NEW YORK
A college freshman jumped to his death from a dormitory roof at New York University, where a series of student suicides several years ago spurred such measures as blocking access to balconies, authorities said.
The student was found dead in a garden at University Hall around 10:15 a.m. Saturday, police said.
The student, from California, was enrolled in the university’s large College of Arts & Science, NYU spokesman John Beckman said. The student’s name, age and hometown were not released.
“This is a tragic and terrible event for our community,” Beckman said Sunday. A counselor was at the dormitory to talk with students, he said.
“We were freshmen, and this was supposed to be a new beginning,” resident Jacob Kirkorowicz, 18, told the Daily News. “It’s just a huge tragedy.”
Beckman said the death marked the first student suicide in three years at NYU, where five students took their lives within about a year between 2003 and 2004. In response, the university re-engineered two other dorms’ balcony doors to open only four inches, installed a plexiglass shield around a cavernous library atrium and enhanced its counseling service. The university now has a 24-hour hotline for students struggling with depression or other problems, among other services.
