ASU grieved by 3rd death this month

The death of a senior at Appalachian State University last week dealt another blow to an already-grieving campus that has experienced three deaths in the past three weeks.

This weekend, Joseph McClure, 22, of the Winston-Salem suburb Pfafftown was found shot in the head. Investigators are not sure where the murder took place, but McClure's body was found in the town of Boone outside the ASU campus.

Despite the incident, ASU Police Chief Gunther Doerr said his organization has no intention of increasing campus security.

"We have no indication that there is any threat to the other students," he said.

Lynn Drury, ASU associate vice chancellor for public affairs, said McClure's murder was the first such incident she has dealt with in the past 20 years.

"This kind of thing does not happen in Boone," she said.

Drury added that the campus's response to the murder was categorized by "surprise, shock and sadness."

ASU Student Body President Miriam Makhyoun said that although she does not think the campus is unsafe, students need to recognize that crime can happen anywhere.

"People are surprised, but at the same time, no one expects Boone to be a safe haven away from the real world."

Last year, Makhyoun herself was the victim of an attempted robbery.

She added that even though most students at ASU are overwhelmed with sympathy whenever a student is hurt or killed, such events also can bring the campus together.

Earlier in the semester, a student suffered a fatal heart attack. On Oct. 2, Brian Ellinwood drowned while swimming with friends.

"This is the second time in two years that we have lost one student after another like this," said Susie Greene, dean of students and associate vice chancellor for student development at ASU.

She said McClure will be remembered at ASU's memorial table, which consists of flowers, a picture of the deceased and a book to be written in by students and faculty that later will be given to the student's parents.

Greene stressed that ASU follows this procedure after every death.

"It's a really sweet thing," she said. "This is something we do for all of our students who have died."

Randy Young, spokesman for University police at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the University is not necessarily more or less safe than any other campus.

"It's not fair to compare one campus to another," he said. "It's not something that you can quantify."

Young said the most prevalent crimes at UNC-CH are larceny and what he calls "crimes of opportunity."

He said students should take an active part in their safety by being aware of their surroundings, locking doors, not walking alone and not leaving book bags unattended.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.