| Jun. 10, 2008 | 5:06 pm |
Student found dead in dorm room
By
A Northwestern student was found dead inside his Foster House dorm room late Tuesday morning, the university said this afternoon in a statement.
Matthew S. Sunshine, a SESP freshman from Cold Spring Harbor, NY, passed away due to currently undetermined causes, Vice President for Student Affairs William J. Banis said in the statement, which the university has sent to “students, faculty and staff on Evanston campus.”
“We extend our condolences to all of Matthew’s family and friends,” Banis said. “We join with them in this time of sorrow.”
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) staff and members of the University Chaplain’s office will be in Foster House this evening.
Banis said the Evanston Police Department, assisted by University Police, is investigating the matter.
anon said,
June 11, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
did anyone else find Banis’s second email terribly offensive? it sounds like he’s trying to use Matthew’s life as a moralizing example rather than to mourn him.
student said,
June 11, 2008 @ 7:51 pm
No, I thought it was an appropriate email. It’s true that this is a tragic situation, and it’s true that students need to be responsible and be aware that things like this can happen. The tone of the email was not “tsk tsk you naughty students will never learn!” but rather genuine sadness and frustration that such a thing has happened in spite of the university’s efforts to prevent it. (I mean you can argue whether the U is justified in thinking those efforts are enough, but that is the tone.)
This really is tragic. My heart goes out to his family and friends.
Ben R. said,
June 11, 2008 @ 8:07 pm
I did also.
nu junior said,
June 11, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
I agree that the 2nd e-mail was inappropriate. Notifying students of cause of death and offering condolences (first paragraph) should have sufficed.
Yes students need to be responsible. No an e-mail announcing why a student died is not the place to do that.
fellow freshman said,
June 11, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
I don’t think it was inappropriate at all. Something really sad has happened and despite all the workshops NU put together for us at the beginning of the year, alcohol abuse is and continues to be a huge problem. I know we all know it, but this should serve as a reminder to all of us to be more careful with our drinking. If Banis didn’t point it out in an email by re-enforcing it, he would be missing out on an opportunity to prevent things like this from happening in the future.
RIP Matty.
Jerry said,
June 12, 2008 @ 10:20 am
I think the contents of the email were appropriate, but I feel the timing of the email could have been a little off. It might have been beneficial to send an email like that in a couple of weeks or so.
Christopher Columbus said,
June 12, 2008 @ 3:50 pm
I can’t find a single inappropriate sentence in that email.
Brian Rosenthal said,
June 12, 2008 @ 9:57 pm
I agree-nothing wrong with the e-mail- and I’ll go a step further: I think it would inappropriate for the university to not use Matt’s tragic death and the feelings surrounding it as an illustration of the dangerous consequences of alcohol.
NU Staffperson said,
June 13, 2008 @ 1:36 pm
I think Banis’ use of phrases like “As you know…” and “When you entered Northwestern, we asked you to…” made the message feel a little inappropriate. It comes off as scolding the entire student body, treating them like they all forgot something. I tend to shut down / stop listening when people talk that way, whether is is a colleague or a news anchor. You could leave off those pieces and the message/reminder wouldn’t be diluted at all (in fact it may be more effective), but the somewhat patronizing tone would be gone.
an outsider said,
June 16, 2008 @ 7:56 am
Hello Northwestern Students,
I am not from your university, but I do sympathize with the incident that has occurred there. May Mathew’s soul rest in peace.
From what I have read, I think that Banis would not be doing his job had he not used Sunshine’s tragedy as yet another reminder of the effects of uncontrolled alcohol use.
Just my opinion: why even touch alcohol? Even if you did, is it necessary for you to get drunk? I mean come on…All you really need is just a little for you to relax. You don’t need to go all wild. So many bad things can happen to you when you are out of it. And if you don’t have trustworthy people around you then just forget about it. You are just going to regret stuff at the end. Think about your family. Think about the Sunshine family. Their son passed away because of alcohol in college. It is quite unbearable. But this is the situation his family has to face.
I am going to stop here. I don’t think Banis was out of place in his statements and please don’t drink. If you do, be RESPONSIBLE and WISE.
Thanks,
a senior in H.S. not in Illinois and going to another college
Chris said,
June 27, 2008 @ 3:51 pm
To the previous poster - if anything, your comments seem patronizing, even if it is your own opinion.
Drinking is a personal choice, one that should be made wisely, but is legal to those of age.
Bienen’s comments may have come a little too soon, but they were necessary, even in this tragic situation.
Chris said,
June 27, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
Whoops I meant Banis.