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Dean reveals third student suicide at Penn

Richard James Gelles, dean of Social Policy and Practice has revealed a third student suicide. He made no announcement through the university because he claims…

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University of Penn reveals third student suicide according to Philly Magazine

Richard James Gelles, dean of Social Policy and Practice has revealed a third student suicide. He made no announcement through the university because he claims the information would violate "privacy concerns of the family..and the possibility of contagion."

Gelles admits to releasing information about the suicide out of concern for students, but chose not to disclose the name of the social policy graduate who committed suicide off campus.  

"I think we need to be mindful of our students and their mental health," Gelles said. "Mental health is a serious issue on every campus and Penn has a unique set of challenges. These are kids are used to being the absolute best, and they get here and they're surrounded, in a very competitive environment by other kids who are accomplishing at least as much, if not more and we need to respond to that," he added. 

On Friday, Jan. 17, Madison Holleran, 19-year-old freshman and track star, jumped to her death from a parking garage. Her father, James Holleran, revealed she was struggling with school work and said Madison told family members she was unhappy during Christmas break. 

"There was a lot more pressure in the classroom at Penn. She wasn't normal happy Madison. Now, she had worries and stress. My daughter's stress was self induced, and although we had started her in therapy to address the issues, she hid the severity of those issues from everyone," James told the New York Post

Weeks after Holleran's suicide, 18-year-old sophomore, Elvis Hatcher hanged himself. Hatcher was known as a "math whiz," on campus. He was the treasurer of Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity and worked in IT support at the Wharton school. 

At least four student suicides have taken place at Penn's campus within the current academic year.  In response, Penn officials appointed a new task force on student psychological health and welfare. The task force will examine the challenges confronting students that affect mental health. 

"Like peer campuses across the country, Penn has seen increasing need for psychological support services and programs, and we have worked assiduously to ensure the wellbeing of our students," Amy Gutmann, president of Penn said in its press release. "Now is the time to review our work and to ensure that we have in place the best practices in outreach, education, intervention, and treatment."

According to Huffington Post, the university has received criticism over its slow response and disclosure regarding the suicides, in certain cases waiting weeks and even months to publicly confirm the tragedies. 

Ed Monica, one of Holleran's teachers, wrote a petition online suggesting that colleges should be required to reveal how many students commit suicide. His petition on MoveOn.org, gathered more than 5,000 signatures. 

"There should be no reason why a university or any college should hesitate putting these statistics on a pice of paper" Monica said.

According to a report, schools can release information about students over 18 after their death. However, Penn's policy on student records indicate that administrators should use informed discretion in responding to requests for disclosures. 

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