upset about, that this kid had responsibility – definitely had responsibility- to drink in a manner which would not harm himself”….that the father thinks someone else should pay for his son’s stupidity…..
Okay, the student has died…yes, alot of it was his fault..he was not a child.. he knew right from wrong… but, the college should have been more supervised….the parent is not wrong for sueing….. the college is partly at fault…..
I don’t think they look so much to profit out of a child’s death but to place blame elsewhere. If it was his son’s responsibility, it was the father’s responsibility to see that he was well equipped when he left for school. That’s a bitter pill to swallow. Surely the parent bares significant (but not all, giving the son some free will) responsibility here for failure to prepare.
N. Judge…How does this now become the father’s fault…kids to do not act the same around their parents as they do with their buddies in the street….As a parent you can only plant the seed and guide them..they are going to make their own decisions….I’m tired of that lame excuse..it was the person’s up bringing..people have to suck it up, grow up and make a future for themselves…
When I was in college 100 or more years ago, it was not expected that college students would need, or that colleges would provide, round-the-clock supervision of their youthful charges. In fact, as a student with some familiarity with alcohol consumption, we made it a point to do our underage drinking while avoiding any scrutiny from the authorities at the college. Of course schools don’t condone underage drinking or binge drinking or drunkenness in general…but students do it anyway and do it in such a manner that school officials could not possibly monitor their behavior. It’s part of the challenge to get away with it. Who knows? Maybe this unfortunate kid was just inexperienced or not bright or whatever. Finding fault and placing blame has become a national pastime since money is attached to doing so. But drinking beyond the ken of school officials goes back to cave man days: Why? Because it’s part of the fun. This child’s fun just turned out to be a tragedy.
Great decision by the Judge to dismiss the two Rider U. officials.
Now for a better quote….
DeVercelly’s father, Gary DeVercelly Sr., decried the decision to drop the charges.
“We’re upset about it, that the charges are being dismissed, because we feel that Rider has deep pockets — definitely has deep pockets — in this case,” he said by phone from California.
Well the parents have more blame in this than the University. Why are you, Yeah Right, so quick to blame the University. The school is there to educate people and not to be their Nanny. We already have enough Nanny Government as it is and you want more?!?! If parents do a lousy job raising their children then an ending like this is predictable.
I totally disagree that parents are to blame…. yes the parents have the responsibility of raising them until a certian point…. colleges give them too much freedom…when they go off to college they should be considered young adults… parents can’t follow them around from day to day giving direction for the rest of their lives…and doesn’t the student have some responsibility in this?
Exactly….young adults!!! Parents let/help them go off to college & they grow up (even w/o college). It’s not the officials responsiblity to watch over their every activity. Very sad that a life ended, but it wasn’t without help from his “brothers”. It got out of hand & no one knew what to do about it.
Are the parents of the other 3 students who are being charged vicariously liable for their sons’ actions? If the father of the deceased decides to bring a civil suit against the 3, who would pay the judgments if he were to win??
I have considerable experience in this aspect of homeowners coverage and so long as the three remain students and are primary residents of their parents’ homes, despite the fact that they live most of the year in college dorms or rented houses near college campuses, their parents’ H.O. carriers will be on the hook.
I should clarify my previous comment…the H.O. coverage is not necessarily because the parents are vicariously liable, although the plaintiffs usually make that argument, but because the students are ‘insured’ under those policies.
As far as suing people how are to blame, why would you sue the college, it is not their job to babysit, the college is a business, just as a landlord cannot be held responsible for his tenets and a business should not be held liable for what happens after hours when everyone is gone, nor should the college be liable…
But if you need to play the blame game- the primary blame should be placed on the dead man, and if you are looking to place blame on others- the police are supposed to stop that- why aren’t they suing the police? It is their job to make sure no underage people are drinking, it is not the colleges job.
If the situation was different and the kid gets drunk and caught by the university and they call the cops on him, or discipline the kid themselves, this father would be outraged that the university has taken action against his kid. He would have sued the university for interferring in his kids fun. He would have simply said, thats what kids do at college. How typical of the sue happy community we have here in America. This guy should be ashamed of himself.
No liability for parents homeowners if the 3 are found guilty of a crimminal act.
Ya all are missing the bigger “Hazing” point. Was the kid forced or at least pushed to drink sooooo much. Liability!
Did college have rules against hazing? If not they should have been held to some level of liability.
In this day and age, a college student is not considered to be “independent” (at least for tuition/student loan/financial aid purposes) unless the parents are dead, cannot be located, the student was emancipated, or the student has a child of his/her own.
But, I was just trying to illustrate the different views on liability for all the various parties involved. Also, I wasn’t sure if being legally responsible for the actions of your children had any limits on it, like the federal tax code, i.e. you can claim them as dependents until age 24 if they are full time students. I completely forgot that it was more an issue of being a member of the household as defined by the parents’ HO insurance.
