Apparent NYU Student Suicide in Downtown Dorm

2 down this year. 4 more to go. they should make a horror movie called NYU, it would make millions more than hostel and saw.

Seriously, is NYU currently the leader in the reporting of student suicides? It's a dubious distinction but a distinction nonetheless...

Sad to hear, but unfortunately is commonplace in a stressful school environment.

Many people come to NY from other places, and it's a HUGE adjustment. Add that to a busy school schedule of complaining, being a snotty brat, asking Daddy for more money, and not being able to get past a certain plateau in EverQuest, it can be easily overwhelming.

gee whiz... going to a fancy college these days sure is risky business, they are starving themselves uptown and jumping off buildings downtown.

way to show your age, novanglus, no one plays EQ any more, its all WoW now!

The weather sucks! It's gray and gloomy, or hot and humid. I guess you've never lived somewhere pleasant, like say, the West Coast.

And there are 8 million people living in the city, doing their own things, which is why it can be difficult to meet people - especially at NYU, where there is no campus and the dorms are apartment style, so everyone is fairly isolated.

Just saying.

Yes, there's plenty of asian girls - but who wants to hang with a goofy chick with really nothing to offer...?

As an NYU grad from back in the 1980s (and there was only one suicide I can remember hearing about from 1984-1987), it is difficult to meet people when you first move to this city. The great majority of my friends now are from my undergrad days at NYU. Jobs and school are really the best places to meet new folks here. This, of course, is my personal opinion.

No matter how you look at it, NYU has a crisis on its hands: sure, the risk of suicide is higher in the college-age population than it is in the general population, but this has become an epidemic.
NYU officials must recognize this, declare a state of emergency, examine the epidemiology of suicide among its students and address the problem. Bring in the CDC, bring in other outside experts.
There are plenty of large universities in big cities, but none seems to approach the magnitude of the suicide problem that NYU has. Stressful living in NYC?
Depersoanlization? Difficult to meet people? All too simple explanations for what has become a tragic problem.

You have to understand the typical NYU student. Intelligent, but media oriented people from around the nation flock to NYU. The media and the intelligentsia have for years portrayed this city as the salvation from the monotony and mediocrity of middle america. Intelligent children who have their entire teen years feel outside their local cultures come here for the sense of "belonging" portrayed on TV and elsewhere.

When they arrive, they find out the culture of which they desired to be a part consists of nothing more than bitter misanthropes with a penchant for debauchery and nose rings.

For many of these kids, the reality of NYC represents total loss of hope in their world and death seems like a preferable alternative. You will also notice that this is in large part symptomatic of the Media and Educational elite denigrating Western Civilization. Almost all of these suicidal students are White males. Surely, this can be no coincidence.

Sad, but I'm curious as to how he/she died. I hope it was an honorable death. I would've chosen Seppuku.

If only NYU had more stress balls avaliable for students. Perhaps these students would've taken a different path after a few squeezes.

I am a recent graduate of NYU. There's a lot of issues at play as to why there seems to be a rash of suicides at the school. My following comments only apply to NYU undergrad. Graduate programs at NYU are a totally different ballpark.

First, NYU is a place to go if you didn't get into an Ivy league school. Some people would say I'm wrong, but it's generally true. NYU was not the first choice for most people I knew. You're paying Ivy League tuition but not getting the Ivy League experience. NYU students are smart kids but they generally resent the school, because they really don't want to be there. The high fees, crappy financial aid packages, large class sizes and general disappointment of not getting into an Ivy is already a recipe for anger and resentment.

Second, there is a total lack of "school spirit" at NYU. This pervades every aspect of the university. Students live in far-flung dorms and apartment buildings across the city. There are no major campus events, traditions or sporting events that bring everyone out to celebrate. There really is nothing that bonds NYU students together, as an entire undergraduate institution. This is the school's greatest flaw. Yes, there are plenty of clubs and other activities to be involved in at NYU. But there is nothing that brings us all together in celebration and tradition.

"Second, there is a total lack of "school spirit" at NYU."

