University of Iowa cracks down on Greek events after student's death

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- A group that oversees fraternity and sorority life at the University of Iowa has indefinitely banned alcohol at all official events in response to the recent death of a student, CBS affiliate KCCI reports

According to the Camden County Sheriff's Office, Kamil Jackowski, 19, was found unconscious Sunday at the Lake of the Ozarks. Authorities say Jackowski, who was a freshman, had been attending a Sigma Chi fraternity formal at the resort. 

Kamil Jackowski, a freshman attending the University of Iowa, died over the weekend at a fraternity formal. KCCI/The Daily Herald

Paramedics transported Jackowski to a hospital where he later died. His cause of death has not yet been released. 

Sheriff's Lt. Arlyne Page said foul play is not suspected.

While Jackowski's untimely death has caused campus officials to evaluate the safety of out-of-town events, some students say a ban on alcohol may not enough. 

KCCI spoke with Mackenzie Wollenzien -- who cheated death in 2016 when she fell from a second-story balcony and crushed her spinal cord during a fraternity formal -- about the ban. 

Wollenzien, who no longer has movement from her chest down, says the ban is a good idea because students tend to be unaware of their surroundings when alcohol is involved. 

"It really just breaks my heart just knowing that something like this could be prevented," she told KCCI. "I can't imagine what his family is going through because I can't imagine what my family went through and I am still here."

Overall, Wollenzien says she is hopeful that restrictions will teach students to drink responsibly and look out for each other. 

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