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All 15 fraternities are prevented from holding their chapter meetings, participating in social events, campus events and philanthropies; Mike Tobin reports from Chicago.
Friends of a Washington State University student who was found dead in his dorm room earlier this month are sharing stories of the 19-year-old’s prankster tendencies and light-hearted ways, as law enforcement investigate the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.
Luke Morgan Tyler, a WSU freshman, was found dead in one of the Pullman campus residence halls on Jan. 22, when police responded to a 911 call, said Phil Weiler, a spokesperson for the college. The Whitman County Coroner’s Office has not yet released details of the cause and manner of Tyler’s death, and police "found no evidence of foul play at the scene," Weiler said.
Tyler’s friends described the last time they saw him – just weeks earlier at the end of his winter holiday break.
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Undated photo shows fallen WSU freshman Luke Tyler (GoFundMe)
"We were hanging out with him literally the night before he went back," said Matthew Brandjes, who, along with several of Tyler’s other friends, knew each other from around the Redmond, Washington, area, where Tyler grew up. "I remember we were driving around the area, just hanging out … we parked at his house, and we all just got out of the car and we were exchanging hugs. Just like, ‘We’ll see you soon,’ you know?"
He added: "I don’t think anyone really understood what was to come."
Brandjes and five of Tyler’s other friends spoke to Fox News Digital on Monday as they continue to grapple with the sudden loss of their frequent exercise partner who – in and outside the gym – "helped out in any way he could."
Brandjes recalled Tyler’s ability to "make every single person laugh, no matter who he talked to – could be an old grandmother. It could have been a little kid," when they worked together at a local Home Depot store.
"He would walk around and just leave smiles on everyone’s face," he said.
Nearly a half-dozen friends described Tyler’s ability to start a prank – in one instance, when he coated one of their cars with peanut butter, then another’s with jelly.
Artemiy Thayer said Tyler got him a job working at a local pool even though they barely knew each other at the time. When Thayer forgot his bathing suit for the first day on the job, Tyler "immediately helped me out."
Undated photo posted on Everloved memorial page, by someone who knew Luke Morgan Tyler (Everloved memorial page)
"I really got to see him for truly who he was just through working with kids," he said. "I think, in general, kids can always tell who’s a good person or not … He was by far the favorite of anyone."
Weiler, the WSU spokesman, said information related to Tyler’s death was "still being gathered." He cautioned "against speculation at this point in the investigation." It could be weeks before Tyler’s cause and manner of death are released, he said.
A spokesperson for the Whitman County Coroner’s Office did not respond on Tuesday to questions regarding the circumstances of the death investigation.
A Washington State University Police car. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Yousuf Elswify, one of Tyler’s friends from home, created a GoFundMe page to support the Tyler family, and raised over $11,200 before the account was disabled pending more details.
Colleen Tyler, the victim’s mother, wrote in a statement on the page that her family was "overwhelmed with the immense generosity, compassion and kindness you have shown to Luke and our family through your donations."
"With your donations, it is our intention to pay for his memorial service and make a large donation in his name to a cause that he cared a lot about," she wrote. "We are looking into options that will allow us to pay his legacy of kindness forward."
The family has created a memorial webpage in Tyler’s honor, although funeral or memorial plans have not yet been announced.
This undated photo shows Luke Morgan Tyler with his friend Trevor Michalski. (Photo courtesy Trevor Michalski)
Tyler’s inner circle declined to speak about his experience at WSU, but pointed to an online petition created by Trevor Michalski, a fellow friend from the Redmond area. In the petition, Michalski wrote that Tyler’s death "followed a long and cruel pledging process allowed by his fraternity.
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"Their inhumane and cruel hazing forced Luke, and many others to do things nobody should ever be forced to do," the petition further states, calling on the fraternity to be investigated.
A university spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment regarding the allegations of hazing, and would not say whether any of WSU’s fraternities were under investigation.
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