Brief: sad start to school year for Acadia students

By Bilal Sher

Instead of celebrating their new-found independence, university students in Halifax are now in mourning after the death of a classmate, a young man from Calgary. On Sept. 6 the Acadia University student was brought to hospital after being found unconscious in his basement dorm. By Sept. 8 he was transferred to hospital where he later died. The first-year science student was binge drinking that night. Students told CBC news that the student drank nearly 40 ounces of alcohol. Acadia University public affairs officer Sherri Turner told the Calgary Herald, “He didn’t even get to start classes.”

Many Acadia University students are feeling a terrible loss at the death of the student. University of Calgary Wellness Centre director Debbie Bruckner informed CTV news that the U of C “believes strongly in facilitating responsibility, so that’s managing alcohol, managing stress, and any other components that can lead a student to feel they’re having a hard time.”

Acadia University will likely make changes to policies due to this alcohol-related death.