Muir Student Dies in Tragic Fall

Early Oct. 23, K. Wayne Yang, the provost of Muir College, announced in an email that a Muir student passed away. No further details about the tragedy were disclosed in the email.

According to NBC 7 San Diego, the San Diego County Medical Examiner identified the 18-year-old student as Aaron Fan.

After Fan fell from an 8th story bathroom window, paramedics transported him to Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla with multiple injuries. Fan later passed away.

Students discussed the accident the night it happened on the UCSD Reddit page. In the following days, threads have appeared grieving Fan’s passing and expressing concerns about safety in the older dorms.

“As we work to better understand the circumstances and respect the privacy of our student’s family, I want to assure you that we are here to support one another,” wrote Muir Provost Yang in the email. “In this time of tragedy, let us speak respectfully of the dead. Let us treat each other with kindness. Let us be patient with each other’s emotions.”

The Provosts of UC San Diego’s other six residential colleges have forwarded Yang’s email to the students in their respective colleges. They have also encouraged students to contact their college’s Dean of Student Affairs if they need support or want to find school and community resources, to contact professors, or to take a leave of absence.

On Oct. 24, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Alysson M. Satterlund emailed students additional details about the incident and on-campus resources.

“Yesterday, a member of our Triton community tragically passed away after falling from a building on campus,” Satterlund wrote in the email. “While an investigation is currently underway into the incident, I am writing to bring to your attention the resources that are currently available to support each of you in our collective grief.”

Students in need of support can contact Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), which provides confidential counseling services at no cost to UCSD students.

According to Satterlund, this week students can visit CAPS at Galbraith Hall 190 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. or meet one-on-one with a CAPS practitioner in Muir College HSS 2126 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Students who wish to meet with CAPS in a community support session can email vcsa@uvsd.edu.

Elizabeth Peng is the News Editor for The Triton.

The third paragraph of this article was updated at 3:30p.m. on October 26 to better align with the Triton Style Guide, specifically to address a grammatical error.