--- description: Police are investigating the death of a Texas State University student who was found dead Monday morning after attending a fraternity event title: Texas State University Suspends Greek Life After Fraternity Pledge Dies image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Texas](/tag/texas/) ## Texas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Texas State University Suspends Greek Life After 'Tragic Death' of Fraternity Pledge ## Video: Florida State University Suspends Greek Life After Freshman's Death [Watch (HLS stream): Florida State University Suspends Greek Life After Freshman's Death](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ybNeILIz.m3u8) (0:46)  _Published 2017-11-06. After a Florida State fraternity member was found dead, the college is suspending Greek life._  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 11:44 PM CUT  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 14, 2017 11:44 PM CUT Police are investigating the case of a Texas State University student who was found dead on Monday morning after attending a fraternity event — an incident that has prompted the university to suspend all Greek life on campus. Matthew Ellis, a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity pledge, was at an off-campus apartment Sunday night for an event hosted by members of a Texas State fraternity, according to a university press release. After receiving a call from his friends, police officers found Ellis unresponsive at the apartment shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Monday and were unable to revive him. San Marcos Police Cmdr. Kelly Bomersbach said alcohol might have been a factor in Ellis’ death, but she said it was too early to consider if hazing was involved. “Any time a young person dies, it’s particularly tragic because they haven’t lived a full life,” she said at a [press conference](https://www.click2houston.com/video/san-marcos-police-department-provides-updates-on-students-death "undefined") on Tuesday. Ellis was a business major at Texas State, according to his Facebook profile and [the University Star](http://star.txstate.edu/2017/11/14/student-death-under-investigation/ "undefined"), the school’s student newspaper. “As a result of this tragedy, I have suspended activities of all Greek fraternity and sorority chapters at Texas State,” University President Denise Trauth said in a statement on Tuesday, prohibiting all fraternities and sororities from holding any social events or chapter meetings “until a thorough review of the Greek Affairs system is completed.” Ellis is the latest of several students to die after parties while pledging fraternities this year. Penn State sophomore [Tim Piazza](http://time.com/5022062/penn-state-frat-hazing-death-more-charges/ "undefined") died following an [alleged hazing ritual](http://time.com/4976836/fraternity-hazing-deaths-reform-tim-piazza/ "undefined") while he was pledging Beta Theta Pi in February. [Maxwell Gruver](http://time.com/4943642/lsu-hazing-death-maxwell-gruver/ "undefined"), an 18-year-old Phi Delta Theta pledge, died in September in what police are investigating as a possible hazing incident at Louisiana State University. And earlier this month, Florida State University [suspended Greek life](http://time.com/5012262/florida-state-university-fraternity-sorority-suspended-andrew-coffey/ "undefined") after the alcohol-related death of Andrew Coffey, a Pi Kappa Phi pledge. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/"},"headline":"Texas State University Suspends Greek Life After 'Tragic Death' of Fraternity Pledge","datePublished":"2017-11-14T23:44:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:14:55.429Z","description":"Police said alcohol might have been a factor in his death","url":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/","keywords":["Texas","Education","College","fraternities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/texas/","name":"Texas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/","name":"Texas State University Suspends Greek Life After 'Tragic Death' of Fraternity Pledge"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Florida State University Suspends Greek Life After Freshman's Death","description":"After a Florida State fraternity member was found dead, the college is suspending Greek life.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ybNeILIz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-11-06T22:54:53.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ybNeILIz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5024689/texas-state-university-fraternity-pledge-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```