Updated: Northwestern student missing since Saturday morning
Source: Facebook
Friends of Harsha Maddula say they last heard from the McCormick sophomore by phone around 12:30 a.m. Saturday after leaving an off-campus party. "We are trying to find him," University Police Cmdr. Darren Davis said.
Rafi Letzter/Daily senior staffer
A student peers behind a bush. University Police to check in bushes, Dumpsters and alleys for anything from a wallet to a discarded shirt.
Rafi Letzter/Daily senior staffer
Communication freshman Katherine Koller, Weinberg freshmen Margaret Kuo and Sarah Holmstrom (left to right) show Ihanthan Toodi and Sairavi Suribhotla the way to University Place where they planned to recruit passersby to find the missing student. Toodi and Suribhotla, who are not friends or family of Harsha Maddula, responded to a Facebook alert calling for volunteers to mobilize a search party on campus.
Rafi Letzter/Daily senior staffer
After volunteers gathered a crowd of searchers, a University Police officer walked with the group to University Place and gave instructions.
September 24, 2012
University Police are investigating the disappearance of a Northwestern student who has been missing since early Saturday morning.
Harsha Maddula was last seen around 12:30 a.m. leaving an off-campus party at 2013 Ridge Ave., according to an emergency alert sent Monday night to the NU community.
The McCormick sophomore is an 18-year-old Indian male. He is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds, according to the emergency alert. He was last seen wearing a gray long-sleeve sweater with white and black stitching, dark gray pants and brown shoes.
Cmdr. Darren Davis told The Daily earlier Monday that Maddula's friends first told UP at 6:45 p.m. Saturday they did not know where he was. The report was handled as “contacted but not seen” because Maddula spoke on the phone with a friend early Saturday morning but had not been seen since then.
The situation was upgraded to a missing person report at 5 p.m. Sunday.
“We are trying to find him,” Davis said. “We are canvassing the area, talking to people who might know his whereabouts and checking the vicinity on and off campus.”
There are no indications of foul play, Davis added.
The emergency alert came 50 hours after UP first heard of Maddula's situation.
NU spokesman Bob Rowley said Monday afternoon he had not heard of Maddula's disappearance and that UP decides whether or not to send missing student alerts based on the sensitivity and fluidity of each incident.
Friends from Maddula’s dorm said they last saw him while leaving the off-campus party.
“They realized that he wasn't with them while they were walking to another party,” said a friend of Maddula who was with him at the party. Maddula's friends did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation.
Maddula left the party with three or four people, according to multiple sources who saw his group leaving the house, which is located west of campus.
Several sources who said they spoke with Maddula at the party recalled him as coherent — not stumbling or visibly intoxicated — as he left.
Weinberg junior Moritz Gellner, who lives at the house where Maddula was last seen, sent a statement to The Daily after the emergency alert was sent out.
“Everybody in our house has been complying with the investigation and is trying to give as much information as possible regarding what we know about the student in question,” Gellner said. “His safety is paramount and it’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed and now we wish the police the best of luck in their search for the student.”
Originally from the small Long Island town of New Hyde Park, N.Y., Maddula lived with parents Prasad and Dhanalakshmi Maddula before coming to NU last year.
“I don’t know what to do,” Prasad Maddula told The Daily on Monday morning, shortly after UP first notified him and his wife of the disappearance. “I’m so scared and upset. There are no words that I can use to explain anything.”
After not hearing from Harsha since Friday, Prasad called a community assistant at PARC on Sunday night, but said the CA did not know anything about his son’s whereabouts.
Prasad then decided to fly to Chicago with his wife to deal with the situation directly, he told The Daily. Their flight landed Monday evening.
According to PARC residents, police visited the residential college multiple times Monday. Detectives also searched Maddula’s room, Davis confirmed.
“We are cooperating with the police to help with the ongoing investigation, and we are all thinking of Harsha and his family at this time,” PARC president Linzy Wagner said in a statement.
Weinberg sophomore John Kim, who lived in PARC last year and is good friends with Maddula, said the tight-knit residential community is overcome with concern.
