Adam Oakes, 19, was found dead off campus, according to authorities.
Virginia Commonwealth University said it closed a fraternity and that the police are investigating after a first-year student was found dead this weekend.
Adam Oakes, 19, was found dead in an off-campus residence on Saturday morning by authorities, the university and the Richmond Police Department said in statements. The coroner’s office is working to determine the cause of death, according to Richmond police.
“This is a tragic loss for Adam’s family and members of our community, and we encourage all students who need support to contact the University Counseling Services,” the school said in a statement.
Oakes’s cousin Courtney White told ABC News that the teenager had run to the university’s Delta Chi fraternity, and this weekend was the night of his “big reveal”.
Delta Chi’s national office said in a statement that it suspended its VCU chapter on Saturday afternoon and extended its condolences to the Oakes family.
“We encourage all members to cooperate with law enforcement, investigative efforts and all University Administration guidelines,” said the national fraternity organization in its statement.
The university said it also took “similar measures” against the chapter.
White, 39, said Oakes was an only child and the youngest of all the family’s cousins. She said her cousin was committed to the fraternity because “he was just trying to be accepted and find his place”.
“Adam was a child who loved life and was coming out of his shell,” White told ABC News.
The university has instructed students to contact Richmond police if they have any information about Oakes’ death or this weekend’s incident. Richmond police said anyone with information should call serious crime detective Michael Gouldman at (804) 646-3915 or (804) 780-1000.
White asked classmates and members of his cousin’s fraternity to speak up and help find answers.
“Don’t be afraid, be brave,” she said. “There is no cure for this, but it would give us a sense of what happened.”