Amethyst Initiative founder John McCardell’s Wednesday night lecture was postponed.

McCadell was on his way to the College of William and Mary when he received a call from a family member that his father was having trouble breathing, and he decided to travel to his father’s home that evening instead of continuing on to the College. The state of his father’s health is still unknown.

“It’s a really unfortunate event, but we are working to reschedule the lecture for sometime this semester,” Student Assembly Sen. Steven Nelson ’10 said.

The Amethyst Initiative was established in July by McCardell, Middle-bury College’s president emeritus and. It promotes reopening the debate over the current drinking age. The initiative’s statement is available online at AmethystInitiative.org.

College President Taylor Reveley has been invited to sign the statement, and the SA passed a bill urging Reveley to sign. Reveley was scheduled to dine with McCardell that evening.

The presidents of five Virginia universities have signed the initiative: Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Randolph-Macon College, Sweet Briar College and Washington and Lee University.