"The atmosphere is pretty heavy,” Kim said. “Obviously all the sophomores are worried and the freshmen are freaking out."
The Evanston Police Department has been notified of the situation, said spokesman Cmdr. Jay Parrott. However, EPD is not handling the investigation because the missing person report was filed with UP.
The unfolding situation of a missing NU student is reminiscent of Trevor Boehm, who went missing Nov. 5, 2008. His body was found in Lake Michigan and identified 12 days later after an apparent suicide.
This story has been updated for clarity and to reflect new information about an NU emergency alert regarding Maddula's disappearance and new statements from Gellner and Wagner.
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Cann't believe it is taking this long to find Harsha. Hope University Police are doing their best in locating whereabouts of Harsha soon. Hope he is safe.
[Reply]
mb Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 12:56 pm
lets get out of the dorms and classrooms NU classmates, staff, and turn over every stone to help this family find their Love one! this could be anyone of us. I am so embarressed to watch our local news. i have seen more publication on the missing golf balls in Chicago than i have on this young man! this could be your child, brother, sister! Man i am embarresed to say that i have lived in Chicago and have loved this city my whole Life. We stink! NU why wasnt the first call taken seriously when this family called? when a student goes off to a University the family is intrusting you with their loved one; therefore if they call looking for him or her it is your Obligation to take it very seriously. you do not get to judge or wonder if the person is missing. this makes me sick, and i am praying for this family from a distance, and i hope you all are doing the same, because it is our social obligation to insure we are all SAFE! dont be nieve this could have been me or You!
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The last paragraph of this article is incredibly inappropriate for the present situation. Referencing the case of Trevor Boehm does nothing to foster hope and positive thoughts for Harsha. I would greatly appreciate if the editors removed this reference. All of my thoughts and wishes go out to Harsha, his family, and his friends as we all wait for good news.
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The first sentence is wrong. Currently it says "University Police is investigating", it should read: "University Police are investigating". Also, the bit about the missing student who's body was found sounds insensitive. That poor boy's parents. Way to be hopeful.
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Gramma dramma mama llama Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Since we're talking grammar here, I'm going to correct you on your correction. University Police is a collective pronoun, which makes it singular. Family, for instance, is also a singular pronoun. You wouldn't say, "My family are searching." But I agree with you, that last bit is inappropriate.
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Texan Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 6:49 pm
And it is not who's, but, whose.
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BabyFace Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
This kid is missing, guys. I do not think this is the time to be pretentious, grammar snobs.
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"The unfolding situation of a missing NU student is reminiscent of Trevor Boehm, who went missing Nov. 5, 2008. His body was found in Lake Michigan and identified 12 days later after an apparent suicide."
So unnecessary, and insensitive. Imagine if his close friends or family were to read this..."we don't know what happened, but he's probably dead like Trevor."
Poor journalism at its finest. Go U, NU.
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Why has it taken so long for authorities to take action!? This student, with a known medical condition, goes missing in the early hours of Saturday morning and the Evanston police do not even get involved until today!? What kind of police work is this? How is anyone supposed to feel safe in this community when law enforcement is clearly too lazy and incompetent to try and do their jobs!?
Even the description of the missing student given on the campus police website is inaccurate.
There is a big difference between what they posted and his actual physical description (he is 5' 4" tall and 135 lbs).
Why hasn't this case been more publicized!?
Why not make an attempt to triangulate his cell phone based on what towers it last pinged?
Law enforcement needs to step up and start working to find this student-not continue with the disorganized and shoddy "investigation" that started WAY too late.
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jenny Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
I'm sure the police are doing all they can and they probably have just the same ideas. Don't just get angry, pray or something for him to get back. You can't even be reported missing so early anyway.
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Sara Reply:
September 25th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
actually, that is incorrect jenny. missing persons reports can be filed 24 hours after the person of interest was last seen.
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I am praying for a happy ending to this horrible event. My heart goes out to his parents, family, and friends, and I hope that as a community, we come together to support them while they are on campus, and to help them in the search to the fullest extent possible.
