The Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Delta Chapter announced the death of University of Alabama student Connor Sheahan via Facebook on Sunday.
His passing has met with sadness and shock from other members of the University of Alabama community.
The fraternity is one of the oldest in Alabama. It has been a leader at the Capstone since its establishment in 1885.
It added in its Facebook post honoring Sheahan that it is “devastated” by his “tragic loss.”
Death of University of Alabama student Connor Sheahan announced by fraternity
The fraternity of which Connor Sheahan was a member – Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Delta Chapter – announced his death in the afternoon of Sunday, January 15, 2023.
“Our Chapter is devastated by the tragic loss of Connor Sheahan,” it posted on Facebook. It also announced the news via Instagram. See below.
His fraternity described him as an “outgoing and amazing” young man. He was “extremely engaging,” it added, making it feel like his fellow fraternity members had “known him all our lives.”
Sheahan was the “kind of person who routinely called to check on his friends,” the post continues. “Our deepest sympathy to Connor’s family during this difficult time.”
Tributes pour in from other University of Alabama community members
The news has yet to travel very far, but comments and reactions have been coming in by the dozen to the Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Delta Chapter’s Facebook post.
Numerous individuals, and representatives of other fraternities, have sent “hugs and prayers” to Sheahan’s family. One notes that it is “every parent’s heartbreak,” the death of their child.
“My deepest sympathy to his family, friends, and fraternity brothers,” writes another. “Heartbreaking to lose someone so young.”
As an undergraduate student, Connor Sheahan’s age at the time of his death was likely close to 20. Hence, some of those paying tribute to him have described his passing as particularly tragic.
Connor Sheahan’s cause of death not yet announced
So far, the only publicly available information relating to Sheahan’s death is that contained within ATO’s Facebook post.
GRV Media/The Focus has reached out to members of the University of Alabama’s Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Delta Chapter fraternity for comment and further detail.
Meanwhile, social media users have sent their condolences to his family and pledge class. Plus “all that loved him.”
“Words cannot express our sympathy to our fellow ATO family,” comments one user. “He was a loyal friend to my son and will be missed dearly by him.”
When did ATO first take root in Alabama?
In 1865, at VMI in Richmond, Virginia.
20 years later, the University of Alabama lifted its ban on fraternities. It had been in place since 1857.
In that same year, an ATO (ΑΤΩ) Beta Delta Chapter took root at the university. By 1906, there were 93 chapters throughout the US. The ATO National Fraternity held its 40th anniversary congress in Birmingham, Alabama that year.
One of the most recent events in ATO history was its celebration of its 150th year. ATO Beta Delta received a True Merit bowl at the ATO Congress in 2015.
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