A Symptom of every commuter school in New York. NYU is indeed a commuter school, less so than Baruch, Pace, Hunter, but still. Even if they had more events, who would go? They are too busy working or doing something else. Sometimes its better to go to a University in the middle of nowhere so you'll have no CHOICE but to be involved.

smh...those factors may play a role, but, in my mind, don't explain the epidemic of suicides NYU is experiencing. There are dozens of schools perceived as sub-Ivy. Zillions of kids are rejected from Ivy schools and end up at Brandeis, Tufts, NYU, GWU, Emory, Williams, Skidmore, etc. Those schools aren't having a suicide crisis.
Second point: no student who does his/her due diligence is surprised by the decentralization and lack of "spirit" at NYU. When you do your research while applying to colleges, every "insider guide" lets you know that you may be housed away from Washington Sq.

elderta...I stated the role of depersonalization in these suicides. Face it, if these kids felt they had a meaningful identity, they would be able to find the inner strength to seek help. And smitty invoked the social isolation factor. I agree.

polemicist...again, I don't think there's a "typical" NYU student with "typical" expectations.
Most HS seniors utilize a variety of resources in their search for a perfect fit. Those guides, printed and online, give a realistic picture of exactly what students will find when they arrive.

If I were an NYU administrator, I would acknowledge the magnitude of the problem and bring in experts. If I were a parent of an NYU student, I would expect no less from the University.

I think the most important statistic is to look at the alumni giving rate.

Along with alumni giving I would also say retention rate is another important statistic. If 25% of freshmen don't graduate, that says a lot about the university environment.

angry pickle, I respectfully disagree...I am the father of a college sophomore and a high school senior. I have pored over a variety of online and print insider guides with my kids for precisely the purpose of avoiding surprises. So, when my son headed off for a school that was #58 on the US News top 100 list (that's not saying I am in any way impressed by that list...colleges market themselves to gain a foothold on that list), we did some online research and found that it was also #3 on the top 10 "stoner" school list. Thus, he was not surprised when he moved into his dorm room and found his roommate had several dozen medical marijuana vials from herbal pharmacies in California.

Many students know older kids who go to schools they might be interested in and turn to them for insider views. Still others spend an overnight or weekend at their top choice schools.

The point is, you really don't have to look very hard for some insight into the real atmosphere at most schools...you just can't believe what admissions officials and student tour guides tell you.

To smh: I am also a recent graduate of NYU and I take issue with your response, mostly because I went to NYU (which was the only school to which I applied) for precisely the reasons you give for people having a bad experience there, namely, the lack of a campus and a conventional college experience. If I wanted to go watch shaggy-haired boys play hackey-sack in a courtyard while flanked by others badly strumming Dave Matthews Band on acoustic guitars, or if I wanted to go get date raped at a frat house, there were options. I never met one person who came to NYU because they didn't get into an Ivy League school, even Columbia, which is surprising. If you were the kind of person who'd be upset by a lack of school spirit or a lack of traditions or sporting events, you'd be an idiot to go to NYU. There are plenty of almost-ivies--plenty of much cheaper almost-ivies--that are available for people who want those things. I came to NYU to avoid people who wanted those things. I mostly succeeded, especially since the people who came to NYU wanting those things have eventually killed themselves.

@smitty

Wait...you're not wealthy, but go to a private college that cost roughly $40k (w/room and board) a yr full time x 4yr = $160,000. So instead of working at a part time job to pay off that massive bill during college you do a lot of volunteer work? Wow, I don't know if I should hold you to high esteem for being so altruistic or mock you for being so foolish. Of course I don't know if you're a lawyer charging $400/hr.

I'm sure per capita isn't the correct term for this, but I'd be interested in comparing rates at NYU to large state (or private) schools across the country. I think it would help discern whether or not the suicides have anything to do with location, or whether it might be a phenomenon of the age demographic. That's not to say that NYU's layout and potential for isolation has nothing to do with it, but I think it would make for an interesting stat to look at.

@Lauraishorrible

I agree completely. I went to NYU to escape a small, private high school where the community, school-spirit vibe was very much in effect. If you're looking for good times on the quad, NYU is not your school. That said, during my time at NYU, I felt more involved than I ever did at my high school, and I did feel the sense of community. I made a point of getting involved with at least some school activities so that I wouldn't be too lonely, but I never had any difficulties making friends while at NYU. And there were the dorms, the dining halls, the gyms, and Washington Square Park, if you wanted a more typical collegiate experience for awhile.