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What does "contacted but not seen" mean? Did someone hear from him Saturday evening? Did they release any other information about that?
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What if it was a white female ?
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“Everybody in our house has been complying with the investigation and is trying to give as much information as possible regarding what we know about the student in question,” Gellner said. “His safety is paramount and it’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed and now we wish the police the best of luck in their search for the student.”
He was at your party. Don't you want to help find him? I am sure the family appreciates the "best of luck". I would think the entire student body would try to help out. The definition of empathy is to understand and share the feelings of another. Imagine if it was your brother or sister that was missing. I am appalled by the apparent lack of moral leadership at Northwestern.
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I feel terrible about this whole situation. I wish the police could elaborate more on the "contact" that they had with Harsha on Saturday evening at 6:45pm. That is more than 18 hours since he initially went missing!
@Sanjeev: I understand your sentiment about the residents of the party house, but I can assure you that a large part of Northwestern is part of the search group. There have been search parties formed by random students across campus and we value our moral leadership at Northwestern.
Wherever Harsha is, I hope he is safe and something deep inside me tells me that he is alive. My thoughts go out to his family, friends and anyone else who has been disturbed by this horrible state of affairs.
LET'S HOPE FOR HARSHA!
[Reply]
[...] since the initial report was filed with the university. To read more on this story, click here. Share This Post Tweet (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if [...]
Rider to the settlement between NU and the Sunshine family
RIDER TO THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND RELEASE
1. Joint Participation with Other College and University Leadership. The President of Northwestern, or his designee from Northwestern’s senior administrative staff, agrees to participate with leaders from other universities in attempting to address the problem of Binge Drinking on campuses, as well as other problems associated with excessive consumption of alcohol. Among other things, reasonable, good faith efforts will be made to seek agreement on codes of conduct and other programs that are effective so that the problem of Binge Drinking may be addressed jointly. The Sunshine Family has attended meetings with, read the writings of, and spoken to many persons who have studied the Binge Drinking problem, including the former Surgeon General of the United States who stated he believed that any solution to the Binge Drinking epidemic will need to be addressed jointly so that colleges and universities present a united front.
2. Implementation of and Support for the Red Watch Band Program. Northwestern has begun implementation of the Red Watch Band (“RWB”) program and shall make the Program available to its students and lend support to the Program starting in the Spring quarter of 2010. Training in the Red Watch Band program will include an emphasis on the importance of calling 9-1-1 in case of any emergency. At the end of the Spring 2011 quarter or later, Northwestern will evaluate in writing the effectiveness of the Red Watch Band program to determine future support and potential changes to the program. Northwestern will forward its evaluation of RWB to RWB and provide the same to Donald P. O’Connell as mediator who will apprise Clifford Law Offices of the finding.
3. Establishment and Funding of Academic Scholarship. Northwestern agrees to establish and fund a scholarship in Matthew Sunshine’s name in the School of Education and Social Policy. The scholarship in the amount of $5,000 will be awarded annually to an incoming freshman starting with the class entering Northwestern in the Fall of 2011. Northwestern shall fund the scholarship for four years for a total commitment under this paragraph of $20,000. After that, Northwestern shall extend the scholarship to the extent external funding is available on a yearly basis to sustain it. The criteria for the award of the scholarship will be determined by Northwestern, but recognize leadership and a commitment to public service. The selection of the recipients of the scholarship shall be at the sole discretion of Northwestern. Northwestern shall notify the Sunshine Family of the identity of each recipient of the scholarship.
4. Funding of Academic Research. Northwestern shall provide a total amount of at least $150,000 over three years starting, if practicable, in the Fall of 2010 (and if not so practicable as soon as is practicable thereafter) for academic research into Binge Drinking and related problems on college and university campuses. If the money is awarded to one or more Northwestern faculty members, it shall be used to support research, for example, as “seed money” for new studies and not to replace existing funding for such research. Northwestern has already identified the following area of study: evaluating the most effective means of adequately educating students about the deadly danger of binge drinking, including physician advice and other evidence-based outcomes research. Northwestern will also consider additional suggestions
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made by the Sunshine Family. Northwestern, prior to the first award of funding and yearly for three years thereafter, shall provide a written report to the Mediator, Donald P. O’Connell, on how it proposes to spend the money and the amount awarded. Thereafter, for the three year term, Northwestern shall provide an annual report to the Mediator on the amounts actually spent and the status of the research. The reports may be brief and are not expected to exceed a few pages and the Mediator shall provide copies and an oral report to the Sunshine Family’s counsel, Clifford Law Offices. The Sunshine Family requests that during this three year period, the awards made under this paragraph be named after Matthew Samuel Sunshine.
