The rate of suicide among people between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four has tripled in the last half century, (1) rising to a level some experts deem "epidemic." (2) Suicide is the second leading cause of death among this age group, (3) yet the occurrence of suicide among college students is one half that of their peers not enrolled at an institute of higher education. (4) Suicide is closely related to accidental and self-inflicted injuries and homicide, other leading causes of death of college students. (5) One higher education scholar, Peter F. Lake, calls suicide "[t]he most significant and salient phenomenon of the current wellness crisis on campus[es]" and "the tip of an iceberg in a sea of wellness issues that includes depression, cutting, eating disorders, and social dysfunctions." (6) Research indicates that the occurrence of suicide and mental illnesses among college students is on the rise. (7) This Note addresses the legal and societal changes influencing university policies and court rulings regarding college administrators' duties, if any, toward suicidal students residing on-campus. Part I addresses how society's changing views toward suicide have impacted the university's relational stance to students at risk of committing suicide. Part II illustrates how courts are currently more willing to stray from the typical common law "no duty" rule to impose a duty on colleges to prevent the suicides of their students through a finding of a "special relationship." Part II also shows that this change is not occurring across the board, nor is it likely to become a permanent addition to higher education law. Part III demonstrates the differences between the duty to prevent suicide and the lesser and often more easily executed duty to notify others who may prevent it. Part IV shows the trend for colleges, fearing liability, to take an extreme "hands-off" approach toward students exhibiting signs of depression or attempting suicide, even to the point of expelling them from their dormitories or from campus. Part V discusses possible university policy solutions for suicide prevention and notification and commends the successful Joffe Model at the University of Illinois.
