Penn State head calls student's death sickening

Penn State University's president is calling a grand jury report into the death of a student after an alcohol-fueled fraternity event heart-wrenching, sickening and incomprehensible.

President Eric Barron says details in a grand jury report issued on Friday as prosecutors filed involuntary manslaughter and other charges against fraternity member showed Timothy Piazza endured hours of suffering before his death in early February.

Barron says it's "numbing" to see that a dangerous atmosphere could occur at a fraternity that prided itself on commitment to each other and the community.

The school has permanently banned the fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, after looking into events around the death of Piazza, a 19-year-old engineering student from Lebanon, New Jersey.

The grand jury report says Piazza suffered a series of falls during and after a pledge acceptance ceremony and was forced to run a "gauntlet" of drinking stations.