Monday night in Portland, an accident on Lewis & Clark College’s undergraduate campus has left one college student dead and two injured.
On Monday, the initial day of the autumn term, emergency responders were summoned to the campus at approximately 8:15 p.M. As per reports from Portland Fire & Rescue and the college, six pupils affixed hammocks to self-supporting pillars close to the vicinity of the campus’s Estate Garden and open-air pool. Both the hammocks and the students were brought down when one of the pillars collapsed.
The college has not released the names of the students. According to the hospital where they are recovering, the two injured women were taken there. One 19-year-old man had died, and emergency responders confirmed that when the students arrived at the campus.
Investigators learned that several hammocks were attached to the collapsed column. Two students were injured and one died when the free-standing column collapsed on Monday night. Caution tape surrounds the lower Garden Estate area around Clark & Lewis College’s swimming pool in Aug. 2022.
Meerah Powell / OPB
We will do everything we can to support our recovering students in the hospital and those on campus who have been impacted by this tragedy. My heart goes out to his friends and family. On Tuesday afternoon, President Robin Holmes-Sullivan wrote a statement to the campus community. As a parent myself, I am devastated by this loss, along with the entire Clark & Lewis community.
Clark & Lewis had approximately 2,100 students enrolled in its College of Sciences & Arts last fall, including both high school graduates and individuals pursuing a law degree from a college located in the west hills of Portland, Oregon.
The commemorative ceremonies for the student are scheduled for when Holmes-Sullivan decides to inform the campus community. According to Holmes-Sullivan, faculty members, staff, and students have been collaborating with grief therapists. Holmes-Sullivan mentioned that individuals seeking solace in the college’s Flanagan Chapel have been expressing their thoughts.
Students are also reflecting on the tragedy and incident of a dying student on the first day of a new school year, as well as Monday night’s events.
“I have a great deal of empathy for our freshman students who are experiencing college life for the first time,” expressed Venus Edlin, the Editor-in-Chief of Lewis & Clark’s campus newspaper, The Pioneer Log. “I believe that it can be quite challenging to begin in such a difficult manner.” I think it is really difficult to start things off in that way.”
Edlin, a senior at the college, said that when they were a first-year student, they had a similar off-campus experience during orientation.
Edlin told OPB that what has been hard for some students is the way information has been shared about Monday night’s incident.
Edlin mentioned that it was really difficult for him to think about this particular incident because most of the students on campus, as well as those who might have heard or seen the emergency arrival, were finding out about it from a local news station, not from the college administration. It was a very brief story for those students.
They said they did not see any statement from the college until around 12:35 a.M., “Which was four hours later,” Edlin said.
On Tuesday morning, the caution tape surrounded the outdoor swimming pool area near Clark’s Lewis campus, where the brick column collapsed.
On Tuesday, several students were seated in the nearby Estate Garden, engaging in activities such as answering phone calls and jotting down notes, or working on their laptops. The atmosphere in that part of the garden was predominantly tranquil.
“In one sense, it’s kind of business as usual, unfortunately, because what can you do besides go about your classes?” Edlin said.
On the second day of autumn semester, college events persisted in different areas of campus, with certain classes engaging in icebreaker exercises outdoors while others were already engrossed in lectures within campus buildings.
A variety of campus events and meet-and-greets are planned for “Welcome Week,” which is an exciting time for new students to engage in activities and get to know each other.
Edlin noted that a common activity at the Portland campus is students reclining in hammocks.
“They said that it is quite concerning for it to conclude in the manner it has. I have personally experienced it with my companions. I have observed that very often, consistently.”
They stated that the stability of old structures and buildings on campus, especially in the Estate Garden area where students often hang hammocks, is a major concern for them and other students. Edlin mentioned this.
Edlin pondered, “Were there measures in place to ensure the stability of that column? Was this something that could have been prevented? Does this concept apply to other parts of the campus?” “Such inquiries arise in my thoughts.”