Days of mourning at Yale follow fatal crash

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — From frat row to Old Campus, mourners found it hard to hide from the glare of the camera.

Since Friday, the local news has projected scenes of the accident on televisions in students' dormitories. White media vans parked outside of the DKE house immediately after the accident. Photographers lined the street in front of the University Chapel after a memorial service. "Every time we went outside they always had a question and it was like, f*** off," said an anonymous Yale DKE member. "Because you know that at the end of the day they will go home and won't really care."

Yale University mourned the loss of four students who were killed and five who were hospitalized after a collision with a tractor-trailer Friday morning. The collision involved four vehicles on Interstate 95 in Fairfield, Conn., and occurred at about 5 a.m.

All the students were members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and they were returning to Yale in a Chevrolet Tahoe after visiting New York City.

The driver, junior Sean Fenton, 20, and sophomore passengers Kyle Burnat, 19, and Andrew Dwyer, 19, were killed at the scene of the accident from head injuries. Sophomore Nicholas Grass, 19, underwent surgery at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, Conn., but died Saturday afternoon.

The remaining five also sustained serious injuries. Freshman football players Brett Smith, 18, and senior Eric Wenzel, 21, are in critical condition, with Smith in a coma.

Freshmen football players Cameron Fine, 18, and Christopher Gary, 18, were discharged from the Bridgeport Hospital and St. Vincent's, respectively, on Saturday. The other passenger, sophomore Zachery Bradley, 19, is in fair condition and, according to an email sent to Yale students by residential college master Gary Haller, he may be released on Monday.

The tractor-trailer driven by Armando Salgado, 33, swerved out of control and broke through the median as it traveled north on I-95. Another tractor-trailer hit Salgado's truck, and a Dodge Avenger heading southbound struck the flatbed. Salgado was not injured, however, and the other drivers sustained minor injuries.

Afterward, the Chevy Tahoe with the Yale students crashed into Salgado's tractor-trailer. Radio station WICC-AM reported that a generator from one of the tractor-trailers crushed the SUV after becoming airborne, according to the Yale Daily News.

In response to the accidents, the university immediately sent two campus-wide emails to students and held a vigil Friday night at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

The university's undergraduate dean, Richard Brodhead, arranged the vigil and spoke at the event, calling the day "as black a day as I have seen on campus."

A memorial service was held yesterday afternoon for Fenton at the University Chapel, the first of many services to be held for the victims at various locations off campus. Students, faculty and members of Fenton's family took turns sharing memories of him and the deceased.

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Many expressed their continued shock and regret over the accident. "Moments like this, a community can never prepare for, parents don't expect to lose children, friends don't expect to say good bye to friends." said Peter Quimby, a residential college dean.

One of Fenton's roommates played guitar and sang Fenton's favorite song, "Hey Jude."

Yale officials canceled all home athletic events Friday, but events resumed Saturday. In addition, the university has set up a 24-hour counseling and Mental Hygiene Area.

The mood of the campus was somber, and on frat row, there was no sign of social life Saturday night.

"Everyone is very respectful." a Yale student said.

The university has not placed any blame on the fraternity and has, instead, cleaned up the house, held luncheons and offered to give all the members counseling, the DKE member said.

And alumni have returned to campus to talk to DKE and help the fraternity rebuild.

"We came together," the DKE member said. "On Friday, we had a meeting at 6:30. Imagine 40 athletes crying together. It was a unifying experience."

In addition to Friday's meeting, the fraternity has held group counseling sessions, during which the brothers broke into groups of three to four to talk on a more personal level.

"It puts so much into perspective," said the DKE brother, "You start off the week stressing about one thing. And then you come out of the week thinking about life and death."