All WVU Fraternities And Sororities Suspended Following Tragic Pledge Incident
All West Virginia University fraternities and sororities have been suspended indefinitely following a tragic event inside the Kappa Sigma house on Wednesday night. Freshman Nolan Burch, 18, was found unresponsive inside the house as someone attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation to revive him. He wasn’t breathing and had no pulse when paramedics arrived, per reports. Burch was rushed to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown where he was taken to the ICU.
Burch is still alive, but the situation appears grim from the information available. According to his sister, Alex, Nolan’s fight for his life could be ending soon.
Nolan's fight is ending soon, if anybody wants to come down to the hospital in Morgan town I'll give you the address so you can say goodbye
— alex burch (@alexburch2) November 13, 2014
The incident is being described as a “catastrophic medical emergency,” one the university deems worthy of shutting down all fraternity and sorority functions while information is being gathered and reviewed.
The WVU Dean of Students, Corey Harris, explains the reason for suspending all Greek life activity, per NBC News:
“The action to halt fraternity and sorority activities while these matters are being reviewed is being done with the well-being and safety of our students in mind,” said Corey Farris, West Virginia University’s dean of students. “That is — and must always be — our foremost priority.”
Nolan Burch’s last two tweets cast an ominous foreshadow that will surely be engrained into students’ minds in Morgantown. The afternoon of the day the incident occurred, he posted about the night to come.
It's about to be a very eventful night to say the least
— Nolan Burch (@NolanBurch9) November 12, 2014
And the day prior, Nolan shared an inspirational quote about dealing with the tribulations that life throws at us.
— Nolan Burch (@NolanBurch9) November 11, 2014
This incident comes soon after 19 pledges of WVU’s Sigma Chi chapter were either arrested or cited for underage drinking after police discovered them brawling in the streets. The pledges initially identified themselves as members of their rival fraternity, and they could now “face charges of obstruction of justice for providing fictitious information” because of it. Sigma Chi was suspended following the incident.
UPDATE: Nolan has passed away, according to his sister.
Rest in peace buddy I'll see you later, but for now raise hell up there for me
— alex burch (@alexburch2) November 14, 2014
Our thoughts go out to Nolan’s family and friends, as well as the West Virginia University community..
[via NBC News]
Image via Twitter / @NolanBurch9
different letters, same community. Rest in peace Nolan, thoughts for his family and to the brothers of Kappa Sig.
11 years ago at 11:25 amsome context for the sig chi article, in the backround of the first picture, can see sigma chi and across the street you can see tke (the yellow house) who the sig chi pledges said they were
11 years ago at 11:27 amArticles like this show the good that TFM can bring, calling on the prayers of thousands of its followers for the family and friends of a victim of such a tragic circumstance. God be with you Nolan and all close to you. You’re in all of our thoughts and prayers right now.
11 years ago at 11:28 amLetters aside we’re all Greek. Prayers and Condolences to his family and brothers.
11 years ago at 11:31 amI don’t understand why Greek Life was suspended for this?
11 years ago at 12:08 pmThis was a long time coming. Last year at Kappa Sigma, another member passed away. Their National HQ had them on probation this year, and they lost their charter/membership status 2 days before this tragic event happened. TKE and Kappa Alpha run rampant with sexual assault/roofie rumors. Phi Sigma Kappa recently got in trouble for hazing. Phi Kappa Psi stepped on a pledge’s back and cut his jaw(Big mistake, both of his parents were EXCELLENT Lawyers). Apparently, Beta Theta Pi is in some deep shit too. As well as Sigma Chi who just got suspended, even though what they did is minor. Actually, a lot of people were surprised that Kappa Sigma was allowed a pledge class after all that has happened.
11 years ago at 12:32 pmWhile I was in fact shocked that Kappa Sig was allowed to participate in rush due to all of their prior offenses, the other Kappa Sig that died was an alumni, not really sure how that’s relevant. If you’re a “Delt” you signed up for your letters last semester outside the mountainlair and know absolutely nothing about the Greek system at WVU. Stop spreading rumors about things you know nothing about.
11 years ago at 7:30 pmThanks WVU, someone needed to say it.
11 years ago at 12:20 amI’m sorry I decided to help recolonize a chapter instead of joining in on the cokefest in another frat. Secondly, I’m a senior, I guarantee you’re either a pledge or a sophomore, and that guy wasn’t alumni, he was a brother.
11 years ago at 10:21 amAlso, what frat are you in? I’m assuming either sigma chi or pike considering how egotistical you sound in your post.
11 years ago at 10:23 amMy deepest condolences to everyone who knew him and especially his family. This is tragic.
11 years ago at 1:40 pmBBN is dangerous as we all know, but the significance of the night is to be able to trust your big to take care of you, a responsibility that Nolan’s big obviously took lightly. Very sad to see a fellow member of the greek community pass away for a stupid reason, rest in peace, my heart goes out to his family.
11 years ago at 1:42 pmYou should revise your pledge program if you have a night that you know is inherently dangerous or at least make it more than one guy’s responsibility to make sure pledges don’t die. Death should never be a possible outcome, much less a likely one, on any planned night of pledgeship.
11 years ago at 2:18 pmThats the point I’m trying to make is that death isn’t a possibility when you have brothers that take responsibility seriously and stop the behavior that could lead to bad outcomes
11 years ago at 5:45 pmDangerous as we all know? Hazing is one thing but things in pledging shouldn’t be inherently dangerous
11 years ago at 9:09 pmRest in peace, Nolan. Always a bummer to see anyone go down but especially a fellow sigma Chi. I’m sure you were a great dude. Rest in peace. In Hoc!
11 years ago at 3:33 pmDo we have a picture of the sister, yet?
11 years ago at 3:33 pmGo dig a hole and die in it. Assclown.
11 years ago at 3:44 pmYou’re a fucking retard.
11 years ago at 8:56 pmAll the non-greek are gonna talk bad about this. Life happens and this is terribly sad event. But people should remember this isnt about greek life, its about a young man that was taken away too soon. R.I.P Nolan.
11 years ago at 4:49 pm