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Brandeis University's Community Newspaper — Waltham, Mass.

Third student death of the year at MIT

Published: March 2, 2012
Section: News


A 21-year-old MIT student was found dead in his dorm room last Monday, according to university officials. Brian G. Anderson, a Minnesota native, was a management student and member of several organizations including the wrestling team and the recently banned fraternity Beta Theta Pi, according to The Tech, MIT’s student newspaper.

Information on the cause of death is still unknown. Cambridge and MIT police have said that there was no foul play connected to the death. Chancellor Eric Grimson wrote a letter to students on Feb. 20 telling them not to speculate about the cause of death and added “there is no strong indication that Brian’s death was the result of suicide.”

MIT has already faced the deaths of two other students this year, both of which were ruled suicides. Satto Tonegawa, a first-year from Chestnut Hill, Mass., was found dead in his MacGregor House dorm on Oct. 25, 2010, from asphyxiation.

In a memorial article from the MIT news office, Tonegawa was described as an intelligent scientist, a skillful musician and quite humorous. He was also the son of an MIT professor.

Similarly, Nicolas Del Castillo, a sophomore from Bogotá, Colombia, was found dead in his East Campus dorm room early in September. Castillo was an aspiring math major and masterful at karate. The loss of Castillo and Tonegawa both came as painful shocks to the MIT community.

The cause of Brian Anderson’s death will remain unknown to the MIT community and his family members until the Massachusetts State Medical Examiner’s Office releases the autopsy reports within the next week.

MIT will hold a memorial service in honor of Brian Anderson on Saturday, March 17, at 2 p.m. in the MIT Chapel, with a reception following.