Clementi, an 18-year-old violinist in his first weeks of college, killed himself on Sept. 22, days after a roommate and another Rutgers allegedly used a webcam to peek at Clementi’s liaison with another man.
The suspects, Dharun Ravi and fellow freshman Molly Wei, were both charged with invasion of privacy and have withdrawn from Rutgers. Authorities say they’re weighing whether to charge them with bias intimidation.
Clementi’s death came amid a string of high-profile suicides of young people who were gay or perceived to be gay.
Partly because of the way he killed himself – jumping off the George Washington Bridge connecting New Jersey with Manhattan – Clementi has become a face of the issue.
Some experts fear that his death may have sparked copycat suicides among other vulnerable young people.
President Barack Obama and celebrities including talk show host Ellen DeGeneres have talked publicly about his death and said that young gays and lesbians need to know that life gets better.
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