Second Homicide in Four Months Grips Gallaudet
Related Links

GLAA Testifies on Office of Human Rights 02/28/01

Gallaudet Suspect Arrested
Freshman Held in 2 Slayings; Robbery Alleged
(The Washington Post) 02/14/01

The Best Defense Against Fear? Gallaudet's Got It (Marc Fisher, The Washington Post) 02/06/01

Student Fought Attacker
Gallaudet Youth's Killer May Be Injured, Sources Say
(The Washington Post) 02/06/01

GLAA contributes 2 TTY machines to Police Department for deaf access 10/06/00

HRC hosts summit to address fears of Gallaudet gay student leaders 10/06/00

Mayor Williams Announces Anti-Discrimination Executive Order 10/03/00

Text of executive order on non-discrimination 08/21/00

GLAA on Civil Rights

GLAA on Education and Youth

Second Homicide in Four Months Grips Gallaudet

By Manny Fernandez
Washington Post Staff Writer
The Washington Post
Monday, February 5, 2001

Light snow and rain fell on Gallaudet University today, wrapping the campus in a grayness that matched the mood of the students and faculty as they struggled to deal with a second homicide in one of the dormitories in four months.

Students returned to class today, but attention was still focused on freshman Benjamin Varner, who was found dead in his Cogswell Hall dormitory on Saturday. As students walked around campus, television trucks took spots in the faculty parking lot and the police presence once again was unmistakeable.

University administrators assured students that the campus was safe. Additional security procedures – including establishing identification card and license plate checkpoints for everyone entering and exiting the university and beefed up security patrols around the campus – were put in place to allay fears of the school's 2000 students and their parents.

Still, administrators announced today that they will close Cogswell Hall for the rest of the semester because of students' concerns about safety. Students from the dorm had already been moved to other facilities while the police investigation continues.

The school provost, Jane K. Fernandes, also asked faculty today to help counsel students and also be flexible in demands for student homework and test schedules. "While, we expect classes to proceed normally," she said in a memorandum posted on the university’s Web site, "we request that there be no penalty for late homework this week, and that tests be postponed to the end of this week or to next week."

Benjamin Varner’s father, Willie, and sister held an emotional press conference this afternoon. They said funeral services will be in San Antonio on Thursday.

Officials said yesterday that Varner had been stabbed. Investigators found bloody clothing and a knife in a trash bin behind the dormitory and were trying to determine whether the clothing belonged to the killer and whether the knife was used in the slaying, police said last night. They added that the killer may have exited the dormitory through the basement.

The FBI was brought in to examine the pattern of blood spatters at the scene. After interviewing more than 100 people, police said they had no suspect and knew of no motive, and they released few details. They declined to say whether Varner's door had been locked or whether anything might be missing from his dorm room.

Cogswell Hall houses about 150 male and female freshmen, who had been alerted early Saturday to a fire alarm. A resident assistant checking rooms after students were evacuated found Varner's body, police said.

It was unclear who pulled the alarm or why, police said, though students reported that false fire alarms were common at the dorm.

Fernandes is holding daily meetings with faculty and students at noon to update them about the investigation. Today's session, which was closed to the news media, was held in the school's auditorium. The school's mental health center is providing counseling services for as long as they are needed, and campus ministers are also available to help students deal with their grief.

Since Saturday, the university has received about 15 e-mails from parents of students from across the country. In most of the e-mails parents express concern and ask questions about the security at the dorms and around the campus. Other parents have said the university is in their prayers. So far today, the university got about a dozen calls from parents.

News media access to the campus has been more restricted than it was four months ago when student Eric F. Plunkett, 19, was found beaten in his dorm room. Plunkett's room was three floors below where Varner, also 19, was found. But police have not linked the two cases.

University officials said that students told them that the media attention that came with the Plunkett killing made many of them uncomfortable.

University spokeswoman Mercy Coogan said that the university wants to "provide some insolation from the glare of the media" for students.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company