Weiss goes on record about student death

President Daniel H. Weiss confirmed Wednesday that freshman Everett Glenn was taking part in an underground recruiting event the morning of his death on All College Day.

“There’s clear circumstantial evidence that Everett was participating in a recruiting event for an organization that had lost its charter a year ago,” Weiss said. “That’s KDR.”

The National Fraternity of Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) revoked the charter of its Lafayette chapter in June 2011. 

Former KDR affiliates maintain that no underground chapter exists here on campus. 

“All there is on this campus are 17 alumni members,” said one KDR alumnus who wished to remain anonymous. Another source close to the KDRs was adamant that they are no more than a group of friends.

“The administration has strong evidence for what they’re asserting,” Weiss said. “Very strong evidence.” He declined to elaborate on what that evidence was, but confirmed that it included testimony from people who had seen Glenn on All College Day.

Until now, the school has said little about the circumstances surrounding Glenn’s death, which was attributed to “acute ethanol intoxication” in the State of the College email sent by Weiss and Board of Trustees Chair Ed Ahart ‘69 in August. 

Weiss, while admitting that he is unsure whether KDR is underground or not, said, “Everett was awakened at 4 o’clock in the morning as part of a recruitment event by a group of people who were affiliated with the former KDR, and they went to a party.” 

Some students disagree with Weiss’s assessment. 

“Everett chose to get up early—very early—and start drinking,” a junior and self-identified friend of KDR alumni said. “To say that he was woken up is false.” 

Weiss is not the only one pointing to the former fraternity. Last week, at the Presidential Search Meeting in Boston, Ahart told alumni that Glenn had been drinking with an unrecognized student group. There had been “a lot of forced drinking,” he said. 

Weiss clarified that KDR was not responsible for Glenn’s death, but did supply the freshman with alcohol that morning. Glenn had reportedly been drinking with a number of groups that day.

Weiss said he did not discuss KDR’s involvement earlier in the investigation because the group is unsanctioned and unrecognized. 

“Our focus was on the students who were in [the group], because the organization has no identity,” Weiss said. “The Board has been working on coming up with policies to deal with underground organizations.” 

The investigation into Glenn’s death was undertaken by the Easton Police, who did not disclose information to the school until well into the summer, Weiss said. After that, the school just picked up where the Easton Police left off. 

Approximately 36 students went through the summer conduct process as a result of their behavior on All College Day, Vice President for Campus Life Annette Diorio said. Weiss and Diorio declined to comment on how many of those students were affiliated with the former fraternity.