Questions in crash that killed 2 Drexel students

Questions remain surrounding a car crash that killed two Drexel University students and seriously injured four others while they were driving on a fraternity trip early Sunday morning through Lycoming County in north-central Pennsylvania.

Police said the SUV struck a "rock cut" along the mountainside around 3:30 a.m that morning.

Ian Alexander, 22, of Royersford, president of Drexel's Alpha Chi Rho fraternity, and John Patrick "Johnny" Williamson Jr., 21, of Havertown, died in the accident on Route 15, two miles south of Liberty, Pa., state police said in a written release. The SUV had been headed south.

Police would not say whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, or whether the two who died had been wearing seat belts. The accident is still under investigation, police said.

Alexander, a psychology major, was scheduled to graduate in May. His family declined to comment on the accident.

Williamson was a biological sciences major, devout Catholic and choir member, his mother said.

Donna Marie Williamson, 52, said police had assured her that alcohol was not a factor in the accident.

The four survivors, including the driver, Andrew Cardamone, 19, of Philadelphia, were all wearing seat belts, police said. Cardamone and passengers Eric Rayburn, 18, of Quakertown, and Kevin MacDonald, 18, of Philadelphia, were taken to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where they remained in serious condition last night.

Passenger Adam Marsh, 20, of Collegeville, was airlifted to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, where he was in serious condition in the intensive-care unit last night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Drexel spokesman Noah Cohen said the six undergraduates were all members or prospective members of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity's Drexel chapter. They were not on an official university trip, he said, although university officials could not say where the men were headed, or why.

"I really don't know where they were going," said Scott Carlson, chief executive officer of the fraternity's national chapter. "At this time, we're concerned with the injured, their families, and of course the families of the deceased."

Drexel counselors were available for students yesterday. The fraternity held a vigil last night outside North Hall, a dormitory on 32d Street near Race