A fraternity at a Virginia university was suspended after a student was found dead

• The Delta Chi fraternity at Virginia Commonwealth University was suspended after a student death.
• Adam Oakes, 19, was found dead at an off-campus house on Saturday, NBC affiliate WWBT reported.
• Oakes' family said they believed their son died after a hazing ritual involving alcohol, WRIC reported.

A fraternity at a Virginia university has been suspended after a report said a student died in an off-campus house. His family told local news outlets they belived he was part of a hazing ritual involving alcohol and a blindfold.

Adam Oakes, 19, was found dead in the house at 9:16 a.m. on Saturday, the reports said.

WWBT reported that Courtney White, Oakes' cousin, said he was found about 12 hours after he had texted his father "I'm going in. Love you."

White told the local NBC affiliate that the text was the last his family had heard from him.

White told WWBT that Oakes had been offered a bid to join the Delta Chi fraternity, and the Friday-night party was the beginning of his initiation.

White also told WWBT that two fellow pledges later told Oakes' family that he had been forced to drink a bottle of whiskey, was blindfolded, and then ran into a tree.

"They told us he passed out on the couch, on his side by about 11," White told WWBT. "They checked on him at 12, he was breathing and he was on his side. By the next morning, when they checked on him at 9, he was face down and dead."

Virginia Commonwealth University said in a statement that both campus police and the Richmond Police Department were investigating Oakes' death. The statement said the school sent the fraternity a cease-and-desist order, and Delta Chi's national headquarters announced it had suspended the VCU chapter after learning of Oakes' death.

Campus police referred Insider to the city police department for comment, and the Richmond Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request.

The medical examiner's office told Insider that Oakes' cause of death is "pending."

While remote learning during the pandemic has quieted reports of hazing gone wrong, the issue has plagued American fraternities over the years.

In another statement to the ABC affiliate WRIC, White called for an investigation into hazing at VCU fraternities.

"Hazing played a major role in his death," she told WRIC. "The influx of student deaths due to overconsumption of alcohol, drugs, or hazing just to 'fit in' or find their place in a new world and environment is astounding and change is needed at VCU and across the United States."