A New York University freshman from California jumped to his death from the roof of his University Hall residence, 110 E. 14th St., on Saturday morning, Sept. 22.
The body of Allan Oakley Hunter III, 18, know as Trey, was found in the courtyard of the N.Y.U. building.
It was the most recent of several student suicides since the 2003-’04 school year when five students jumped to their deaths, three of them in a five-week period, and another student died in a suicide leap in Sept. 2004.
John Sexton, N.Y. U. president, sent an e-mail to the faculty, students and administrators on Saturday saying, “Part of suicide’s pain is the elusiveness of easy answers. However, not withstanding the absence of easy answers, some things are very clear. We have a responsibility to keep ourselves, our loved ones and others around us safe and well.”
Over the weekend, a counselor from the N.Y.U. Wellness Exchange, created after the rash of suicides several years ago to address emotional health issues, was on hand at the 21-story residence hall.
Hunter, who went to Corona del Mar High School, in Orange County, and entered the N.Y.U. College of Arts and Sciences this month, had broken up by mutual agreement with his girlfriend, Michelle Ann Tolfa, a Princeton freshman, according to a Sept. 26 New York Post article. Friends at N.Y.U. described him as acting alienated and forgetful recently.
