An Ordinary Monday

Yesterday was a usual Monday for me. I woke up earlier than I wanted to, sat through (and even enjoyed) four classes, and at 5 p.m. I went to dinner with my friends

It was only at dinner when I first heard part of the news: My friend Aaron, who's living this year in Blakely Hall, told me that all of the residents had been evacuated around 4 p.m. because of a 'gas leak.' They had been noticing an off smell for a few days, but no one said anything until the janitor reported it.

Walking out of Food Service, I bumped into my friend Phil, who's also living in Blakely. He told me that he had also been banished from the dorm for the time being. Phil didn't know anything about a gas leak, however; when the CA told him to leave, she only said that she couldn't tell him why he had to.

I thought it was a little strange that Aaron and Phil's stories didn't correspond; why wasn't Phil told that there was a gas leak like Aaron was? I didn't think much of it, however, until I got a text from Phil a few hours later:

"A kid died in Blakely. They just brought the body bag out to the ambulance, and the Chancellor is coming to talk to us about it."

An email was sent out through the Morris list serv. late last night:

I am writing to share very sad news. One of our students, xxxxxx,
was found dead in his residence hall room this afternoon.

UMM Campus Police, Morris Police, and Stevens County coroner xxxxx have responded. A standard medical/legal death investigation is
underway. There did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances
surrounding the death or any health or safety concerns for the campus
community.

xxxxxx was a senior enrolled full-time at UMM for fall semester 2010
as a philosophy major. He was 24 and from Baxter, MN.

Student Counseling staff are available to meet with students and other
members of the campus community. The office is open Monday through Friday
from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To reach Student Counseling after 4:30 pm.,
please call Campus Police at 320-287-1601. Their services are free and
confidential.

As always if you receive media inquiries, please refer them to University
Relations, 320-589-6398.

This is a sad time for our campus. We extend our condolences to xxxxx's
family and friends.

-End email-

The xxx's were added by me, just so you know.

So it seems that while I was plodding through my ordinary Monday, someone was lying in a dorm room nearby, never to get up and walk out again.

I apologize if I sound blunt about all this. I don't feel blunt about it.
It's so horrible. Just imagine-the body wasn't even found until about three days after the student died.

Last night all I could think about was that the student's parents were going to be getting a call soon. And after that call, as I continue to imagine, his parents are going to have to continue living their lives with the knowledge that they sent a son off to college one year, and he never came back.

Today, campus seems ordinary. So far there are no signs of grief, no extra whisperings before class starts, no huddled groups clustered on the mall. The flag isn't at half mast.

Someone's missing, though, and I suspect that we're all feeling the loss, even as we go about our ordinary Tuesday.