5. Best Practices Meeting. Northwestern agrees to provide a total amount of at least $50,000 to convene two conferences separated by about a year to address Binge Drinking and related problems on college and university campuses. The conferences will be designed whereby professors and guest lecturers representing multiple disciplines gather for a colloquium to discuss binge drinking and related problems on college and university campuses from a multi-disciplinary perspective, representing professionals from relevant fields such as medical, public health, legal, communications, behavioral science and journalism, and student leaders and parents. The first conference will be held as soon as practicable but no more than 18 months from the date of this Agreement. Northwestern shall use reasonable efforts to include recognized experts in the study of Binge Drinking among college and university students. Topics that may be addressed include, but are not limited to, “bullying behavior”, dealing with peer pressure, standards of behavior in general, and ways to encourage students to act responsibly and watch out for each other, especially when faced with Binge Drinking. Conference participants will be encouraged to publish their presentations and research. The second conference will include an evaluation of progress in addressing Binge Drinking and related problems, new research areas related to the problem and the effectiveness of programs at Northwestern and elsewhere in addressing the problem. Any such conferences shall be consistent with Northwestern’s standards and reputation in the academic community. Northwestern will inform the mediator, Donald P. O’Connell, regarding the progress of the conferences and he shall in turn, inform the Sunshine Family’s counsel, Clifford Law Offices, and provide recommendations and suggestions regarding presenters and topics based on his own views and those he may learn from the Sunshine Family’s counsel. Northwestern, in its discretion, may sponsor and plan additional conferences to address the topic of Binge Drinking on college and university campuses and related problems based on its assessment of the value of the two conferences called for under this paragraph and any additional information relevant to these issues. The Sunshine family requests that the conferences called for under this paragraph be named in honor of Matthew Samuel Sunshine. The Sunshine Family has informed Northwestern that it does not consider conferences that address alcohol and substance abuse in general to address the Binge Drinking issue on university and college campuses, which the Sunshine Family believes does not involve physical or psychological substance abuse dependency but which involves a social culture and standards of behavior.
In the event that Northwestern, after further study believes that one or both of the aforesaid mandatory conferences will be repetitious of existing efforts, or will not attract sufficient participation to meet Northwestern’s standards and reputation in the academic community, Northwestern shall offer the funds to SUNY Stony Brook which has expressed an interest in conducting such conferences. Upon any determination to make the aforesaid offer, Northwestern will inform the Sunshine Family's counsel, Clifford Law Offices, of the
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determination. If SUNY Stony Brook declines the offer, Northwestern shall expend the funds for other efforts chosen by Northwestern to increase awareness of the issues of Binge Drinking and related problems including support to SUNY Stony Brook for the Red Watch Band Program. If Northwestern determines in good faith that this is the best use of the funding that would otherwise be spent for the mandatory conferences, it shall report the same to the mediator, Donald P. O’Connell, who may evaluate whether the determination was in good faith and whether the proposed alternative use of the funds meets the intent of this agreement. If this paragraph applies, then Northwestern shall pay the costs of the mediator for making these determinations.
