At around 4:30 this morning, an NYU junior, Andrew Williamson-Noble (20), leaped to his death from the 10th floor of the school’s Bobst Library. This is the first suicide that the school has had in a while. After two students jumped from the 10th floor in 2003, 6-foot plexi-glass walls were installed along the railings facing the open atrium to deter any other jumpers. Its unclear how he managed to get over the inclosure, but the school has confirmed that the student was found dead on the floor of the library in what appeared to be a suicide attempt.

Later reports clarified that the students in the library heard a loud “thud”, around 4:30a.m. and helped piece together what actually happened to Andrew this morning.  NYU president John Sexton confirmed the suicide in an e-mail sent to students around 10am:

It is with great sorrow that I must tell you of the death of a student — a junior in the College of Arts and Science — early this morning in Bobst Library.  While the cause of death is still being determined, indications are that he took his own life.

Suicide among people of college age is a national problem, a leading cause of death among the young; each year, campuses across the country must cope with these tragedies and their aftermath — the pain, the heartbreak, the upset it causes to those who are vulnerable, and all the terrible, persistent questions.

I have taught young people for some five decades, drawn by their energy and their promise and by the unique bond that forms between student and professor.  The impulse for self-harm — particularly among young men and women with so much talent and so much to live for — is incomprehensible to me.

When I was an undergraduate at NYU , I remember the stressors of midterms, exams and the pressure I put on myself to succeed and thrive. I think that many students come to NYU expecting a challenge but are unprepared for the amount of stress and competition they face upon arrival up to graduation. I can recall so many nights I stayed at Bobst Library with my group of close friends, the self-proclaimed A-Team. We often broke night there in order to cram for test, to remain afloat, or to make up for the work that piled up on us.  I am utterly thankful for them because it is that support group coupled with familial support that got me through. In this case, it’s unclear what made Andrew decide to take his life, but I can only pray that any other students or people in general that are feeling the pressure of life get the help they need before making such tragic decisions. As a graduate student, back at my alma mater, NYU, I still feel stressed and pressure but after dealing with 4-years of it I am better equipped to deal with the harsh realities of schooling. Although, self-inflicted pressure of school may sound weird to some it’s totally comprehensible to me. I have never failed a class in my life, and the first C I ever received was in college, so I really wasn’t equipped with the capacity to deal with what felt like “failure“.  At the end of the day none of us want to fail, but I’ve learned that is not about how many times you fail but rather what you do after that makes a difference. That’s all.