Florida State Suspends All Greek Life after Pledge Dies
All fraternities and sororities at Florida State have been suspended after a pledge was found unresponsive Friday morning at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
Florida State is now the third university in the last year to suspend Greek life following a tragic incident.
All 55 fraternities and sororities at Florida State University have been suspended pending an investigation into the death of a pledge.
Andrew Coffey, 20, died Friday after being found unresponsive at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity the morning after a party.
“Unfortunately, once medical personnel got here along with TPD, they determined the person to be deceased,” says Officer David Northway of the Tallahassee Police Department. “All attempts to revive the person were unsuccessful.”
Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo says indicators suggest alcohol played a role in the junior’s death, although they are waiting on an autopsy to confirm, reports CNN. No one has been arrested in connection with his death.
Coffey was studying civil engineering and had just transferred to the Tallahassee school this semester.
Florida State is now the third university just this year to suspend Greek life following a tragedy.
Penn State suspended fraternities and sororities from holding social activities during the spring semester following the hazing death of 19-year-old Timothy Piazza in February.
Louisiana State suspended Greek life for one month and has continued to ban alcohol at Greek parties after the hazing death of 18-year-old Maxwell Gruver in September.
University President John Thrasher says the length of the suspension has not been determined.
“I just feel like for whatever reason, the message is not getting through,” says Thrasher. “Unfortunately, we’ve got to take steps with our students, to make sure this never happens again.”
Students can continue to live in the fraternity and sorority houses and hold chapter meetings, but they cannot host any events or take part in Homecoming as an organization, which is scheduled for November 12-18.
Thrasher has also banned alcohol at all student organization events during the suspension, according to ABC News.
While some support the school’s action, others believe the penalty is unfair.
“For me and a lot of the people who are entering, we’re all pretty upset because we are trying to get the reputation back up,” says Lila Pullo, a freshman who was supposed to be initiated into the Delta Gamma sorority. “Most of the organizations getting in trouble are fraternities. If they did end Greek life the atmosphere on campus will go down a lot.”
In a separate incident, 20-year-old Garrett John Marcy, a member of FSU’s Phi Delta Theta chapter, was charged Monday with trafficking cocaine. He was arrested by FSU police and booked into Leon County jail where his bail was set to $75,000.
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Amy Rock, Executive Editor
Amy is Campus Safety’s Executive Editor. Prior to joining the editorial team in 2017, she worked in both events and digital marketing.
Amy has many close relatives and friends who are teachers, motivating her to learn and share as much as she can about campus security. She has a minor in education and has worked with children in several capacities, further deepening her passion for keeping students safe.
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