6. Review of the Responsible Action Protocol. Northwestern currently has in place the Responsible Action Protocol for addressing, among other things, alcohol and other drug related incidents. Northwestern agrees to evaluate the effectiveness of the Protocol no later than the Summer of 2010. The Sunshine Family requests that any such evaluation pay special attention to the provisions of the Protocol concerning a student’s obligation to call for emergency help for a fellow student who may require such help and that alcohol intoxication to the point of stupor be defined as an emergency. The Sunshine Family believes that the obligation to call for help should be a duty not an “expectation” and the failure to call for help should be an independent basis for disciplinary action, not just an aggravating factor if the student already is subject to discipline, as is currently the case. The Sunshine Family believes that if such an obligation had existed in June 2008 their son would be alive since they believe that numerous Northwestern students not involved in the drinking observed their son’s condition yet failed to call for help.
7. Support and Promotion of Alcohol and Other Substance Free Housing. Northwestern agrees to continue to support and publicize the availability of alcohol- free and other substance-free housing options for students of Northwestern.
8. Support and Promotion of Evening Hour Activities. Northwestern agrees to commit resources and funds, as Northwestern deems appropriate, to support evening hour alcohol-free and drug-free activities for students, with particular focus on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
9. Illinois Law and Campus Rules. Northwestern will reinforce its commitment to enforcing Illinois Law and campus rules relating to alcohol and other drug distribution and use.
10. Enhanced Website. Northwestern shall support an enhanced website accessible through Northwestern’s primary website (www.northwestern.edu), focused on resources and educational material available at Northwestern for alcohol and other substance abuse problems (including Binge Drinking), e.g., contact information for counseling, the alcohol and other drug coordinator, and referencing the Responsible Action Protocol. The website shall prominently display the contact information for the physician on emergency call and shall encourage students to call such physician whenever they have doubt regarding whether another student needs emergency medical care, particularly at times when other University resources, such as Student Health, are not open.
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Northwestern reaches $2 million settlement with Sunshine family
As part of agreement, the administration agrees to review and revise parts of its alcohol policy
By Brian Rosenthal
Published: Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, September 21, 2010
sunshine
No closure: Jeffrey Sunshine, father of Matthew, said that the settlement he signed with Northwestern will never heal the pain of his loss.
Sunshine Lead Image
Vigil: More than 60 students attended a candlelight vigil eight days after Matthew Sunshine died. (Daily File Photo)
Two years after Matthew Sunshine died of alcohol poisoning in his Northwestern dorm room, University administrators have agreed to a legal settlement with his family, according to court documents provided exclusively to The Daily Northwestern.
The settlement, which does not constitute any admission of wrongdoing, grants $2 million to the family of the 19-year-old SESP freshman who died in June 2008. But the agreement also includes 10 non-economic terms which could drastically change NU's alcohol policy in the years to come.
Those provisions, laid out in a rider to the settlement agreement, call for NU to renew its commitment to existing campus alcohol rules and review its policy regarding students who call for medical help in alcohol emergencies. Among other terms, the university would also increase funding for academic research on binge drinking and host conferences with leaders from other universities in order to form a unified effort to fight excessive drinking by college students.
(Read the entire rider here).
"Hopefully it'll be a start," said Sunshine's father, Jeffrey, "a start of some sort of change in attitude on college campuses so that what happened to our son never happens again or is so infrequent that it almost never happens again."
During an hour-long interview in a downtown Chicago office building, the 58-year-old Jeffrey Sunshine carefully explained each piece of the settlement, occasionally veering into impassioned asides on the latest statistics about the dangers of drinking (1,825 college students die each year in alcohol-related incidents and another 599,000 are injured, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism).
He called University President Morton O. Schapiro "courageous" for agreeing to the "unprecedented" non-economic part of the settlement and said he hopes it will affect change at universities across the country.
He added that because NU students are the primary beneficiaries of the agreement, they have a legal right to demand that it is followed. Associated Student Government President Claire Lew, the student body's official representative, said she intends to work with the administration to do just that.
"I definitely feel that it's my obligation on behalf of the students to make sure these things are carried out," the SESP senior said.
University spokesman Al Cubbage released a seven-sentence statement about the settlement and declined further comment.
"As it has on previous occasions, the University extends its sympathies to the family and friends of Matthew Sunshine," Cubbage said in the statement. "Through its ongoing efforts, including those contained in the agreement with the Sunshine family, Northwestern will continue to work to prevent similar tragedies in the future."
