Elissa Collopy
eac001@marietta.edu
West Virginia University freshman Nolan Burch died Nov. 13 after being found “on the floor and without any pulse or respiration” at the fraternity house of Kappa Sigma, according to a statement released by the Morgantown Police Department.
“We are distraught and saddened by the news about WVU student Nolan Burch,” Kappa Sigma said in a statement released Nov. 14.
This incident led WVU’s Greek life to be placed under a moratorium, which means all campus fraternities and sororities are suspended from all chapter social and pledging activities until further notice, according to a statement released by WVU.
This incident followed another event in which 19 pledges from a different fraternity, Sigma Chi, were charged with underage drinking on Nov. 6.
“As part of the team building exercise, the 19 underage pledges were transported by active members of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and were deposited in the Southpark Neighborhood with instructions to the pledges to find their way back to the fraternity house,” Morgantown Police Chief Ed Preston said in a release issued Nov. 13. “The actual members left the pledges alone and unsupervised, which led to the 19 pledges interaction with the police department.”
The cause behind these events is presumed to be linked with hazing.
According to Buffalo News, a friend of the Burch family reported that others at the fraternity party on Nov. 12 “challenged” Burch into drinking a large quantity of alcohol.
At Marietta College, there is a strict no-hazing policy instated.
According to the Marietta College Greek Life webpage, “Hazing is against federal, state, and local laws. It is also against Marietta College student organization policies as well as the policies of each chapter on campus. Hazing has no place in the activities of fraternity and sororities. Every chapter at Marietta College belongs to a national organization that has taken a strong stance against hazing and neither these organizations nor the College will tolerate it.”
Sophomore Alpha Xi Delta member Emily Gummere is proud of MC’s anti-hazing policy, and believes it encourages more responsible students to pursue Greek life.
“These young men and women attend rush and recruitment events to become a part of something that is bigger than them,” Gummere said. “I believe that it is for the betterment of the chapter to weed out the people who don’t want to be there by laying out expectations for them from the start—this shows dedication without anyone being harmed on purpose or by accident.”
With these incidences of hazing occurring at WVU, there is a public spotlight on the campus and no final date of the moratorium ending has been released. Kappa Sigma lost their charter and will no longer be a recognized fraternity on WVU’s campus.
