Student found dead in Everglades Hall

FIUSM Staff

Alexander Ghiz was found dead in his Everglades Hall dorm Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016.

Although the Miami-Dade Police Department is conducting a full investigation into the death, there was no evidence of foul play, according to an email sent to Student Media by University External Relations.

According to a news release received from MDPD, University officers and Miami Dade Fire Rescue were dispatched to check on the welfare of Ghiz. The 20 year old was pronounced dead just after 11 a.m., Thursday morning.

Ghiz was a University employee, who worked in the Wellness and Recreation Center at MMC.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of a student who was found deceased in his room in one of the Modesto A. Maidique Campus residence halls,” read the email from External Relations.

A police officer in the residence hall did not comment, other than to say External Relations would be sending out information at a later time. Student Media has reached out to receive the public record report of the incident.

Students in the dorm were unaware of what happened, and relied on information from friends.

“In the morning I saw some cops here, but I wasn’t sure what had happened,” said Daksh Verma, an Everglades Hall resident. “I saw one of my friends and he told me a guy had died over here, but he wasn’t sure how. That’s all I know.”

According to Everglades Hall resident and former FIUSM writer Santiago Archieri, the police arrived at the scene around noon.

“It was just a bundle of questions the entire day. It was a bunch of cops, and we didn’t know much of what was going on. It was well over 10 cop cars outside of Everglades the entire day mostly,” Archieri said. “We saw news media here but we didn’t know what was going until recently we got an email saying a student had died but that was all that we found out.”

Director of Residential Life, Lynn Hendricks, sent an email to housing students at 5:38 p.m., informing students of the death. The email also included information on the support available to students and faculty by the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services Department.

“At first, I felt unsafe because no one knew what was going on. The cops had been there since [that morning] and hours later we finally got an update about what happened,” Sha’Caleigh Corbin, a sophomore studying business and resident at Everglades Hall told FIU Student Media.

“Even though most of us didn’t know him that well, you can feel the quiet eeriness from the residents in Everglades,” Corbin said.

Hendricks said this is the first death of a student in housing in 18 years. In the ‘90s, a student died in University Apartments.

“The University has a coordinated effort to provide support to students, staff, faculty and the student’s family,” Hendricks told Student Media in an email. “We all work together;  as you can imagine, many different offices and staff are involved to provide optimal support [such as]  Residential Life, Campus Police, Counseling and Psychological Services, Housing, [the] Dean of Students office, Vice President of Student Affairs, and External Relations.”

Cathy Akens, dean of students, told Student Media in an email that Student Affairs deals with student deaths by supporting other students while the Dean of Students Office takes the lead in communicating with the family of the deceased student .

“This often means talking with roommates, friends, and others who are impacted by the loss,” Akens said. “In a case involving a housing resident, it is our resident assistants and other members of the Residential Life team who makes sure they are visible and talking with residents.”

Reporting by Editor in Chief Cayla Bush, Asst. Sports Director Peter Holland, News Director Nicole Stone, and staff writer Erica Santiago.