UNR frat where pledge died appeals 15-year suspension

Sigma Nu's Delta Xi Chapter on Thursday requested a hearing in front of the Student Conduct Board, which investigates violations of school rules, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported (http://on.rgj.com/2ipxv06).

The school ordered the suspension on Dec. 19 after investigating what happened in the hours before the freshman student fell down a basement staircase.

In addition to underage drinking, the Office of Student Conduct's probe revealed allegations of marijuana use and topless dancers at a pledging event the night before Ryan Abele of Concord, California fell down a staircase on Oct. 16 and ruptured a main artery to his brain.

Brad Beacham, executive director of Sigma Nu Fraternity at its headquarters in Lexington, Virginia, said earlier that the national fraternity had reviewed the findings of the university's investigation "and is deeply concerned by those findings, which indicate activities in direct violation of the fraternity's law, polices and principles."