A GW commission created to investigate the University’s response to five student deaths since December began its regular meetings and discussions last month.

The 21-member panel, which was appointed after a GW freshman committed suicide in April, held its first meeting May 17. The group of University staff, faculty and students were charged with examining the existing resources and response protocols GW uses after a student dies.

“The goal is to bring everyone together at the end of the summer and make any recommendations to the University on policies that need to be changed,” said Mike Walker, associate dean of students and chairman of the commission.

The commission will meet every Monday for ten weeks over the summer and will break up into smaller groups consisting of three or four members to discuss a range of topics, Walker said.

The small groups will discuss topics including suicide education, resources and prevention practices, the academic impact of student deaths, crisis response, communicating with students, talking to families and memorializing students.

He added that the group’s first meeting featured talks from Senior Associate Dean of Students Jan Sherrill and Senior Assistant Dean of the Community Living and Learning Center Mark Levine on the immediate reaction to the death of a student. Levine, who lives in an on-campus townhouse, was seen attending to students shortly after freshman Hasan Hussain jumped from his Hall on Virginia Avenue balcony in April.

“I thought we had a really good first meeting that will lay the groundwork for future meetings throughout the summer,” Walker said.

He added that while speakers would include officials from departments like University Police and the Counseling Center, no outside experts on suicides or deaths will address the commission.

J. David Grossman, a rising junior who was appointed to the commission by the Student Association, said the panel was asked to keep the proceedings of each meeting confidential until the group finishes its findings.

Grossman did say, however, that he is optimistic about the outcome of the ongoing discussions.

“I certainly think it was an important step for the University to take, and hopefully there will be a major impact, both in the short-term and long-term, for GW,” he said.

Robert Chernak, senior vice president of Student and Academic Support Services, said he has confidence in the members of the panel. He added that changes that the commission recommends will focus on GW’s suicide-prevention policies.

“My expectation is that we’ll have a good working set of recommendations on the education of students (on suicide) and maybe some recommendations on how to better communicate with students,” Chernak said. “We may also find ways to help students be more diagnostic in assisting those students who seem to have thoughts of taking their own lives.”

Two of last year’s five deaths were ruled suicides, and four of them involved undergraduates and occurred close to or on campus.

“Five is not an abnormal number for a campus of GW’s size,” Walker said. “What was abnormal was the short duration of time and the cause and location of deaths.”

Although the commission comes as a direct response to the chain of tragedy that GW experienced, both Walker and Chernak insisted that the panel is not a tacit admission that the University has done anything wrong in handling student deaths.

“We just want to make sure were doing all that we can,” Walker said.

Chernak said GW constantly examines its policies and that this commission is just another opportunity for self-improvement.

“Overall I think we do a good job, but it doesn’t make sense not to take a closer look at what we have,” he said.

Christina Mueller, a rising sophomore who said she plans to start a student group for suicide prevention over the summer, applauded the commission.

“It was a great idea to pool students’ ideas and resources, since it will be the students who are affected,” said Mueller, who last semester inspired her University Writing class to discuss student suicide by writing a paper on the topic.

The commission will present its findings to the University after its ten weeks of meetings, Walker said, adding that it was possible that some of the panel’s recommendations may come at a financial price.

“If that’s the case,” he said, “we’ve been instructed not to let cost be an issue in our findings.”