Colleges and suicide threats: when to call home?

Virginia Tech settled a lawsuit after failing to show an eMail from a suicidal student.

The eMail that arrived at Virginia Tech’s health center in November 2007 was detailed and unmistakably ominous. It concerned a Tech senior named Daniel Kim and came from an acquaintance at another college.

“Daniel has been acting very suicidal recently, purchasing a $200 pistol, and claiming he’ll go through with it,” the eMail read, adding details of a reported previous suicide attempt with pills. “This is not a joke.”

By the time Virginia Tech told Daniel’s father, William Kim, about that eMail, it was too late.…Read More