Editor's note: The original version of this story reported that former OU football player Marcellis Williamson died of an apparent heart attack. Williamson's cause of death was a blood clot in his lung.
When something bad happens to an Ohio University student, the dean of students receives a late-night phone call.
“Part of the job is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year, on-call structure,” Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said. “You can always get one of us.”
Jenny Hall-Jones, assistant dean for Student Affairs, and Patty McSteen, associate dean of students, are also called if Lombardi cannot be reached.
Current students receive an immediate response from the university, Lombardi said.
“If it’s a current student, we’re the first or second responders on the scene (after emergency services) to help with communication … whether that’s in the middle of the night,” Lombardi said. “We go wherever it happens no matter the time, the place, anything.”
Last month, that job was a trying one. Aaron Trout, 26, was severely injured in a hit-and-run on Brown Avenue, April 13. OU alum Chris Hondros, 41, was killed in Libya, April 20, and alum Michael Christopher Brown was wounded in the same attack. Then, Marcellis Williamson, 23, a former OU football player, died of a blood clot in his lung April 27.
With more than 197,000 living alumni, more than 35,000 current students and about 1,900 faculty members, Lombardi said it’s impossible to keep track of everyone. But, university officials try to do everything they can and are informed when current students are injured.
“THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO”
The nature of the job is very different when a student passes away. Lombardi is the one who makes the late-night call to that student’s family.
“We communicate with the family, the university, the friends, professors, sometimes the friends’ professors, depending on the nature of the deaths,” Lombardi said, adding he attends every memorial service he can.
OU also flies a Bobcat flag over Cutler Hall and then presents it in folded form to the family.
“I can’t say one thing (we do) for absolutely every family,” Lombardi said. “They get us. I make myself available to them. I offer to help them in any way possible.”
In some cases, Lombardi has helped the families reserve a hotel room; in others, he has helped them clean the room of their son or daughter. Some students who were close to graduating receive honorary diplomas, which
Lombardi presents the family at their funeral.
The job is trying, Lombardi said, noting that there were 12 deaths his first year in the job.
“Once I got the call at midnight or 1 o’clock … I didn’t leave campus for a few days,” Lombardi said. “It’s the best thing you can do for them.”
As difficult as the task is, Lombardi said, it is an essential duty.
“It’s not the part of the Dean of Students office that people know, but it’s a major part of what we do here,” he said.
Hall-Jones helps Lombardi with many of these tasks.
“Sometimes we’re really directly involved, and other times we’re not,” Hall-Jones said.
“We call the registrar and the student’s dean’s office. Then, we try to figure out where the student was connected … and make sure everyone’s OK.
Sometimes, there’s such a huge desire and need and following that we arrange buses for their funerals.”
“LOVING MEMORIES”
Those who have died are often memorialized on campus. Friends, coworkers and families can opt to dedicate a monument on campus to the student, McSteen said.
“There are lots of trees and benches all across campus through the years,” McSteen said. “Generally, students will do it for friends — we don’t ever do it without a family’s permission.”
Placards dot campus, sitting beneath trees and benches and memorializing students “In Loving Memory.”
Some are simple. Laura Ellen Bansek’s tree on South Green merely states the date of her birth in 1974 and death in 1993.
Others are intensely personal. Joseph D. Bogden’s bench along the Hocking River memorializes his “alter ego Julio J. Ramirez” in language only the dedicators and friends of the 1974 alumni will understand.
Students choose the locations of most of the memorials to reflect whom they are remembering, McSteen said. There are dozens of memorials on campus, though fewer students have sought to dedicate items recently.
“We support students in the process, as they use their friends as a means to grieve,” McSteen said.
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