A sophomore at the Boston University Academy died of unknown causes after collapsing at a school-sponsored retreat Wednesday night.
Haley Morrill, 15, had just finished dinner at Camp Wing in Duxbury with her schoolmates when she collapsed and stopped breathing, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.
Emergency-medical staff were called, and Morrill was taken to Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, where attempts to revive her were unsuccessful. She died that evening.
Morrill, from the Greater Boston area, wrote for the newspaper at the BU Academy, a BU-affiliated high school near the George Sherman Union that lets its students take college classes.
Yesterday, Morrill’s classmates decorated her locker with flowers and a poster that read, “The world needs more people like you Haley. We miss you already.”
BUA holds the annual retreat to Camp Wing for freshmen and sophomores to work on community-building skills. The camp usually lasts for two-and-a-half days, but students came home one day early after Morrill died.
The school’s juniors and seniors were informed of Morrill’s death yesterday morning, Riley said.
In a letter to the Academy, Advancement Director John Friborg explained the incident in limited detail and encouraged students and teachers to use the counseling services BU offers, such as the Student Health Services Behavioral Medicine Clinic and Marsh Chapel chaplains.
“This is a terrible loss to the family and all of her classmates and friends at the Academy,” Riley said. “It just breaks your heart. Here you have a wonderful, bright and talented young person to just be gone like that. That’s the most difficult part for everyone.”
As is common when a member of the BU community dies, the university extends counseling services to the public, said Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore.
“I know that the BU Academy community got together, and they were really trying to inform each other,” Elmore said.
Students and parents gathered last night at the GSU, where Jim Berkman, the head of the Academy, and Marsh Chapel dean Robert Hill stressed the importance of using counseling resources if necessary.
A wake for Morrill will be held Sunday and a funeral will be held Monday morning, Riley said.
Berkman said the Morrill family intends to establish a fund or scholarship in Morrill’s name so future Academy students might have the opportunities she had, Riley said.
“The fact is that [the family is] very concerned about her classmates, teachers and people over at the Academy,” Riley said. “That says a lot about that family.”
Clarissa Bottesini contributed reporting for this article.