Cubbage stressed that NU has "for years" employed programs to address alcohol and drug abuse. He said that the University has already started implementing some of the terms of the settlement, but he declined to mention specifics.
The statement represented the administration's first on-the-record comments about the death since the day after it happened, when Bill Banis, vice president for student affairs, blasted the death as "a tragic example of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption."
That "tragic example" started with a drinking game in Foster House on the night of June 9.
According to police reports and interviews with witnesses, Sunshine apparently drank 17 shots of vodka before being helped to his room. When another student discovered his unresponsive body the next morning, Sunshine had a blood alcohol level of 0.396.
The death came less than six years after Music junior Joseph Doyle died of alcohol and cocaine intoxication in the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house.
When Schapiro and Jeffrey Sunshine signed the settlement in May, after more than a year of negotiations and almost exactly two years after Sunshine's death, they each pledged allegiance to the same goal: never again.
Positive steps
But how effective are the changes prescribed in the settlement, and will they be successful in slowing binge drinking at NU?
Several alcohol policy experts, after being told the specific provisions of the agreement, praised the measures as positive steps toward addressing a complex problem that will require a mix of solutions.
Dr. Steven Galson, a former acting U.S. surgeon general, called each of the components of the settlement "very, very strong."
The key, Galson argued, is that administrators at various universities need to meet together, acknowledge that excessive drinking is a serious problem and commit to take concrete steps to address it.
Jeffrey Sunshine called the collaboration clause the most important aspect of the agreement because "no school will be able to do this alone."
But John Knight, director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Children's Hospital Boston, said discussion between universities will have a limited impact.
"I think the colleges already pretty much know how they can limit underage drinking, and a lot of them have it in their policies," Knight said. "They just have to enforce it."
In Knight's latest study, released last month, he and his colleagues reviewed alcohol policies at 11 Massachusetts colleges and found that enforcement is an important element in fighting binge drinking. Most experts agree.
But while the settlement asks NU to "reinforce its commitment to enforcing Illinois Law and campus rules," it's unclear what impact the language will have.
Most of the other terms of the agreement are supported by experts, including requesting NU to provide at least $150,000 over three years for academic research into binge drinking at college campuses, to establish an educational website about the dangers of alcohol and to continue to support alcohol-free housing and alcohol-free evening activities.
The settlement also asks NU to establish an annual $5,000 scholarship for an incoming SESP freshman in Matthew Sunshine's name,and to support the Red Watch Band program, a national initiative launched in response to Sunshine's death that trains students in how to deal with alcohol emergencies.
‘Expectation' vs. ‘duty'
But the most contentious part of the settlement is sure to be the provision that calls for NU to review its Responsible Action Protocol.
The policy, implemented last fall, says that students are "generally expected" to call for medical help in alcohol emergencies and that the University "will consider the positive impact of taking responsible action" in those situations.
NU students have for years requested an amnesty policy which removes any possibility of consequences for students that call for help, even if they themselves were drinking underage or had provided alcohol to underage students. The truth is that, in the Responsible Action Protocol, they basically have just such a policy.
"This amnesty that everybody talks about — it's semantics," Dean of Students Burgwell Howard said. "If you do the right thing by taking care of members of our community, the consequences for you are going to be almost nil."
Administrators are reluctant to move to a full amnesty policy because empirical research supporting such a policy is scant and consequences are necessary for some repeat offenders, Howard explained.
The Sunshine family strongly opposes amnesty. Instead, the settlement advocates tweaking the Responsible Action Protocol in a different direction — changing the language from students being "expected" to call for help to them being "obligated" to do so. That is, making not calling for help a reason in and of itself for punishment.
Jeffrey Sunshine believes that if students had a "duty" to call for medical help, his son would be alive.
"I think it is really important. It's moral. It's right. It shouldn't be an expectation. It should be a requirement," he said. "You see a kid passed out and you don't call for help, you should be tossed the hell out of this school."
But Toben Nelson, an assistant professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, said such a policy would have little impact because it means "relying on people who are intoxicated to make good decisions." Other experts said there is not yet empirical evidence to prove whether the policy would be effective.
