Desperate times bring desperate measures. Students at Cornell University are all too aware of this, as the community endures its second presumably voluntary death within the past 24 hours – the third in less than 30 days. As of 8:00 PM on Friday, March 12, the university is on suicide lockdown. At this time, there are at least 4 Auxiliary Police men and women standing guard at Ithaca’s most notorious bridges.
Brad Ginsburg lost his life on February 17th.
William Sinclair lost his life on March 11th.
Matthew Zika has lost his life today.
The Sun is reporting that there has been another suicide this afternoon. According to the Sun article, witnesses saw a man jump off the suspension bridge at 3:45 pm. Witnesses also found a backpack, jacket, and wallet on the suspension bridge. Insider will be here for you as more information comes in. University Communications’s Tommy Bruce sent this email to Cornell students at 6:00 PM.
Update [9:30 PM]: The Sun is reporting that rescue workers have yet to recover the body of Matthew Zika ’11.
Update [1:22]: From President Skorton’s email: “It is with deep sorrow that I write to you regarding another death that has occurred in our campus community. Matthew Charles Zika, a junior in the College of Engineering, died this afternoon. While the cause of this tragedy is still under investigation by the Ithaca Police Department, I join all of you in grieving deeply this and the other losses we have experienced together so very recently.”
“deaths” “lost life” the cornell paper doesnt even use the word “suicide”
maybe that is part of the problem
The title of this post is “cornell university: suicide lockdown”…
Maybe its students that miss the word on the title…
That’s definitely part of the problem
Dear Cornell Insider,
Today I learned about the recent suicides at Cornell. In reading the comments of those remarking about these sad losses, I read the ubiquitous “why” — as to “why this could happen?” For anyone who may be interested in pursuing this question, I would like to offer my input. I am a therapist/ suicidologist who for the past 23 years have been working on the mental health unit of a public hospital in the Seattle area. During those two decades I have seen over 15,000 suicidal patients in 1:1 and group therapy process. Those patients have taught me a tremendous amount about what “drives” the suicidal impulse and ideation, none of which I have yet seen mentioned in reporting about these incidents. Two years ago, I & two colleagues were invited to present our findings before the National Health Service (NHS) of England before an audience of their Lead Psychologists in Essex. This Fall we are preparing for a return visit to the UK to present at the University of Suffolk. We have also been invited to present at the ASIST Conference in Cardiff, Wales. We would welcome sharing this information to any interested parties there at Cornell or within the extended community. I can be reached at my gmail address: contextualconceptualtherapy@gmail.com Further information can be found at my website: http://www.ContextualConceptualTherapy.com FM