Northwestern on Wednesday morning identified a man who jumped to his death in downtown Evanston as a former student.
Caleb Dayton, 22, completed classes in the School of Continuing Studies during Winter and Spring quarters last academic year, University spokesman Al Cubbage said. However, Dayton was not enrolled this fall at NU.
A Minneapolis native, Dayton hailed from what the Star-Tribune once called “one of Minnesota’s best-known families.” He was the grandson of the late Douglas Dayton, one of the founders of Target. Caleb Dayton was also related to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton.
Caleb Dayton jumped off the top of the Sherman Plaza parking garage shortly before 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, Evanston Police Cmdr. Jay Parrott said. The 12-story garage is in the 800 block of Davis Street.
Caleb Dayton, of the 600 block of Sheridan Road, was taken to Evanston Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:55 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The medical examiner’s office ruled his death a suicide Wednesday afternoon, saying he died from multiple injuries due to a fall from height.
The University extended its condolences to the family and friends of Caleb Dayton and Alexis Lasker, a former student who committed suicide Saturday in Chicago.
“Although neither of them was currently enrolled at Northwestern, their absence will be felt and they will be remembered by their friends, fellow students and the Northwestern community,” Cubbage said in a statement.
Associated Student Government president Ani Ajith and executive vice president Alex Van Atta on Thursday called the deaths “painful, sorrowful and shocking.”
“These tragedies also remind us of the urgency of our efforts to ensure each and every Northwestern community member is safe, supported, and comfortable,” Ajith and Van Atta said in a statement.
Eliza Carandang, president of the SCS Student Advisory Board, said Wednesday night she did not know Caleb Dayton.
“However, we at SCS are a family and it is very sad to lose any of our members,” Carandang wrote in email to The Daily. “Such a young life lost is very difficult. We the students send our deepest condolences to his immediate family.”
Before coming to Evanston, Caleb Dayton attended the University of Minnesota for a semester. He was enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts during the fall of 2010, Minnesota spokesman Steve Henneberry said.
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