If anything, I think it is NYU's rise in the rankings that is attracting a more competitive, unhappier type of student.

It's really too bad that these kids can't see a way out. Sad.

I recently graduated from NYU, and a 'lack of school spirit' was never an issue for me. I'm guessing, from experience, that the majority of NYU students couldn't care less about 'school spirit' or sporting events or what have you. we had that in high school, and that's probably not why most kids decide to come to new york city for college. if prospective students have done any of their homework at all on NYU, they know this going into it.

that being said, I agree with what others have already said...college in general is a huge adjustment; add on top of that adjusting to living in new york city as opposed to upper middle class suburbia (which is pretty much the same everywhere), then it's not a huge surprise that there have been so many suicides.

NYU IS OVERPOPULATED. Silver Center, the biggest classroom building, is packed like sardines every day. class sizes are too big for the kind of money we pay. it took my advisor 3 years to really remember my name. and there is nowhere near enough dorm space. yes, NYU is overpriced and the bureaucracy leaves a lot to be desired...but the overall experience, to me, was worth it. most people can handle it. and some, sadly, cannot. but i would not say that it is the fault of the university. someone that decides to take their own life had much deeper issues than a 'lack of school spirit.'

it's sad enough that someone died, but now NYU is going to crack down even harder on us and get super involved in our lives...

although i have to admit i'm glad that i didn't get a mass e-mail from good ol' J. Sexton about this.

Besides the student ambassador who is entitled to his opinion I agree with the rest of the commenters. NYU obviously has a majority of students who were rejected from Ivies or Berkeley and that a fact listed in tons of surveys but I don't think that's a big deal.

A very small proportion of NYU students are residential. We have as much faculty residential space as student residential space! so when we are talking about campus suicides, yes these are overwhelming numbers. A Korean student killed herself on campus last December making that the third in three semesters. And in case someone forgot, a kid also killed themselves the year earlier. And this is with the entire campus being locked up like a mental ward. And preceding that six kids in a year. They are making movies about NYU suicides for a reason. That is a big deal.

NYU is an enormous-sized, scattered, decentralized, community-less school. And as opposed to CUNY, many of the people are from out of town. The bureaucracy is rated worst in the nation by it's own students as is the financial aid, so there is some stress for you. As someone already cited, the graduation rate and giving rate are abysmal. It has the lowest rate of per pupil spending for student activities of a USNWR top tier school. Of course this really doesn't matter as much for most graduate students and professional part timers.

The majority of people will overcome these things and find a way to get the most out of the experience. That shouldn't an indictment of those who don't. Tuition is way too expensive for a "make do" educational experience.

Perhaps a lot people who thought NYU and New York would be a place they would "finally" fit in. NYU does sell an image and gloss over the bad but I guess that is what schools do. You also have to "blame" some of the false expectations on people wanting to believe an image. New York isn't hippie-ville and this isn't 1960. It is the most expensive city in the nation. Around NYU there is pretentious SoHo on one side, the wealthy middle aged gay community on another, thirty and forty-somethings who find college students annoying and rich Fifth Ave and Village residents. There is fun to be found and plenty of people to take your money but that isn't a substitute for a university community.

How NYU disenfranchises you:

1) As a freshman in the dorms, some were mixed with upperclassmen and some were placed far from campus. I was not in a freshman only dorm despite request. This was odd, and since most people I know were primarily friends with people they met freshman year, this stacks the deck against somebody from day 1. They have yet to truly fix the housing debacle.

2) It's just a cold, bureaucratic university. Every decision just seems to be bad when you hear it, and all the good plans they have never materialize. Kimmel was supposed to be a student center. It's just a cafeteria and a place where they put TA classes. They really just don't have enough public spaces to "relax"

3)If you don't really establish things early on, or if what you establish early on falls apart, you're done. This is why some of the loneliest people there are transfer students. I would say people only entertain the idea of actively making friends during their first year and abroad.

4)Idealists come to nyu, but basically I came to the city and discovered how much I disliked people from Long Island and Jerz. No wonder people kill themselves.

I think the negativity of NYU just snowballs in ways that it wouldn't elsewhere. Though to be honest, most of the kids I knew just turned to drugs...