As I told Student Senate last week, every student at Winona State is an important part of our community. Last semester was sad for the family, friends, and classmates of each student lost. It is difficult for me to write about all three collectively because each was a unique and wonderful individual. In the past, our practice has not been to inform the entire campus of a student death but we have recently revised this protocol because we feel accurate information will help WSU come together and support each other during this difficult time. Unfortunately, we had to revisit the communication plan for notifying the WSU community of student deaths three times last semester. Our intention is to provide accurate and timely information while being sensitive to the great loss some have experienced.
It sounds like Dr. Gallegos informed his class about the death of Lee Wells in a respectful and caring manner. I hope we treated each situation with similar integrity.
If you, Mr. Hamilton, feel the publicity of Stene’s death has been excessive, I suggest you consider the sources of the publicity; friends, family, faculty, and staff who suffered together through his illness and death.
One loss of life on campus is one too many. We look forward to a safe and healthy spring.