On January 23, GW awoke to the tragic news of Laura Treanor’s death. At the time it seemed that Laura, who was The Hatchet’s contributing life editor and a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, had died of natural causes. But we learned on Tuesday that her death was, in fact, caused by alcohol poisoning.

The answer to the cause of Laura’s death brings a multitude of questions, all of them equally important. But the University Police Department is not investigating the incident and it seems that neither is the Metropolitan Police Department. On a campus where the police department holds itself to such a high standard, this should not be the case. Investigating the details of Laura’s case is a responsibility that UPD needs to take on.

At this point, laying blame should not be the focus. Instead, we should be trying to give her family, who has been searching for more details, a sense of closure.

So far, the University’s response to this latest update has been scripted at best and objectionable at worst. Knapp’s response read, “We were all saddened by this reminder of the untimely death of this promising young student and beloved member of our GW Community.” This statement seems to lack genuine emotion or reflections on the specifics of the case and is much more clinical than is appropriate for the first student death on campus in four years.

Tracy Schario’s fatalistic response is similarly lackluster, stating, “We may never know the circumstances around the tragic nature of Laura’s death, it’s incredibly unfortunate.” This is exactly the attitude GW does not need, when so many questions linger in the minds of Laura’s family and friends.

Laura Treanor’s death should be dealt with as the emotional and delicate issue that it is. There is no need to make her a poster child for any kind of campaign. Rather, the University’s priority should be to make the details of the case clear.

The school year is almost over and naturally the GW community is pausing to reflect on this year’s tragedy. If we could only know the details of that unfortunate evening, perhaps Laura’s family and closest friends would finally have the peace of mind to move on.

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