The review of the Responsible Action Protocol will be completed by the end of the month, Howard said.
Long road to settlement
Many of the settlement's provisions will not be implemented by the end of this month, or even the end of this year. Most deliberately extend over several years, seemingly as a way to keep Sunshine's memory alive.
The agreement itself was the product of a long negotiation prompted by a long investigation, initiated by the Sunshine family just days after the death.
By the end of the summer of 2008, the family had retained the Chicago powerhouse firm Clifford Law Offices. According to its website, the group won more than $121 million in settlements in 2008, the most of any firm in Illinois.
The two partners representing the Sunshine family did not return repeated requests for comment.
Jeffrey Sunshine readily admitted that in the days after the death, he "wanted to take (NU) for every penny" he could. It was his wife, Stony Brook University professor Suzanne Fields, who had the vision to use the settlement as a means of changing NU's alcohol policy.
The negotiations, launched in the beginning of 2009, focused on the non-economic portions of the settlement, said Jeffrey Sunshine, who refused to comment on the monetary aspect of the agreement except to say that most of the money will be given to charity.
As the talks progressed slowly through the winter and spring, Evanston police arrested two former NU students in connection to the death. Alexander Krzyston and Rohith Banerjee were each charged with providing alcohol to a minor, a felony charge when it results in death.
Prosecutors later dropped the charges against Banerjee in exchange for his testimony against Krzyston, who eventually pleaded guilty to reduced charges in an emotional hearing attended by Sunshine's parents.
Meanwhile, settlement negotiations picked up dramatically when Schapiro took over for retiring president Henry Bienen in the fall of 2009, Jeffrey Sunshine said.
"No progress was made until Schapiro arrived," said the father, who enthusiastically praised the new president but declined to comment on Bienen.
The final agreement reflected almost all of the initial requests of the family, Jeffrey Sunshine said, adding that he believes the family could have gotten much more money if it wanted.
While it's difficult to determine how large a verdict a jury would have delivered, the $2 million settlement is far from the largest in recent NU history. In March 2006, the administration gave $16 million to the family of 22-year-old Rashidi Wheeler, who died on the football practice field in August 2001.
Jeffrey Sunshine said to him, the policy changes in the agreement are far more important than any money gained.
But he added that even knowledge that his son's death may lead to life-saving policies could not reduce the pain or bring any closure to the ordeal.
"It never closes," the father said. "It's not how it's supposed to happen. Nineteen-year-old boys aren't supposed to be dead. Our family's supposed to have four members, not three. His sister is supposed to have a sibling when she grows old, not be an only child."
b-rosenthal@northwestern.edu
This article was sent as a breaking news alert. To be the first to know about what's happening on campus, sign up to receive breaking news alerts here.
Related Articles
Read the rider to the Sunshine/Northwestern settlement
[Reply]
Anon Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 1:16 am
"Several sources who said they spoke with Maddula at the party recalled him as coherent — not stumbling or visibly intoxicated — as he left."
Please don't try to politicize this terrible situation as any sort of failure of NU alcohol policy. Let's focus on getting Harsha found.
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Trans parent Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 10:08 am
I am not trying to politicize anything. It appears that Northwestern University has not met their legal and moral obligations. Let's all work together to prevent future tragedies. I love Northwestern and pray that Harsha is safe.
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Please update Harsha's height and weight to 5'8 and 149 pounds. This is the information posted on the flyers throughout Evanston.
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@Trans Parent, do not assume that this young man was binge drinking. He is a type 1 diabetic and could have become confused or passed out from an insulin reaction.
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Trans parent Reply:
September 26th, 2012 at 9:13 am
An assumption was never made.
[Reply]
[...] Click for more from The Daily Northwestern [...]
Wow, that last paragraph is the most inappropriate thing you could have possibly ended this article with. It is offensive, insensitive, and terrifying. But that's the Daily for you. You need to revise this article immediately and omit that closing paragraph, out of respect for Harsha, his family, and the student body at Northwestern.
