Greek life over at UC Berkeley has taken an especially dark turn this fall as a dead 20-year-old man was discovered in a fraternity house just off campus on Sunday, the day after a big party at the house. The discovery follows on a month in which multiple women have reported sexual assaults at frat houses.
Berkeley police say that while they are not ruling out drugs or alcohol as a possible cause of death, they are investigating the case as a homicide, as KRON 4 reports.
As Berkeleyside clarifies, the body was found at the Zeta Psi house at 2728 Bancroft Avenue, and the death did indeed occur during or after a rager Saturday night. The time of death has not been released, but police received the call at 12:10 p.m. Sunday and the body was, at that point, reportedly "cold to the touch." (KRON 4 mistakenly gives the time of the body's discovery as 12:09 a.m.)
The dead man has been ID'd by police as UC Davis student Vaibhev Loomba, who lived in Lafayette. He had attended Acalanes High School.
Saturday's party allegedly drew a crowd of 300 people, and Zeta Psi had been cited in October for an especially rowdy party that got them a "public nuisance" notice from police that was posted inside the frat house door. Zeta Psi is currently one of several fraternities that continue to operate as an unaffiliated frat that does not have the university's endorsement or recognition, after a 2010 citation for safety code violations.
Updates as warranted.