Nov 14, 2014 02:47 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Nolan Burch, the 18-year-old student at West Virginia University (WVU) who was found at a fraternity house unconscious and without a pulse early Thursday morning, has died.

WVU President E. Gordon Gee made a formal announcement Friday, addressing the school community of Burch's death. The freshman was in intensive care since he was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va.

Corey Farris, dean of students at WVU, told WGRZ in Buffalo that Burch was a student in the College of Business and Economics.

"Words cannot describe the heartache we, as a West Virginia University family, feel at the loss of one of our own - Nolan Michael Burch - who passed away today," Gee said in his statement. "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."

Burch was at an event in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house when he fell unconscious and other attendees called 911. A Morgantown Police officer performed CPR on Burch until EMS arrived.

Later Thursday, WVU announced that all activity at the school's fraternities and sororities will be suspended indefinitely in lieu of Burch's "catastrophic medical emergency."

The WVU Inter-Fraternity Council and Panhellenic Council announced Friday that they will host a candlelight vigil for Burch at the Mountainlair Plaza. The vigil is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.

Coupled with a previous incident in which 16 students were cited and three were arrested for disorderly conduct, public intoxication and underage consumption of alcohol. The students were also found to be associated with another fraternity.

"This is pretty grave," Farris told WGRZ. "We're just taking a step back with, you know, the University certainly stood with the sororities and the fraternities and the Inter-Fraternity Council and Panhellenic and are standing right with them as they say, 'wait a minute, let's stop, let's take a look at where we're going and is this the right direction, the right reputation we want to have?'"

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