To his credit, Dr. Hennessey sent a letter of condolence in response. He agreed that even the most capable students could be victims of suicide, but he did not address the specifics of my letter. It appeared that, yes, although Stanford and the Ivies have better psychological services compared to public colleges (according to my therapist who teaches a class in grief at UConn) Stanford would not improve their follow-up of students abroad.
Thankfully, that was not the reaction of the Stanford Center in Berlin. When Libby and I visited Karen, the director, the following July, she told me that Pat was beginning to change their policies. Where they had once prohibited communication of any personal issues between Palo Alto and Berlin, they were now reconsidering. In fact, all of Stanford’s study abroad programs were leaving the door open. They, like us, were trying to learn, to improve, to gain insight, to prevent another Patrick or Cho, and most recently, Kazmierczak from ever happening again.
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