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Family members identified a body found in the East River as Richard Ng, a Columbia senior who had been missing in the weeks leading up to graduation. The autopsy was inconclusive, but police believe Ng commited suicide over his grades. Newsday reports that friends told police that "Ng had done poorly in at least one class and would not have been able to graduate Wednesday on time with the rest of his class." It's also believed that Ng commited suicide by jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge, given where his body was found and that his computer showed he researched the bridge. It's such a shame that Ng was so despondent, perhaps about his school work, perhaps about other things, that he felt he needed to take his life. We hope that Columbia and other schools continue take the time to work with students who may be grappling with all sorts of stress and make sure they know what resources are open to them.
During commencement ceremonies yesterday, Columbia University chaplain Jewelnel Davis said, "As we begin this ceremony, Richard Ng and the Ng family are in our thoughts and prayers." Columbia president Lee Bollinger's statement read, "Our hearts and our prayers go out to the Ng family at this difficult moment. For students and their parents, this commencement week should be a time of joy and promise. That it should be a time of sadness and loss for Richard's family and friends is especially heartbreaking. It is certainly a loss for the entire university community and we honor his memory."
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How incredibly sad - his poor family. RIP, Richard.
very sad – it's heartbreaking to know that someone is in so much pain that jumping off the brooklyn bridge seems like a good idea... or their only option.
On behalf of my neighbors who live in the most expensive zipcode in the city, i would like to extend our condolences to this young man.
just wondering what the whole 'most expensive zipcode in the city' has to do with anything...
uggg i worked with this kid's mother for 2 years while i was in college, she was the happiest most caring person in the world, i can't even imagine what shes going through right now...
Terrible, and such a shame that he didn't realize in a few years time, noone would give a rat's ass what grade he got in which class. At the time, coupled with what was probably significant pressure from his parents, he thought there was no other choice. I'm sure his folks would take the F to have Rich back home.
For God's sake, man, it's just grades!!! Five years in the working world and they won't mean crap. This is so sad.
If anyone else out there is despondent over grades, please... it seems important now, but get over it. In the land of paychecks, no one's gonna care. Give it another day.
True Tim. And when you go to Columbia, I guess a C is as good as a B or an A in most other Universities right? Hah
In the end its all about work experience, what school you went to, and what degree you have.
* Unless he wanted to get into Grad School. That could be a sticking point.
Right on, Tim. I graduated 10 yrs ago. Not *once* has anyone ever given one single solitary crap about what grades I got. Not even right after I graduated.
Think about it: so many freaks in the working world. My bosses these days are happy with: 1) people that show up 2) people that are reliable 3) people that do (mostly) what is asked of them. And I have a pretty decent job!
Recent (or soon to be) graduates: don't let anyone or thing (grades) define you! You can do it!
8 million people in this city,
and one still feels lonely.
yet another reason why parents should put so much pressure on kids to go to college
to quote animal collective: YOU DONT HAVE TO GO TO COLLEGE
what am i saying?? SHOULDN'T**
Found floating in the East River?
I guess they're going to have to change his name from Richard to Bob.
nancy - your joke would have been funnier if his real name were robert, you "dick"
GET IT?
So so sad. How do you convince someone that living is worth it when they're convinced it's not?
I don't know what his family expected of him. But he sure did expect alot from himself.
Ameirca expect so much out of smart people too.
In America, companies do care about grades and they care about where you have gone to school and how long it took you to get out. Smart people especially in egineering go straight to the top of the career ladder. Look at Jimmy Carter. Speculation:
Maybe there was a job lined up for him already by the people that paid for his education. Maybe he was supposed to start supporting his family immediately with the new job. Maybe the new job paid bigger money then his education, which was very expensive, even with scholarships.
Sad that his died:(
"How do you convince someone that living is worth it when they're convinced it's not?"
Simple Jen. Take him to Scores.
That's great for the straight guys and lesbians, Kojak. Now how about the rest of us?
Sorry Jen. I don't know any male stripper clubs in NY. But i'm sure you ladies have ways of finding out.
did he bring shame to the family by bringing home an A- ??
You guys are missing the line where it says the bad grade would prevented him from graduating- bad grades are one thing, but when they hold up the graduation that your family is so proud of, that you've worked hard for, I can imagine how that would be very stressful. Still, it's very sad this young man didn't turn elsewhere for help.
Hindsight is 20/20, and it seems that all involved could have been more attentive. His friends, knowing he wouldn't graduate, could have referred him to counseling. His family could have let him know that there was no pressure for him to graduate on time and that they would have been proud regardless. But then again, it's easy to write this now, after the fact. They probably did everything they could before the tragedy. It's also easy for some of us older folk to criticize his decision, forgetting how we often made bad decisions at that age. More's the shame that the idiot in the other Gothamist story above (the Howard Beach attacker) will go on with life in some shape or form while someone who could have had something to contribute to society no longer can.
