It wasn't until a television news crew arrived on campus that a Kennesaw State University student says she had any clue a classmate had died four days earlier.
Morgan Prime, a junior economics major, sent the AJC a message Monday on Twitter asking why she saw the Channel 2 Action News truck. The answer shocked her, Prime told the AJC Tuesday.
Last Thursday, Tyler Davis, a third-year student from Marietta, died after eating in the campus dining hall and apparently suffering an allergic reaction. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting further testing to determine the cause of death, a spokesman told the AJC.
But Prime, who lives on campus, said she and her friends were unaware and didn't receive any communication from the university regarding the tragedy, but instead learned what happened from media reports.
"I still don't really know what happened," Prime said Tuesday afternoon. "It makes me think they're hiding something. That can be pretty dangerous because someone else could have an allergy."
When tragedies occur, school leaders must determine on a case-by-case basis whether or not to alert the campus, Arlethia Perry-Johnson, university spokeswoman told the AJC.
"The decision was made that this was not an appropriate situation for emergency alert notification system to be employed," Perry-Johnson said. "It was a very tragic situation, but we felt it was a situation that was indigenous to that individual."
The AJC contacted the KSU University Relations office at 11 a.m. Monday for information regarding Davis. Four hours later, the university released a statement. Perry-Johnson said university officials continued to gather facts about the incident throughout the day Monday.
"Davis ate at The Commons – Student Culinary Center on Thursday afternoon, and subsequently departed the facility," the statement said. "The student later returned to The Commons in distress, and sought assistance in summoning emergency personnel."
A campus-wide email was sent around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, about five days after Davis died.
"We extend our sincere condolences to Tyler's family and friends during this difficult time," Jerome Ratchford, vice president for student success, said via email.
Davis, a 2009 graduate of Sprayberry High School, was pronounced dead after being transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital. Susan Clark, Davis' aunt, told the AJC the university has not contacted the family regarding the incident.
Davis was allergic to milk, Nora Donnelly, a friend and classmate told the AJC. Davis and Donnelly attended school together from elementary to college, Donnelly said.
"The frustrating thing is that it could've been prevented," Donnelly said.
KSU freshman Jeremiah Towe told the AJC that others on campus with food allergies need to know what happened so that a similar incident can be avoided in the future. Towe has celiac disease, an auto-immune condition that means his body cannot tolerate gluten.
"I have a food allergy and I know how tough it is," Towe said. "I wonder what kind of actions KSU is taking to prevent something like this from happening again. I've eaten at the Commons, and I know if I had a similar allergy, I would want to know."
Prime said the university should have let students know what happened before having to hear about it from local media.
"If they couldn’t prevent it, I’d rather them immediately send an email," Prime said. "They had to know that was going on. I’m just really upset at how the university handled it.”
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