Nov 2, 2009 7:00 pm US/Eastern
Yale Stunned Again By Another Student's Death
Victim Called 'Talented, Brilliant' By His High School Teachers On Long Island
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBS) ―
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Andre Narcisse died after his Yale roommates discovered him unresponsive in his dorm room on November 1, 2009.
CBS
A second student death has rocked the campus of Yale University after a young sophomore from Long Island was discovered unresponsive in his dorm room.
Andre Narcisse, 19, was found unresponsive Sunday morning about 11 in his suite at Branford College, one of the school's residential colleges, according to Tom Conroy, a Yale spokesman.
"He wasn't a good kid – he was the best kid," said Paul Lichtman, Narcisse's former science teacher at Uniondale High, who wiped away tears after hearing that his talented and brilliant former student had died.
Across town, Joyce Locke was also fighting her emotions. She told CBS 2 everyone in Roosevelt had been beaming with pride over the young man with Haitian roots, who moved into their economically distressed community, filled with hope and ambition, and beat the odds.
"He used to be in the papers. I used to read about him when he attended Uniondale High School," said Jennifer Peralte.
A car with his Phillips Exeter Academy decal sits proudly in the driveway next door. He had made it into the prestigious private school in New Hampshire after two years at nearby Uniondale High School, and then honored with his ivy league acceptance to Yale.
"He was probably one of the most brilliant students ever to come into the research program, if not the school. He was committed, focused, he was well liked. Teachers I spoke to today were in total shock," said Lichtman.
Narcisse's roommates found him Sunday morning and called 9-1-1, but emergency personnel were unable to revive him. On Monday, toxicology tests were conducted. Autopsy results have not yet been made public.
University officials said students were devastated. It's the second death of a Yale student this semester. The strangled body of graduate student Annie Le was found stuffed in the walls of a school lab on what would have been her wedding day on Long Island.
Now Narcisse's neighbors are asking how such a promising young mind could be wasted.
"Life just snuffed out that way, that happens a lot to our youth," said Suzanne Brown.
University police do not suspect foul play. Sources point to an accidental drug overdose as the likely cause.
Halloween was a big party night at Yale, where student drinking and drug use is an ongoing concern The previous weekend at an annual event called the "Safety Dance," eight students needed medical attention for substance abuse.
Last year, 35 percent of Yale undergrads who answered a survey said they'd done drugs while at the college. The elite Ivy League campus is not immune to troubling issues.
"Things do happen, sad things happen. Life happens," said Yale freshman Jordan Buxton-Punch.
The death comes only seven weeks after Le's murder, bringing a fresh shock for students.
"It makes people think a little bit about their friends more, and be close to everyone," said Yale senior Emily Harris.
Science teachers at Uniondale High School said Narcisse excelled at environmental science and was credited with inventing new methods of testing water pollution on Long Island.
CBS 2's Jennifer McLogan and Tony Aiello contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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