Six Suicides in 6 Months at Cornell

Last week, two students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, jumped from bridges to their deaths. They were the fifth and sixth suicides this academic year at the university, and school officials are worried Cornell will become known as a “suicide school” after years of trying to distance itself from that reputation. Police and security guards have been posted on all the bridges on the campus, known for its gorges, and campus counseling services now have extended hours. Staffers checked on the door of every single student over the weekend, and are urging students to keep grades in perspective. The last suicides were in 2005, three years after the university stepped up its suicide-prevention program. From 1996 to 2002, there were 11. Administrators have long tried to ease Cornell’s reputation for suicides. They say there are not more at the school than other colleges, but suicides in the gorges are very public, getting more media attention than others would.