Questions linger with discovery of Norris body

The e-mail entitled "Sad News" begins, "Dear All, the Master and I heard this morning that Greg has died." Through this e-mail, sent on Mon., Dec. 20, Branford Dean Nicole Parisier became the first administrator to inform Branford seniors of the death of classmate Greg Norris. On Tues., Dec. 21, Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, followed with a letter to all Branford students about Norris' death.

COURTESY BRANFORD COLLEGE FACEBOOK Branford senior Gregory Norris' body was found on Tues., Nov. 16.

A Metropolitan Transit Authority track foreman discovered Norris' body on the Bronx shoreline on Tues., Nov. 16, and New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers arrived on the scene. But it took until Fri., Dec. 17 before officials could identify the body from dental records provided by the Norris family. Yale officials received notice of his death that weekend, according to University Secretary Linda Lorimer, LAW '77.

Since Yale students returned home from their vacations, questions have emerged regarding Yale's handling of Norris' disappearance and the delay in identifying his body. In piecing together the string of tragedies that led to Norris' death, no party—Yale, Norris, the New Haven police—appears particularly responsible. But one is left to wonder what might have happened had Norris' dean or master been contacted at any point during Sun., Oct. 31, the last day Norris was seen alive in New Haven.

New Haven police were the first to find Norris wandering the train tracks at Union Station in the early morning of Sun., Oct. 31, but they claim that Norris did not have any student identification on him, so they did not know to contact Yale. Lorimer said that the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) will contact the Yale Police Department (YPD) if a student, who is carrying Yale ID, is found injured or in need of serious medical attention while off campus. In Norris' case, NHPD Captian Brian Sullivan, chief of detectives, said, "There was no indication that Greg Norris was affiliated with Yale" when NHPD members found him. All information the police had from Norris, Sullivan explained, was his name. In response to whether New Haven police routinely ask any young adults whom they stop if they are college students, Sullivan said, "Sometimes we can't determine that," and he stressed that Norris had been found while intoxicated.

Following Norris' encounter with police, another opportunity to inform Yale of the student's condition was lost. At 5:10 a.m., Norris voluntarily allowed himself to be taken by ambulance to Yale-New Haven Hospital. However, Lorimer said the ambulance that would take a student to a hospital has no connection to Yale.

Yale-New Haven was the third—and last—point at which Yale could have been notified of Norris' medical condition, but the hospital does not communicate with Yale residential college deans and masters the way that University Health Services (UHS) does. At the hospital, Norris was admitted for detoxification, Sullivan confirmed. Ken Best, media coordinator at the Yale-New Haven Hospital, said that federal privacy laws prevent him from commenting on Norris' treatment at the hospital. "[Norris] came in, was treated, and left," he said. "Everything else is private information." Norris was permitted to check himself out of the hospital at 2:25 p.m., and was never seen alive again.

Best said of Yale-New Haven's policy with students, "We deal with patients. If someone comes in as a college student [and is over 18 years old], he is treated as an adult responsible for his own treatment, who makes his own decisions. We make exceptions for minors." However, according to Best, the hospital tries to help its patients contact family members if they wish to do so.

Tom Conroy, deputy spokesperson of the Yale Office of Public Affairs, attributed the differences in Yale's relationship with Yale-New Haven and with UHS to the fact that Yale operates UHS. "The University determines the policies of University Health Services, including notication," he said. "The University does not operate Yale-New Haven. The University does not make notification policies." Conroy refused to speculate on whether Yale would now change its policy with the hospital.

Between Norris' disappearance and the eventual discovery of his body, over one month passed. Ellen Borakove, spokesperson for the New York Medical Examiner's Office, said the examiner's office was not to blame for the month-long wait. "Nobody had notified the New York City Missing Persons Unit that [Norris] was missing from Connecticut," she explained.

Sergeant Andrew McGinnis of the NYPD public information division, however, said that one month is a short length of time for a missing persons' investigation. "This was a very good investigation, it was very well done," he stated. When asked if Yale police delayed the search efforts by not initially contacing the NYPD, McGinnis said that the YPD was right to take its time, because Norris did not live in New York, and because there was no obvious indication that the city was Norris' intended destination.

Finally, there is the question of why Yale had informed only members of Branford college of Norris' death over winter break. "We informed Branford students as members of the community that had been most closely affected by the incident," Brodhead said. Conroy said that all Yale students were not informed because there were no pressing concern for student safety following Norris' disappearance, compared to the case of former Davenport senior Suzanne Jovin. After Norris' disappearance, Yale police, who spearheaded the search efforts, believed that "there was no evidence to suspect the possibility of a crime, which proved to be correct," Conroy said.

According to Branford Master Steven Smith, the fact that students in his college had received the news over break had its benefits. "Getting the information [then] was a chance to absorb the blow, the shock," he said, though he acknowledged that there was a feeling of incompleteness in the community. "Students got the news away from Yale," Smith said. "It is harder to talk with parents who didn't know Greg. There is almost a sense that the mourning period had not been fulfilled."

Press reports following the disappearance stated that Norris suffered from depression and had left suicide notes for his family. On Tues., Jan. 11, Borakove confirmed the suspicions, stating, "Based on the evidence we had, our opinion for the cause of [Norris'] death was drowning and for the manner of [Norris'] death was suicide."

Smith said that Branford College held a meeting on Thurs., Jan. 13 for students to give their input on the memorial service to be held in Norris' honor on Sat., Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. in Battell Chapel. According to Smith, who has been in contact with Norris' parents, they are not angry and are more concerned with organizing plans for the memorial service. The college also plans to establish a fund in Norris' memory, and Smith said that Fusco, the maintenance company that oversees the Swing Space, has mentioned interest in contributing to such a fund.

When asked how Yale could have prevented Norris' death, Smith said, "Obviously, I wish things had been different—if he had been delayed when he left the hospital, who knows? There are too many separate things to go back to and second-guess."

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