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
If it’s one thing to take away from this tragedy it’s that we should all be reminded that people have physical limits. These limits are science not masculinity. Recognizing those limits doesn’t make someone a pussy, it makes them controlled. Mastering those limits doesn’t make you a bitch it makes you calculated.
As a brother, friend, or stranger when you see some one pressuring, or even self-indulging in this type of behavior you should do what you can to make sure that one lapse of judgment doesn’t cut an entire life short.
11 years ago at 5:59 pmHere is a go fund me I started for the Burch family. It’s always hard to lose family member and we can only hope for this to ease a little bit of the pain for friends and family of a fellow greek member. Thanks in advance guys.
gofundme.com/hbbftk
11 years ago at 9:27 amThis could happen to any one of my boys.. Terribly sad to read about
11 years ago at 2:51 amThoughts and prayers go out to Nolan and his family, as well as my brothers at WVU.
11 years ago at 9:29 amSad to see this. This is becoming entirely too regular. Reiterating what someone else posted, people need to understand that they’re not invincible. Drugs can be fun, yes. But drugs, especially hard drugs, are still dangerous no matter how often we use them or how much we love them. I have no idea what this young man did that night or anything else about him for that matter, but it’s another tragedy that simply didn’t need to happen. My prayers are with his family as well the WVU community. God Bless.
11 years ago at 3:53 pmSo were supposed to feel bad for a dumbass who decided to drink to much and also take drugs. It’s not like his so called “brothers” have literally taping a liquor bottle to his face. This is called natural selection people.
11 years ago at 4:55 pmFuck you.
11 years ago at 1:38 pmIs his sister going to be the next Instagram Babe of the day? She sounded hot!
11 years ago at 4:56 pmNeeds to learn his limits
11 years ago at 5:45 pm