Prosecutors have “declined to move forward” with a misdemeanor charge against Alpha Phi sorority for facilitating an underage alcohol house, according to Hanover Police Department lieutenant Michael Schibuola. In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Schibuola wrote that “no further charges are pending beyond what was already made public.”
On Nov. 22, 2024, APhi was charged as a corporation in connection with the death of Won Jang ’26. On the night of July 6, 2024, Jang attended a joint social event with APhi and Beta Alpha Omega fraternity. Following the event — which was hosted at an off-campus apartment rented by several members of the sorority — Jang and other attendees “made a spontaneous decision to swim” in the Connecticut River, according to a November press release from the Hanover Police Department. A sudden rainstorm then caused students to flee the scene. Jang was found dead in the river the next day.
The College suspended both APhi and Beta on July 9, 2024.
College spokesperson Jana Barnello wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth that APhi had “admitted responsibility for holding a social gathering where alcohol and hard alcohol was provided to members and guests, and at which members and guests engaged in behavior that would reasonably be expected to cause physical harm.”
According to Barnello, APhi’s suspension will last four terms — which began last fall and will continue through fall 2025 — and will be followed by three terms of alcohol probation, through the summer term of 2026. According to past coverage by The Dartmouth, suspended Greek organizations are prohibited from hosting events with other Greek houses, and only those currently living in the house are able to enter. Alcohol probation prohibits organizations from hosting or co-hosting events that serve alcohol.
APhi will also “lose access to its physical plant” — a house located on North Park Street — from summer 2025 through the end of summer 2026, Barnello wrote.
Representatives from APhi and APhi national did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication. The Office of Greek Life did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
