Kenyon College Mourns Caleb Gottinger

GAMBIER, Ohio, February 17. THE Kenyon community is grieving for Caleb Gottinger, a first-year student from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who suffered a fatal injury after an accidental fall on the morning of Saturday, February 17, in Lewis Hall, his campus residence.

At present, Caleb is being kept on life support to preserve his organs until his five siblings can arrive to say their farewells. The Gottinger family has decided to donate his organs for the life and welfare of others.

"This sudden loss is a devastating one for the Kenyon family," said President S. Georgia Nugent, who explained that Caleb suffered a massive subdural hemorrhage. There was no evidence of foul play or of drug or alcohol involvement.

A member of the swim team who had just turned 19, Caleb had arisen early and was in a Lewis Hall bathroom at around 6:15 a.m. when he apparently fainted, fell, and hit his head, fracturing his skull. A friend heard the fall, and a Lewis community advisor immediately called the campus safety office. Safety officers and an ambulance arrived within minutes.

College Physician Tracy W. Schermer accompanied the ambulance to Knox Community Hospital in Mount Vernon, where tests revealed the hemorrhage. Caleb was then taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus. His parents, Eric and Laura Gottinger, arrived from Milwaukee early in the afternoon, joining Schermer along with Head Swimming Coach James Steen and Director of Counseling Services Patrick K. Gilligan. Caleb never regained consciousness.

"Caleb was a bright, promising student just beginning his career at the College," said Nugent. "He will be greatly missed by his teammates, friends, faculty members, and all who knew him."

A graduate of Riverside University High School in Milwaukee, Caleb was an outstanding swimmer who won numerous swimming honors in high school. A freestyle specialist, he loved the feeling of hard work paying off in accomplishments measured in hundredths of a second. Swimming "is my life," he wrote shortly before coming to Kenyon.

An open time of prayer will be held at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Church of the Holy Spirit on campus. At 11:30 p.m., there will be an all-campus meeting in Gund Commons to share further information and provide comfort.

Counselors and other student affairs staff members have been meeting with students to help them in coping with this loss.

This is the second tragedy to hit a collegiate swimming program this year as Emory's Madeleine Brown passed away after falling unconscious during practice in late December.

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