Ten-year anniversary of death on campus

FILIPPOS MOURIKIS
STAFF WRITER

JORDAN FOX
COPY EDITOR

11/25/2024

2024 marks the ten-year anniversary of the tragic death of 18-year-old Alma College student Sean Murawske. Murawske was a freshman at Alma when he disappeared on Jan. 12 2014. His body was found two days later in nearby field.

He cause of death was hypothermia, and he was found without a jacket and a blood-alcohol level of .115 which is almost one and a half times the legal limit. Murawske was said to have been at a party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity which is no longer active at the college.

Murawske went to high school in Harbor Beach and came to Alma College with aspirations for a career in education or law enforcement. His brothers, Jacob and Daniel, also attended college with him. Murawske served as a lab assistant for Murray Borrello, Instructor of Geology and Environmental Studies at Alma.

“Everyone on campus was impacted by the tragedy, as we hoped against hope and then as we mourned his passing,” said Jeff Abernathy, President Emeritus of Alma College.

As unexpected as tragedies like this one can be, it is important to recognize the dangers of consuming alcohol, underage or not, so deaths like Murawske’s are prevented.

While colleges have alcohol policies in place to avoid incidents, they cannot guarantee that they will be prevented. However, it is important that insitutions still continue to review their rules and educate their students.

“We implemented several changes that were aimed at ensuring all students’ safety at that time,” said Jeff Abernathy. 

Overall, the problems of college students getting affected by alcohol abuse are plenty and keep happening in the current days at a remarkably high rate. For example, the most recent findings of the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism “estimate that about 1,519 college students ages 18 to 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.” 

This goes to show that there is still work to me done. Colleges and universities must educate their students on the danger of alcohol and students must look out for each other in scenarios where drinking is involved.

“I know that when my friends go out for a party or overall are not feeling well I make sure that they have the basic needs on them like their phone [and] student ID and I would make sure that they make it back home safe or for example if they are going through a hard time with anxiety I make sure that they have a friend in me to feel safe,” said Tatenda Tyler Mukudu (26’). 

Additionally, the college has its own resources in case anyone is ever experiencing the harmful results of alcohol abuse. For emergencies, they recommend contacting MyMichigan Medical Center Gratiot at (989) 463-1101 and Wilcox Medical Center at (989) 463-7181 for non-emergencies.

The college’s alcohol policy can be found on page four of the Student Handbook. The policy is set in accordance with Michigan laws on alcohol and expanded upon for the college specifically.