BOSTON, March 5 (UPI) -- Boston University officials said they have suspended a fraternity for hosting an off-campus party after which one of its members, a 19-year-old freshman, died.
Police and school officials are interviewing several students and members of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity who were in attendance at the party where Anthony Barksdale II of Amherst, N.H., one of the frat's newest members, was initially found unresponsive. Emergency personnel rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead about 3 hours later.
Police said there were no outward signs of trauma. A toxicology report has yet to confirm a suspicion Barksdale died of alcohol poisoning, police said.
School officials were careful not to jump to conclusions, the Boston Globe said Tuesday, but officials lamented an alcohol awareness campaign hadn't had its intended effect.
"We have been pushing hard on this conversation on alcohol abuse throughout the year," university spokesman Colin Riley said. "That's why it is so disappointing."