Personally, I’m a lot more callous & Darwinesque when it comes to people drinking themselves to death – I think of it more as the natural thinning of the herd.
As a mother of 3, let me start by saying that were I in that position (God forbid) I would want to see the university take some responsibility for the incident. Isn’t the fraternity sanctioned by the school? Yes, the student probably decided to drink. But universities today need to realize that when someone sends a young adult to live there, they (the school) hold some responsibility. We pay tuition, a lot of times we pay for housing. To say this father is trying to financially benefit unless you know and have spoken to him is horrific. Maybe he just has no other way of making the school and the students take PART of the responsibility that while his son was dying, nobody stepped in to help. I have lost friends in college to drinking, and while a long time ago, the incidents happened completely off school grounds and the students lived in regular houses. Had they lived in an off campus house sanctioned by the school, then yes – I do think the school holds some responsibility for what goes on in that ‘sanctioned’ house. Sometimes a lawsuit is not frivilous because there is not enough evidence. All the money in the world wont bring his son back, but what other recourse does he have?
His recourse??? Be a man, grow some cajones and deal with this issue just like many parents have had to face this issue and w/o suing and playing the blame game and jackpot justice.
My brother died at a young age and in a similar freak accident/incident yet my parents were not running around trying to blame anyone else or find the deepest pocket to sue. They (we) dealt with it internally and have moved on with our lives all WITHOUT litigation. Sorry but this guy is an entitlement seeker.
I see where you are coming from, but how is this different than an underage ‘young adult’ getting drunk and dying at a friends house when the parents are away and didn’t know their child was having a party? Wouldn’t the parents be liable? Isn’t that what the courts have told us? Yes – he should move on – but for some people they do need someone to blame and to say he is only doing it for the money is mean spirited unless you know this for a fact. This may be his way of moving on and possibly trying to let the school learn a lesson that they should not let it happen again.
I’m not buying that….When I went to college, I left my parents at home as I was now independent. I did not have any expectation that the college was responsible for ME! I was taught to do that myself. I’d bet money that this incident took place at a privately owned residence, as most frat houses are. The college didn’t own the property and if you ask me, had no obligation to supervise it, regulate yes, supervise NO! I notice today that parents do not encourage their children to be accountable for themselves; that’s why they stay at home until they’re almost 30! My dad went to work at 14; I moved out at 17….and broke the apron strings!
Too bad I can’t be interviewed about this ruling because I would like to say: “do you know what I’m upset about, that this kid had responsibility – definitely had responsibility- to drink in a manner which would not harm himself”….that the father thinks someone else should pay for his son’s stupidity…..
This father is just typical of the lawsuit mentality. He is looking to profit off his son’s death. And unfortunately,. he will
Okay, the student has died…yes, alot of it was his fault..he was not a child.. he knew right from wrong… but, the college should have been more supervised….the parent is not wrong for sueing….. the college is partly at fault…..
I don’t think they look so much to profit out of a child’s death but to place blame elsewhere. If it was his son’s responsibility, it was the father’s responsibility to see that he was well equipped when he left for school. That’s a bitter pill to swallow. Surely the parent bares significant (but not all, giving the son some free will) responsibility here for failure to prepare.
N. Judge…How does this now become the father’s fault…kids to do not act the same around their parents as they do with their buddies in the street….As a parent you can only plant the seed and guide them..they are going to make their own decisions….I’m tired of that lame excuse..it was the person’s up bringing..people have to suck it up, grow up and make a future for themselves…
When I was in college 100 or more years ago, it was not expected that college students would need, or that colleges would provide, round-the-clock supervision of their youthful charges. In fact, as a student with some familiarity with alcohol consumption, we made it a point to do our underage drinking while avoiding any scrutiny from the authorities at the college. Of course schools don’t condone underage drinking or binge drinking or drunkenness in general…but students do it anyway and do it in such a manner that school officials could not possibly monitor their behavior. It’s part of the challenge to get away with it. Who knows? Maybe this unfortunate kid was just inexperienced or not bright or whatever. Finding fault and placing blame has become a national pastime since money is attached to doing so. But drinking beyond the ken of school officials goes back to cave man days: Why? Because it’s part of the fun. This child’s fun just turned out to be a tragedy.
Great decision by the Judge to dismiss the two Rider U. officials.
Now for a better quote….
DeVercelly’s father, Gary DeVercelly Sr., decried the decision to drop the charges.
“We’re upset about it, that the charges are being dismissed, because we feel that Rider has deep pockets — definitely has deep pockets — in this case,” he said by phone from California.
Well the parents have more blame in this than the University. Why are you, Yeah Right, so quick to blame the University. The school is there to educate people and not to be their Nanny. We already have enough Nanny Government as it is and you want more?!?! If parents do a lousy job raising their children then an ending like this is predictable.
