WVU student involved in ‘catastrophic’ emergency dies

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: West Virginia Gazette

Friday, November 14, 2014
WVU student involved in ‘catastrophic’ emergency dies
By Mackenzie Mays, Staff writer

A West Virginia University student who was hospitalized following an incident involving a fraternity earlier this week has died, according to school officials.

Nolan Burch, 18, of Williamsville, New York, was found at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house late Wednesday night without a pulse and was in critical condition at Ruby Memorial Hospital until he was pronounced dead Friday, according to Morgantown Police and WVU officials.

WVU and Morgantown Police are continuing to investigate what school officials are calling a “catastrophic medical emergency” that led to Burch becoming gravely ill.

The incident led WVU, alongside the Inter-Fraternity Council and Panhellenic Council, to suspend all fraternity and sorority social and pledging events until further notice on Thursday.
....

Reach Mackenzie Mays at [e-mail], 304-348-4814 or follow @MackenzieMays on Twitter.


Read more: http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141114/GZ01/141119534/1419

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Found without a pulse? A “catastrophic medical emergency”?

From the student newspaper:

UPDATE: Student has passed away following fraternity incident

Posted: Friday, November 14, 2014 1:33 am | Updated: 1:39 pm, Fri Nov 14, 2014.

By Jacob Bojesson

UPDATE: West Virginia University confirmed the passing of freshman Nolan Burch Friday morning.

“The outpouring of love and support from his friends and this community has been what you would expect from Mountaineers, and I would ask that you continue to keep the Burch family and many friends in your thoughts and prayers,” WVU President E. Gordon Gee said in a press release.

The University additionally said University and Morgantown Police departments continue to investigate what took place in the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house the night of Nov. 12.
....

Morgantown Police Department responded to an unknown medical emergency at approximately 11:52 p.m. Wednesday night. The first officer to arrive at the scene performed CPR on Burch after finding him without any pulse or respiration according to a press release from MPD.

After being transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital, Burch was put on life support and remained in intensive care as of Thursday night.
....

TheDAOnline.com
Phone number: 304-293-4141
E-mail: [e-mail]
Address: 284 Prospect Street, PO Box 6427
Morgantown, WV 26506

From his local major newspaper:

College freshman from Amherst dies; lost consciousness at West Virginia University frat party

By Dan Herbeck
News Staff Reporter
November 14, 2014 - 8:35 AM, updated November 14, 2014 at 1:29 PM

An 18-year-old college student from Amherst died today, about 36 hours after he lapsed into unconsciousness during an underage drinking party at a fraternity house near West Virginia University.
....

Minutes before Burch’s death was announced, the police chief of Morgantown told The Buffalo News his department is conducting a criminal investigation into “all aspects” of the party that Nolan and other students attended at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
....

Burch graduated earlier this year from Canisius High School, where he played on the lacrosse team and was described by a school administrator as a “popular and very sociable young man.”
....

Police officers who responded to an emergency call at the frat house began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Burch. Emergency medical technicians then took over the CPR, and he was taken by ambulance to the Ruby Memorial Hospital, where he was put into an intensive care unit.
....

email: [e-mail]

[shenmue]

1. Oh, man

How awful for his family. The poor guy goes to a party or he wants to get into this group, whatever, and he dies.

The hell?

[ReRe]

2. K&R

Let me tell you what the catastrophic emergency is: The need to abolish this ancient good-ole-boys/girls spoiled brat club from surface of the earth.

[LeftinOH]

6. There are 16 fraternities and 8 sororities at WVU;

it appears that at least two of them have some serious internal problems - and they should be dealt with...harshly. The one involved in this tragedy may need to be eliminated completely.

However.. abolishing ALL fraternities and sororities from every campus -everywhere- is not a solution. Nor should it be. The understandable vitriol towards the group (the Kappa Sigma chapter at WVU) which is allegedly responsible for this young man's death should stop there - and not be spread to so many other groups who have done nothing to deserve the hate.

The "spoiled brat club" that you refer to is an absurd stereotype. You'll find entitled and elitist individuals on collegiate (and high school) sports teams to a much greater degree than in college fraternities and sororities. Yes, really. And for the record, I am a former "spoiled brat".

[ebbie15644]

7. WVU also markets itself as the number 1 "party school"

it was just a matter of time

[LeftinOH]

9. The "party school" label. You'd think that would be

enough to scare parents away from sending their kids to a school that has that reputation.

[ebbie15644]

13. I know going out of state was cheaper at WVU

than my nephew staying in state and going to Penn State. I know too that parents want to think the best of their children and believe them when they say "not me"

[Kelvin Mace]

10. Not a big fan of the Greek system

Fosters elitism and sexism. Yes, I am sure there are some perfectly nice groups out there somewhere, just as I am sure than there is a police department somewhere run by the clones of Andy Taylor. That is just not the way to bet.

[irisblue]

3. his family

his poor family...

[appalachiablue]

4. How awful, sad. Only 18 years old. (College didn't used to be dangerous...).

[OneCrazyDiamond]

12. 4 dead in Ohio

Sorry not trying to be coy.

[appalachiablue]

16. I remember May 4, 1970 at Kent State. Thinking how more sexual assault,

rape, sexism, bullying happening now among students, vs. my time. External tragedies like officials at Kent State, predator Ted Bundy for sure. But never thought about rape, crime much at schools five of us attended in small towns & DC, NY, Miami in less than idyllic settings. Some frat-jock rowdys but not extreme.
I got caught up in an ugly college protest-riot prompted by police invasion/dorm search for drugs at Marshall Univ. in Huntington, WV while a HS student, '70-'71. Not so far from Kent State & we were well aware of US student activism.
Recent events like UVA student Hannah Morgan's abduction & murder in C.ville, and a N.H. student last year lured to an apt. by a couple & murdered, I don't recall in earlier times.
Niece just started at my same small town college brought up how glad she was of new school policies to process, prosecute sexual crimes. She's well rounded, secure. Times change for sure. If alive my father, post WWII VA Tech alum would be horrified by 2007 massacre, then student beheading in the caf, and couple yrs. ago authorities who took down a violent suspect student from a nearby college who'd gone to Tech's campus. But new measures are being implemented. I hope things get better in this volatile country of ours!

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. alcohol related?

[Divernan]

8. The damage control will be in overdrive at WVU re "a very eventful night."

I worked in a Dean of Students office at one of the top private universities for a couple of years, and the coverups focused on protecting the university's reputation - student victims/witnesses were coerced, manipulated, threatened - often encouraged to "take a semester off". Any parents who think an undergraduate institution sees itself as acting "in loco parentis" is delusional.

More from the article:

Burch, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., was pledging to become a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. MPD and University Police are working on identifying and interviewing pledge and fraternity members who were with Burch during the night.

Burch tweeted, “It’s about to be a very eventful night to say the least” hours before the incident.

[LuckyLib]

11. The Atlantic did a powerful piece on fraternities. It's an eye-opener.

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/02/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

[Exultant Democracy]

14. We need to fix how we introduce our kids to drinking, sad but true frats are a safter alternative.

Yes frat parties send hundreds of kids to the hospital each year for binge drinking, but a lot more kids die from drunk driving then from alcohol poising. Frats have the advantage of keeping people in one place while there are drinking and in this day and age they all at the very least have a sober driving system in place.

I personally think we need to lower the drinking age and turn alcohol into something people learn about using around their family as they mature, right now we basically toss these kids to the wolves when they get to college and are introduced to their new friend booze.

[cheapdate]

15. My college fraternity was essentially a collective

for getting bulk discount pricing for beer and liquor.