Suicide at Clemson

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Suicide is a touchy subject but one that has affected the university over the years. Students have occasionally taken their own lives for whatever reason with the university customarily dealing with the crisis in the most private manner possible. One incident that became public took place on October 16, 1977 when a student jumped from a third floor balcony of Martin Hall between M and O sections and was discovered at dawn the following morning. The Tiger reported that a senior living in Johnstone Hall died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on October 5, 1970. In the lurid student assault case of September 14, 1977, one of the assailants attempted suicide before his arrest. Music professor Dr. Hugh H. McGarity took his own life. A lovely lady who once answered phones at the student locater office on level seven above the Loggia took her own life in the early 1980s, and former Coach Charlie Pell attempted suicide on February 2, 1994, but was saved by circumstance. He later died May 29, 2001 after fighting lung cancer and depression.