I totally disagree that parents are to blame…. yes the parents have the responsibility of raising them until a certian point…. colleges give them too much freedom…when they go off to college they should be considered young adults… parents can’t follow them around from day to day giving direction for the rest of their lives…and doesn’t the student have some responsibility in this?
Exactly….young adults!!! Parents let/help them go off to college & they grow up (even w/o college). It’s not the officials responsiblity to watch over their every activity. Very sad that a life ended, but it wasn’t without help from his “brothers”. It got out of hand & no one knew what to do about it.
Are the parents of the other 3 students who are being charged vicariously liable for their sons’ actions? If the father of the deceased decides to bring a civil suit against the 3, who would pay the judgments if he were to win??
Goooood Question EeBb!
I have considerable experience in this aspect of homeowners coverage and so long as the three remain students and are primary residents of their parents’ homes, despite the fact that they live most of the year in college dorms or rented houses near college campuses, their parents’ H.O. carriers will be on the hook.
I should clarify my previous comment…the H.O. coverage is not necessarily because the parents are vicariously liable, although the plaintiffs usually make that argument, but because the students are ‘insured’ under those policies.
Well, sanity finally wins a round….
As far as suing people how are to blame, why would you sue the college, it is not their job to babysit, the college is a business, just as a landlord cannot be held responsible for his tenets and a business should not be held liable for what happens after hours when everyone is gone, nor should the college be liable…
But if you need to play the blame game- the primary blame should be placed on the dead man, and if you are looking to place blame on others- the police are supposed to stop that- why aren’t they suing the police? It is their job to make sure no underage people are drinking, it is not the colleges job.
If the situation was different and the kid gets drunk and caught by the university and they call the cops on him, or discipline the kid themselves, this father would be outraged that the university has taken action against his kid. He would have sued the university for interferring in his kids fun. He would have simply said, thats what kids do at college. How typical of the sue happy community we have here in America. This guy should be ashamed of himself.
No liability for parents homeowners if the 3 are found guilty of a crimminal act.
Ya all are missing the bigger “Hazing” point. Was the kid forced or at least pushed to drink sooooo much. Liability!
Did college have rules against hazing? If not they should have been held to some level of liability.
In this day and age, a college student is not considered to be “independent” (at least for tuition/student loan/financial aid purposes) unless the parents are dead, cannot be located, the student was emancipated, or the student has a child of his/her own.
But, I was just trying to illustrate the different views on liability for all the various parties involved. Also, I wasn’t sure if being legally responsible for the actions of your children had any limits on it, like the federal tax code, i.e. you can claim them as dependents until age 24 if they are full time students. I completely forgot that it was more an issue of being a member of the household as defined by the parents’ HO insurance.
Personally, I’m a lot more callous & Darwinesque when it comes to people drinking themselves to death – I think of it more as the natural thinning of the herd.
As a mother of 3, let me start by saying that were I in that position (God forbid) I would want to see the university take some responsibility for the incident. Isn’t the fraternity sanctioned by the school? Yes, the student probably decided to drink. But universities today need to realize that when someone sends a young adult to live there, they (the school) hold some responsibility. We pay tuition, a lot of times we pay for housing. To say this father is trying to financially benefit unless you know and have spoken to him is horrific. Maybe he just has no other way of making the school and the students take PART of the responsibility that while his son was dying, nobody stepped in to help. I have lost friends in college to drinking, and while a long time ago, the incidents happened completely off school grounds and the students lived in regular houses. Had they lived in an off campus house sanctioned by the school, then yes – I do think the school holds some responsibility for what goes on in that ‘sanctioned’ house. Sometimes a lawsuit is not frivilous because there is not enough evidence. All the money in the world wont bring his son back, but what other recourse does he have?
His recourse??? Be a man, grow some cajones and deal with this issue just like many parents have had to face this issue and w/o suing and playing the blame game and jackpot justice.
My brother died at a young age and in a similar freak accident/incident yet my parents were not running around trying to blame anyone else or find the deepest pocket to sue. They (we) dealt with it internally and have moved on with our lives all WITHOUT litigation. Sorry but this guy is an entitlement seeker.
I see where you are coming from, but how is this different than an underage ‘young adult’ getting drunk and dying at a friends house when the parents are away and didn’t know their child was having a party? Wouldn’t the parents be liable? Isn’t that what the courts have told us? Yes – he should move on – but for some people they do need someone to blame and to say he is only doing it for the money is mean spirited unless you know this for a fact. This may be his way of moving on and possibly trying to let the school learn a lesson that they should not let it happen again.
I’m not buying that….When I went to college, I left my parents at home as I was now independent. I did not have any expectation that the college was responsible for ME! I was taught to do that myself. I’d bet money that this incident took place at a privately owned residence, as most frat houses are. The college didn’t own the property and if you ask me, had no obligation to supervise it, regulate yes, supervise NO! I notice today that parents do not encourage their children to be accountable for themselves; that’s why they stay at home until they’re almost 30! My dad went to work at 14; I moved out at 17….and broke the apron strings!