[Reply]
http://northbynorthwestern.com/story/harsha-maddula-timeline/
Tracing Harsha Maddula's whereabouts
By Alex Nitkin, Dawnthea Price
11:15 p.m. Sept. 25 2012
View Harsha Maddula Timeline in a larger map. Production by Katherine Mirani / North by Northwestern.
The Daily Northwestern reported yesterday that no one has seen McCormick sophomore Harsha Maddula since Saturday, Sept. 22, when he was leaving an off-campus party with a group of friends. North by Northwestern has compiled a list of the the events surrounding Maddula's disappearance. All times listed are approximated based on interviews with Maddula's friends and reports by the Daily, the Chicago Tribune and the Northwestern News Center.
September 21
10:36 p.m.: Maddula leaves Public Affairs Residential College with a small group of students.
11:00 p.m.: Maddula and the group arrive at 2013 Ridge Ave., the site of an off-campus party.
11:15 p.m.: Maddula and the group leave 2013 Ridge Ave.
Between 11:15 and 12:10: The group arrives at an off-campus party on Hamlin Street, where they realize Maddula is missing.
September 22
12:10 a.m.: Maddula calls Weinberg sophomore John Kim, a friend of his, to ask where he is. Kim says he is at 2013 Ridge Ave, at the party where Maddula had been.
12:30 a.m.: Weinberg sophomore Linzy Wagner, who had been with Maddula that evening, calls Maddula and asks where he is. He tells her he is on the second floor of PARC. However, according to a later University statement, closed circuit TV tapes and electronic key data indicate that he was not at or around PARC at this time.
11:00 a.m.: Maddula does not appear at a PARC tailgate, despite having committed to participate.
12:30 p.m.: Wagner contacts PARC Community Assistant Cameron Songer to check on Maddula.
5:30 p.m.: Songer enters Maddula's room, then informs SHARC Area Coordinator Keenan Colquitt that he is missing. Colquitt contacts NUPD.
6:45 p.m.: Maddula is "contacted but not seen" according to a Daily interview with NUPD Cmdr. Darren Davis.
September 23
Prasad Maddula, Harsha's father, contacts a PARC Community Assistant about his son's whereabouts.
September 24
8:38 p.m.: First emergency notification is sent to Northwestern email accounts.
Prasad and Dhanalakshmi Maddula, Harsha's mother, arrive in Chicago.
September 25
2:00 p.m.: First volunteer search party assembles.
2:15 p.m.: Northwestern spokesman Al Cubbage holds a press conference wher he announces the involvement of local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI, the Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center, the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and the Evanston Police Department.
From the University's breaking news center:
"Maddula is described as a male of Indian descent, 18 years old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, approximately 150 pounds, with black hair, dark brown eyes and wearing black-framed glasses. He was last seen wearing a grey long sleeve sweater with white and black stitching. He was also wearing dark grey pants and brown shoes."
More to come.
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i think his friends probably did something since they were with him while they were going 2 the 2nd party. Its stupid, no one's gonna come n try 2 kidnap a kid when his friends r with them and seriously anyone can notice it if one person is being abducted or w.e
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Did anyone else feel like the statement from Gellner was bizarre?
“Everybody in our house has been complying with the investigation and is trying to give as much information as possible regarding what we know about the student in question,” Gellner said. “His safety is paramount and it’s the most important thing that needs to be addressed and now we wish the police the best of luck in their search for the student.”
Obviously this group of kids is going to be in trouble, they threw a party where underage drinking happened and may now face further problems if something happened to him.
But in any case the lack of emotion in this statement is a bit off-putting. it sounds like when girl scouts come to your house and you say 'sorry, not this time, good luck though!' and then close the door quickly
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My thoughts and prayers go out to the Maddula family. It is so very difficult to imagine what they are going through right now, but we can certainly try with all our hearts.
For that reason, it is easy to draw a parallel between Harsha's death and Trevor's death. But everyone--as journalists, as peers, as people-- need to be careful of how we phrase this. When something looks a certain way, it's easy to jump to conclusions. But let's let the police continue their investigation before we rule it a suicide.
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