Alumnus found dead outside FIJI house

Friends and teammates remembered Tobin as a well-liked and kind-hearted individual on and off the lacrosse field. Friends and family are mourning the loss of 1994 College graduate and Phi Gamma Delta brother Michael Tobin, who was found dead on the grounds of the FIJI fraternity house in the early morning hours Sunday after an annual alumni dinner. Tobin was 26. Though details around the investigation remained somewhat hazy as of last night, Tobin's death left those who knew him distraught by the news. Close friend and 1995 College graduate Brian Napolitano struggled to put his feelings about his former lacrosse teammate and fraternity brother into words. "He always made me feel better when I was down," Napolitano said. "He was just a great person," he added, expressing a strong desire to return Tobin's kindness by consoling his family, which includes his mother, father and two college-age brothers. Captured in a yearbook photograph during his days at Penn, Tobin -- who transferred after his freshman year from Villanova University -- reveals not much more than a slight grin and a hint of the lightheartedness that his friends, teammates and former coach say they admired. Co-captain of the men's varsity lacrosse team during his senior year at Penn, Tobin was described by many as a gifted athlete with a strong ability to lead on and off the field. During his junior year, Tobin received all-Ivy recognition for his outstanding efforts on the field. He continued his successes in his senior year as co-captain and leader of the team's defensive side, also led by co-captain and then-senior Steve Marks. G.W. Mix -- who served as head coach of the men's varsity lacrosse team from 1991 to 1994 -- remembered Tobin as "a tremendous leader [both] on and off the field." "You'd be hard-pressed to find someone with a bad word to say about him," said Mix, who referred to Tobin as a "great competitor." Shaken by the news of Tobin's death, Napolitano struggled to find a specific memory that would best capture his friend's legacy -- naming Tobin's interests in golf and spending time with his friends. "He was such a part of my life that I can't really segment my memories of him," he said. "His life was too close to my own life. I can't separate the two." With details surrounding Tobin's death still vague, Napolitano said he is having trouble moving beyond the simple fact that his friend is gone. "The one piece of information we have is the most important," he said. Napolitano met Tobin in 1991 during his first year at Penn and the two had remained close friends ever since. After graduation they lived close to one another in Manhattan, where Tobin held a number of jobs for four years -- including work in sales and finance -- before moving back home last year to Pittsfield, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, in order to help his father in the family business. While at Penn, Tobin was "instantly accepted into the various groups he was in," according to former lacrosse teammate and 1995 Wharton graduate Andrew Greenberg, who characterized Tobin as "a quiet leader," saying "he led with his actions and everyone looked up to him." InterFraternity Council Executive Vice President and College junior Andrew Exum, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist, expressed concern and sadness on behalf of the IFC. "This was really a nightmare scenario and every other chapter sends their condolences," he said. The time and place of funeral services have yet to be announced, although University Chaplain William Gipson was on hand to offer his support to Tobin's parents when they arrived in Philadelphia yesterday morning. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Eric Dash contributed to this article.

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