Alcohol a possible cause of the death of 19 year old Rutgers student

Last night on the news, the lead story was the death of Rutgers sophomore Caitlyn Kovacs of Monmouth Junction who died after presumably injesting too much alcohol during a small gathering at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house.

I say "presumably" because the cause is still under investigation – but the questions I’m sure have already begun.

Like, “should the fraternity be held responsible?" – or "should it be the school’s responsibility?"

Why these questions come to the fore is because this is unfortunately not too uncommon a story.

College students looking to have a good time wind up having too good a time; perhaps not realizing the peril they’re putting themselves in – and wind up, presumably, like Kovacs did.

And this all brought back memories of what happened at Rider back in 2007, when Gary L. DeVercelly Jr. died after consuming most of a bottle of vodka during a Phi Kappa Tau initiation ritual.

The case was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount of money after his parents originally sued for 75 million dollars.

As part of the settlement:

Rider agreed to a number of regulations, such as:

rendering Greek organizations “dry” by banning the use of alcohol at all Greek social events in residence halls and Greek houses on campus; and requiring publication of fraternity misconduct on the Greek Affairs portion of Rider’s website so that students, parents and the general public are advised about these incidents and potential risks.

Along with that, the fraternity’s charter at Rider was revolked.

Here’s my problem regarding this latest incident.
At the risk of blaming the victim – finger pointing, while not made public at present, I’m sure, has already begun.

And we know full well that while it’s not the first – it will probably happen again, no matter how many regulations are put in place.

Ultimately, the students are technically adults, and while the school treats them as such, the students should know better. They’re usually warned of the dangers of alcohol consumption; and of underage drinking, by the school upon entering.

Would it bet better to allow them to drink at 18 than keep the legal age at 21? I’m sure Senator Codey would not approve.

In any event, who would you hold responsible for the death of Caitlyn Kovacs?