<p>This is an awful, tragic story, where a third year student apparently died in his room, and this went unnoticed for many days:</p>
<p>Also, there has been some interesting commentary about the greater university's role/responsibility in this:</p>
<p>So close to the event, the broader commentary is (and should be) in its very preliminary stages. Unfortunately, on social media of late, I've read comments such as "of course this would happen at UChicago" and "only at UChicago could this happen."</p>
<p>The validity of such comments is questionable, but, through this tragedy, closer analysis of UChicago's community support structure could be helpful. Personally, I think for a long time, the university gave short thrift to terms such as social fabric and campus community. Moreover, some of the recent administrative housing decisions (opening up New Grad residence and I-House to undergrads before the new North dorm opens) have been suspect. The university does, traditionally, have a very strong "library/academic rigor" culture (e.g. people spend lots of time in the Reg, Harper, etc.), coupled with a looser House structure (unlike some peer schools, UChicago students aren't affiliated with houses for their entire college careers). Additionally, many have noted inconsistent interactions with the administration. This type of combination may not be ideal for a college community. </p>
<p>The death of a young student is tragic. Hopefully, at some point, meaningful conversations can arise from this. </p>