
Officials at Dartmouth College last week suspended the Beta Alpha Omega fraternity after one of its members, 20-year-old member Won Jang, was found dead in an incident police are investigating as possible hazing.
According to a July 8 press release from New Hampshire Fish and Game, Jang was last seen at about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 6 at an impromptu party near the Dartmouth boathouse along the Connecticut River.
Police were notified when Jang failed to show up at an event the following day. A search of the dock where the party was held turned up items that suggested that the student never left the area.
Divers were called in to check the river. After several hours, Jang’s body was captured by an underwater camera near the dock.
While Jang’s cause of death has yet to be determined, Dartmouth officials forwarded anonymous emails to the Hanover Police Department that suggested alcohol and hazing could have contributed to his death, Hanover Police Chief Charlie Dennis told reporters last Monday.
Chief Dennis urged others who may have information about Jang’s death to come forward to assist in the investigation.
In light of the police investigation, the Ivy League school suspended Jang’s fraternity, along with the sorority Alpha Phi.
Morgan Kelly, a spokesperson for the school, refused to say what possible role Beta Alpha Omega or Alpha Phi may have played in Jang’s death but did reveal the fraternity was on alcohol probation at the time and the sorority’s previous alcohol probation had just recently been lifted.
Jang is the second Dartmouth College student in two months to have been found in the Connecticut River.
The body of 26-year-old graduate student Kexin Cai was discovered in the river on May 20 five days after she was reported missing.
The police do not believe the two deaths are connected.