UI student dies after fall while studying in Rome

IOWA CITY — Every member of the University of Iowa Sigma Nu Fraternity chapter knew Mogni.

He was a presence in the house, which for months has displayed a banner across its balcony imploring passers-by to pray for him.

'He had a ukulele he would play all the time,' said Mark Parise, president of the Beta Mu Chapter of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. 'In the morning, he would wake everyone up with it.'

Andrew Mogni, a 20-year-old UI junior studying finance, died Sunday after spending the past four months battling serious injuries suffered earlier this year while studying abroad in Italy. Parise said his fraternity brother had been 'so excited' to spend a semester at John Cabot University in Rome.

'He was all about it,' Parise said. 'He was like, 'I'm going to Italy. Have fun in Iowa City.' '

Shortly after arriving for his semester abroad, in the early morning hours of Jan. 14, Mogni was injured in what Italian authorities initially called an accidental fall, according to UI International Programs officials. Law enforcement now, though, are considering the possibility that a robbery occurred before or after the incident, officials said, and they're conducting a criminal investigation.

Mogni, from Glen Ellyn, Ill., spent months in a coma, receiving medical care in Rome. His parents traveled to Italy, as did UI Assistant Provost for International Programs Doug Lee.

A medical team on March 20 cleared him to travel back to the Chicago area by air ambulance, according to UI officials. He was receiving treatment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago when he died at 11:25 a.m. Sunday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

A cause and manner of death is pending while the criminal investigation is underway, officials said.

Mogni was active in his fraternity and his Beta Mu brothers recently launched a fundraising campaign for Mogni and another fraternity brother battling cancer to help cover medical and travel expenses.

'We feel it is our duty to gather as much support as we can for these two great young men,' according to the chapter's 'gofundme' website that has raised more than $5,500. Fundraising events are planned for Tuesday and Saturday, and Parise said the fraternity is working with UI officials to plan a campus candlelight vigil for Mogni later this week.

Although Parise said Mogni had been in a coma since the incident, everyone remained optimistic he would recover.

'Everyone was just like, 'It's Mogni. He's going to make it,'' Parise said. 'No one thought this was going to happen. Not in a million years.'

Parise said Mogni previously had been in charge of recruitment for the fraternity and was perfect in that role.

'He was so personable and energetic,' he said.

Mogni also thrived in service projects and worked at a Muscular Dystrophy Association camp over the summer, according to Parise.

'We do community service all the time, and he was always one of the guys who would go above and beyond,' Parise said.

After the January incident, Mogni's fraternity brothers kept up to date on his condition through social media posts from family members. Parise said Mogni kept getting infections and suffered brain swelling.

Condolences for the family and tributes to the UI student flooded social media Monday. One poster, who said she is Mogni's cousin, called him the 'most fun-loving and caring person I've ever met.'

She said Mogni had been on his way home from a party in Rome when he was 'brutally attacked' and thrown off a 40-foot bridge, hitting the concrete below.

Kenneth Brown, associate dean in the UI Tippie College of Business, wrote Monday on Twitter: 'Our hearts go out to the Mogni family on the loss of their son, Andrew.'