Sophomore Jake Stiles is crowned ‘Mr. University’ at the Pi Beta Phi philanthropy event. The medical examiner released its report on Stiles’ death Wednesday.

Sophomore Jacob “Jake” Stiles was found dead in his room in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house Saturday afternoon. The official cause of death is still under investigation by SMU Police and the Dallas County Medical Examiner. SAE National Headquarters is conducting a separate investigation.

Vice President for Student Affairs Jim Caswell said, “students attempted to arouse him around 1:30 [p.m.] When he wasn’t arousable, they called 911 and were connected to SMU PD.”

Caswell added an ambulance and emergency medical technicians from the University Park Fire Department arrived with SMU PD to attempt to resuscitate Stiles.

When they were unsuccessful, the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office was called. The medical examiner’s office officials arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. They pronounced Stiles dead before transporting his body to the morgue at about 5 p.m.

“People said Jake was everyone’s friend,” his father Thomas Stiles said. “He was very funny, but would also be very quiet.”

“He loved SMU, it was a good fit for him,” Stiles said. “We got a real kick out of him winning Mr. University.” Stiles won the Pi Beta Phi “Mr. University” competition Nov. 2. He grew up in Naperville, Ill. and a funeral will be held in his hometown later this week.

Director of Communications for the National Headquarters of SAE Brandon Weghorst said SAE would conduct an investigation at the national level. He said the investigation could take a few weeks or months, depending on how fast the police and medical examiner finish their work.

He said Stiles’ death, as of now, appears to be an “individual isolated incident” and there is “no reason to believe the chapter or chapter members were involved.”

The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s office said the cause and manner of Stiles’ death is pending for further testing. The autopsy of Stiles’ body is complete, and his family can begin making funeral arrangements, but officials will not be able to rule on the cause of death for approximately 10-16 weeks. The report will be complete after test samples are returned to the medical examiner’s office.

Stiles’ body was discovered the day after a fraternity-sponsored party.

“Some of their people [SAE] were out and about. I’m not sure if it was the whole chapter,” Caswell said.

First-year Caryn Jendro was one of the last people to see Stiles alive. Jendro said she saw Stiles during a party SAE was hosting at Ozona Bar and Grill Friday night.

Jendro went to the bar specifically to see Stiles, because she hadn’t seen him in a month. Jendro said the two talked for 20 minutes about a variety of things, including Stiles’ former roommate, Clark Scott.

“He [Scott] left school because he had personal things he needed to take care of,” Jendro said. “Jake missed him a lot, but he was in good spirits at the party.”

Attempts to reach Scott were unsuccessful Sunday night.

Jendro said she left Stiles at the bar after the two made plans to visit each other during the upcoming Christmas break. Jendro said she couldn’t recall if she saw Stiles drinking at the bar, but said, “he was fine, he was straight” when the two parted.

Jendro described Stiles as a fun-loving guy who always made friends feel comfortable.

“When I came to SMU we didn’t know each other, but he helped me acclimate to SMU and he always said his door was open to me,” Jendro said.

Caswell said he was at the SAE house when the medical examiners officials were there, along with chapter members and their friends, a small group of SAE parents, Dean of Student Life Dee Siscoe and Assistant Director for Residential Life Apartment and Greek Areas Christina Yao.

“Preliminarily, there seems to be no signs of violence or suicide, but we’ll really have to wait for the medical examiner,” Caswell said.

The SMU Police report on the incident has not been released because officials are in the middle of their investigation. SMU’s Executive Director of Public Affairs Patti LaSalle said SMU PD is still interviewing people involved and trying to construct a timeline of what happened.

“They aren’t giving out anything yet because it would jeopardize the investigation,” LaSalle said.

LaSalle did confirm police responded to a call for medical assistance on Saturday afternoon to the SAE house.

Media relations officials from the University Park Fire Department were not available to confirm this information Sunday because the department’s administration office was closed.

University officials were also busy attending to the needs of Stiles’ friends on campus.

“We mobilized the university chaplain’s and counseling services as quickly as we could,” said Caswell. “The university really moved its crisis management plan into place.”

Siscoe was also involved in helping grieving students. She is working on a university wide memorial service that might be held at some time this week.

Siscoe’s office is also working with academic officials in rescheduling exams for students who were affected by the death.

Weghorst said members of the chapter about Stiles’ death notified the National Headquarters Saturday afternoon. He said the organization is following its two-pronged crisis protocol.

The first job is to launch an investigation into what happened. The goal is to find out what happened and what role the fraternity or its members had in the incident.

The second part is to provide counseling for fraternity members. SAE has a Chaplain’s Council in which members of local clergy go on-site to provide counseling for members who need it.

SMU’s SAE chapter president Jeff Tolbert said his chapter was grieving deeply.

“We’re all just kind of holding up together and kind of breathing,” Tolbert said.

The medical examiner’s report will also determine whether a disciplinary investigation is needed.

Siscoe said it was too early to take any possible disciplinary actions because the reports from the medical examiner and police department are not done.

“If there is a need to further investigate, then we will take a closer look,” Siscoe said.

“The cause of death will certainly be the trigger for any investigation,” Caswell said.

Stiles’ family lives in Naperville, Ill., a suburb of Chicago.

Stiles’ father said his son’s body will be flown to Naperville later this week.

Stiles was on his high school swim team and also enjoyed playing golf, his father said. He was born in Coal Springs, Fla., before the family moved to Naperville, Ill. when he was 5 years old.