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The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Student found dead was honors, engineering student

Updated at 3:56 p.m.

The student found dead in his West Hall room Tuesday evening was freshman Sean Keefer, the University announced Wednesday.

Keefer, originally from West Linn, Ore., was a member of the University Honors Program and the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He was 19 years old.

“On behalf of our entire community, I extend my deepest condolences to Sean’s family and all who knew him. I ask that we keep them in our thoughts and prayers,” University President Steven Knapp wrote in a statement.

The first-floor West Hall resident was studying mathematics and computer science, according to his LinkedIn page. He graduated from Jesuit High School in Portland, Ore., where he ran for the cross-country team.

Keefer worked as a coding intern at the OpenGov Foundation, a government accountability and transparency group. He had worked as a development intern at OpenSesame, a Portland, Ore.-based e-learning marketplace beginning in June 2012.

Campus and city police officers found Keefer unconscious in his bed, according to police documents. He was then transported to the D.C. Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, where he was later pronounced dead.

His family was notified Tuesday, University spokeswoman Candace Smith said.

The death was the first to occur in a GW residence hall since 20-year-old Ismail Ginwala committed suicide in City Hall in April 2011.

University Counseling Center staff are available in West Hall on Wednesday until 4:30 pm and between 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Members of the community may also contact the center at 202-994-5300.

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