UPDATED: Feb. 24, 10:13 p.m.

A Syracuse University student died early Saturday morning after he was hit by a car in New York City.

In an email to SU students, faculty and staff Saturday night, Chancellor Nancy Cantor identified the student as Jason Morales, a senior in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Morales, 23, was walking in the center lane of Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive at about 1:45 a.m. when he was hit. He was taken to Metropolitan Hospital Center, but could not be revived. Police don’t expect to press any charges against the driver who hit him, The New York Daily News reported Saturday.

“We always grieve whenever a student loses their life,” said Thomas Wolfe, senior vice president and dean of the division of student affairs. “We have been in touch with his family and are offering support to his friends and others on campus who knew him.”

After Morales’ family has their own ceremony for him, university officials will work with those who knew him at SU to plan a ceremony for the campus community, Wolfe said.

Morales, who was originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., was in New York City completing his senior capstone and interning for the St. John’s University Athletic Department. He was also a brother in the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity, where he served as social chair, according to Cantor’s email.

Morales leaves behind a 2-year-old son and a girlfriend, said Luis Sosa, a 2012 SU graduate who was also a member of the Phi Iota Alpha fraternity.

He also has a younger brother Cory, a senior at Onondaga Community College.

Sosa described Morales as having a strong and energetic personality, and who was always the life of the party.

Said Sosa: “As soon as Jason walked into a room, you knew Jason was there.”

Published on February 23, 2013 at 9:04 pm

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta