Dartmouth College has suspended a fraternity and a sorority as police investigate the circumstances of 20-year-old student Won Jang’s death, including anonymous tips that suggest alcohol or hazing may have been involved.
The college suspended the two Greek organizations, Beta Alpha Omega and Alpha Phi, amid the Hanover Police Department’s investigation, according to a Dartmouth spokesperson, who did not specify the basis for the suspensions.
Jang, whose body was found Sunday evening in the Connecticut River, was a biomedical engineering major from Delaware and a member of the Beta Alpha Omega fraternity. The chapter’s website, which is now private, had listed him as part of the Class of 2026.
Efforts to reach spokespeople for the fraternity and sorority were not immediately successful Wednesday morning.
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Both chapters had been placed on “alcohol probation” last fall for violating community standards, according to The Dartmouth, and a college spokesperson told the student newspaper that Jang’s chapter was still on probation at the time of his death.
Jang’s friends said they last saw him attending “an informal social gathering” Saturday night at docks near Dartmouth’s boathouse on the river, according to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Jang was reported missing Sunday when he did not show up for a planned engagement. Then investigators found items near the dock that suggested he hadn’t left the area. They used an underwater camera to locate his body.
In an interview, Hanover Police Chief Charles B. Dennis said college officials forwarded at least one anonymous email to his department that suggested alcohol or hazing may have been involved.
“In any investigation, we’d be looking at that anyway,” Dennis told The Boston Globe on Monday, “but certainly it will be part of our investigation as we do a thorough investigation into this untimely death.”
In an email to the campus community, dean Scott C. Brown said Jang had embraced academic and personal opportunities “wholeheartedly.”
“We understand that this is very difficult news for our community and encourage you to seek support, whether you need a listening ear or guidance in navigating this challenging time,” he wrote. “We have been in touch with Won’s fraternity brothers and other friends.”
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The college distributed information about mental health and crisis response responses to the campus community.
Anyone with information about the ongoing police investigation is asked to call Hanover police at 603-643-2222.
Steven Porter can be reached at steven.porter@globe.com. Follow him @reporterporter.