For the second time this month, Counseling and Psychological Services will hold special group and individual sessions to help students deal with the shock and grief resulting from the death of a classmate.
With the body of Engineering graduate student Anirban Majumdar discovered in the Schuylkill River just weeks after the death of Wharton junior Jose Joseph, some members of the Penn community have been left shaken, prompting the University to temporarily increase its services.
"We as a student body in this University are diminished every time we lose one of our students in this way," Provost Robert Barchi said.
"Our sympathy and our hearts go out to the family and to the friends of the individual that has lost his life, and to all the people in Engineering and Applied Science who knew him in one way or another," he added.
In conjunction with the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, CAPS will hold group sessions both today and tomorrow.
Majumdar "was connected primarily with the Engineering department, so that's where we're working from," CAPS Director Ilene Rosenstein said.
In addition, the Office of International Programs, the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the University Chaplain's office have said that they will open their doors to any members of the community seeking support in response to the death of Majumdar, a native of Calcutta, India.
"We want to make sure that we support, above all, the people who knew him, because they're the ones who bear the brunt of the emotional trauma," Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said.
And though CAPS will be closed on Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving, Rosenstein stressed that students can call the emergency doctor on-call 24 hours a day throughout the holiday recess.
CAPS and VPUL will determine over the next couple of days whether they will offer additional sessions on Thursday and Friday, as many international students remain on campus during the Thanksgiving break.
"As more and more people hear the news and begin to think about [the death] and its effects, people may begin to reach out more for the services over the next few days," VPUL spokeswoman Leah Smith said.
"Many people will be away over the break, but the counseling and support services don't end just because there's a break," she added.
At a group session held yesterday in the Engineering School's Towne Building, located at 33rd and Locust streets, about 30 students joined Chaplain William Gipson, as well as officials from VPUL and the Office of International Programs, to receive information about Majumdar's death and ways to cope with the loss.
University Police answered questions about the conditions of Majumdar's death, many of which remain unclear.
At the session, several students expressed concerns about safety, and that Majumdar's death might have been the result of a hate crime, despite assertions by police that there is presently no reason to believe foul play was involved. Officials have not determined whether Majumdar's death was an accident or suicide, and admit that the evidence may never point to a conclusive answer.
Glandt said that his office is concerned about international students, particularly those who may still feel unsafe in light of recent backlash against minorities in response to September's terrorist attacks.
"Perception is a large part of reality," Glandt said. "People need to feel safe. The fact that people might see it [as a hate crime] only adds to the angst."
"It's been a very, very difficult semester for students, specifically for international students from certain parts of the world," said Shalini Dev Bhutani, the Office of International Programs director for international student and scholar services.
"People are still reeling from the September 11 issues, so this on top of that is very difficult," she added.
Both Glandt and Bhutani said that they will be especially sensitive to the needs of international students this week, as many people prepare to leave campus just as others find themselves most in need of social support.
"I was a graduate student from abroad here myself, and I remember the awkward feeling of people going home to spend Thanksgiving with family," Glandt said.
"We worry about the sense of community and whether people will remain supportive, especially now when people may feel alone," he added.