Damn, I knew Rich. He was always at the computer IMing and playing final fantasy XI. That's why his grades suffered. He was also always blogging. Come to think of it he came to Gothamist alot. In a way Gothamist is the reason he killed himself cause if he didn't spend so much time on the net his grades wouldn't have suffered and he wouldn't have jumped. Goddamn YoU Gothamist! You Killed Rich! You Bastard!
Oh man, He brought Dishonor to his whole family. Number one son should graduate on time, become doctor and make million dollar by 22. He disgrace to whole ancestor for ten thousand year.
Shame he died. Gotta Give props though. Brooklyn Bridge is the way to go.
Any word on when his cello will be on Ebay?
This is meant to be a serious question. If you know how to swim and jump off of a bridge, are you guarunteed to die?
I am saddened by this news. It is tragic that Richard thought that dying was the answer to his problems. Nothing, not grades, money, love...is worth dying for. What seems like an insurmountable problem at the moment may be something you will joke about 5 years later. I tell this to my children whenever I have the opportunity. Life is valuable - enjoy the good things and use the bad things as a learning.
Depends on how high from the water you are jgo. Depending on how high, hitting the water is almost like hitting a brick wall.
There was a story over a year ago about a man jumping off the 59th Street Bridge and it was caught on TV. He broke his feet but he lived.
Damn, A nice defenseless asian boy kills himself. who am I going to rob now? the white guy who works out all day and takes steroids? the other black guy who's packing heat? the latino guy who's got a gang to back him up? what a waste.
That is really sad. I had a similar experience 3 years ago (obviously I didn't kill myself) but it can be crushing and disappointing to fail a class or fail to graduate once you've put so much work in, especially at an Ivy League school when you feel like the people around you are doing great and going to be so successful.
I'm still not joking about it though.
if he did commit suicide. Lucifer is now boiling his intestines in the seventh circle of hell. Suicide is an unforgiveable sin.
LC - I have to disagree with you. Donuts are worth dying for. especially Dunkin Donuts. Try Dunkin Donuts. they have a special on smoothies. Real Fruit and Yogurt. Real Good. Eat at Dunkin.
Imagine a young man who committed his entire life into getting into what seemed like the holiest of holies--an Ivy League University. After four years and a humongous financial commitment by his parents, for whatever reason, there was a fear that he wouldn't get to walk at graduation. I bet the fear of disapproval and disappointment could be absolutely oppressive. I understand why he would make a trip to the Brooklyn Bridge. But I wish someone could've told him to wait five years and realize how much it wouldn't have mattered and that summer school would have been more acceptable to his parents than a funeral. This kind of thing breaks my heart.
nobody knows why he did it. he didn't care about school. nor did he care about the working world.
you ever get tired of dealing with things? wonder why anything matters anymore? sink yourself into anything so far?
it wasn't the grades, that's for sure.
some. of. you. people. are. disgusting.
Rich was a friend of mine. There is really no way in hell that any of us who lived with him the last 3 years can accept the simple explanation of suicide over grades. He was not that kind of guy.
Wow, a kid is dead, and some of you chose to respond by saying things like "Damn, A nice defenseless asian boy kills himself. who am I going to rob now?" or "He disgrace to whole ancestor for ten thousand year."
You're white, ignorant, probably bored at your menial internship, and waiting around for the next Belle and Sebastian show. While you're waiting, grow up a little, OK?
Ajit - You insensitive bastard. How can you be making asian jokes when some kid is dead? F'd up all of you.
WTF is WRONG with some of you people?
I went to High School with Rich and he was a good friend of mine.
How would you like it if one of YOUR friends just killed themselves and I made loads of senseless jokes?
God, you make me sick.
Anyway, back to Richard. he was such a great kid. It's such a shame he had to go like this.
What is wrong with Asiann people in the NYC area? Every person of Asian descent I have encountered is slightly bonkers!!! They are rude and inconsiderate. Plus since so many of them are shorter than me, they like to "challenge" me with their actions to make up for their inadequacies. Like this morning, this crazy Asian midget lady spends 20 minutes slapping my leg because I had to stand near her seat on the bus- she didn't like it and wanted me to stand near someone else. THERE WAS NO WHERE ELSE TO STAND!!!! As she was getting out at her stop, she became psychotic. She screamed and called me "a bitch" and "the devil" several times. Then she told me she had been smacking me because I supposedly "hit her face" with my purse at some point during the ride. Yes, my soft straw & nearly empty purse MUST have left her with a concussion. This is NYC people, there are crowds. You will get bumped into and stepped on, it comes with living in a densely populated city...
I'm a personal friend of Richard's brother. Their family doesn't seem very focused on grades, so stop trying to make some point about asian families.
very sad.
I don't understand. I don't understand why I keep looking up news stories on him; everyone else, I think, has stopped.
I knew Richard, only for a year, but during his first year at Columbia. He was quiet, he was kind, but he just did not appear the type to send himself over a bridge.
But maybe I missed something, something someone in my position should have seen or at least needed to see.
Rest well, Richard, and I'm sorry.