Steffey family settles for half million, $100,000 in scholarships

Dale Steffey and Dawn Adams accepted a $500,000 settlement from Purdue University Tuesday, settling out of court the wrongful death case for their son, Wade Steffey.\n“Anger as a fuel is very powerful, but it’s a very destructive emotion,” Dale Steffey said at a press conference Tuesday. “You don’t want to hold on to that. This is a way to let that go.”\nWade Steffey, a 19-year-old freshman at Purdue, was found electrocuted in a high-voltage utility room two months after he disappeared on Jan. 13. The room was unlocked when Wade Steffey entered it, attempting to get to his dorm room.\nDale Steffey and Adams appeared at the Indianapolis press conference with their attorneys, Scott Montross and Mike Miller. Representatives from Purdue were not present.\nPurdue gave the $500,000 settlement directly to the Steffey family, and gave another $100,000 to the Wade Steffey Memorial Scholarship fund, created by the family for Indiana freshmen enrolled at Purdue.\nUnder Indiana state law, a public institution can’t give more than $500,000 in damages, Montross said. If Purdue was not considered a public institution, the compensation would be “a multiple of that,” he said.\n“The settlement provides financial compensation for the family and also assures Wade Steffey’s memory will live on through the students who have access to a Purdue education because of the scholarship,” Purdue Vice President for University Relations Joseph L. Bennett said in a statement yesterday.\nThough it’s impossible to put a price on losing a son, Dale Steffey said, he is thankful to everyone at Purdue.\n“I don’t know that we are laying blame,” he said. “We’re asking the university for answers and to accept responsibility if responsibility fell there.”\nDale Steffey said he hopes universities will get the message to make maintenance a priority and keep children safe.\n“Purdue gets to move on, the Steffeys get to move on,” Montross said. “This is a very positive result from a very negative event.”