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The first death occurred before the start of the academic year. In July 2021, an undergraduate student at Worcester Polytechnic University was reported dead. The administration sent an email notification, with the familiar, well-tested phrases and the attached resources. Katherine Foo, an assistant professor in the department of integrated and global studies, was particularly devastated by the news. Teach this student. She was Chinese and felt connected to the particular pressures she faced. She read through old, anonymous course reviews, looking for any sign she might have missed. But she wasn’t sure where to put her personal feelings about a loss she suffered in this professional context.
In the week before the start of the academic year, a second student died. A rising senior in the computer science department who loved gardening took his own life. This brought a hint of doom. A student suicide is a tragedy. two can be the beginning of a cluster. Some faculty members began to feel a tinge of trepidation upon entering the campus.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts is a neat New England college campus with the high-saturation landscaping that characterizes well-funded institutions. Hedges are neatly trimmed, paths are cleared. The 19th century red brick buildings are juxtaposed with tall glass facades and renovated interiors. But within six months, the school was overturned by a wave of suicides.
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Additional production for The Sunday Read was contributed by Isabella Anderson, Anna Diamond, Sarah Diamond, Elena Hecht, Emma Kehlbeck, Tanya Pérez and Krish Seenivasan.
