Today

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:

I write with very painful news. An undergraduate student, Linda Trinh, was found dead over the weekend in her apartment in the Charles Apartments, a privately owned building across Charles Street from the Homewood campus.

Baltimore City police are investigating. We were informed late this afternoon that, based on preliminary findings, the medical examiner has determined Linda's death to be a homicide. We have very little other information at this time, other than that senior officials of the police department have pledged to give the investigation the highest priority.

Dean Boswell has been in touch with Linda's family and has conveyed to them the deep sympathy of all the university's students, faculty and staff.

Linda was a senior. She was well-known, widely admired, liked and respected. She was a biomedical engineering major, former president of her sorority and a former member of the volleyball team. Her loss diminishes all of us, even those who did not know her, because her contributions as student, leader, colleague, and, most important, friend, have helped to build the Johns Hopkins we love so much.

This is the second time in less than a year that our undergraduate community and the university at large have suffered such a tragic loss. We do not know what happened. But we do know that words cannot begin to convey the grief and outrage we all are feeling. How, we ask, could anyone ever conceive of taking this wonderful young life? How could anyone ever feel justified in taking her away from her parents, her family, her friends and the world to which she had so much to contribute?

I have no good answers. I do know that we must grieve. But I also know that we must determine to stand together, to support one another and especially to support those whom Linda loved and who held her dear.

And I know that, despite our loss and grief — in fact, especially because of it — we must honor Linda by working, as she did, to make this community of scholars an even better community in every sense of the word.

To Linda's many friends and classmates: At this very difficult time, it is important to be aware of the resources that are available to you should you need them. I encourage any student who wishes to do so to reach out to Residence Life staff, our peer counselors, our campus ministers, and, of course, the Counseling Center. For emergencies outside regular hours, the center's on-duty counselor can be reached through Security at 410-516-7777.

Though, again, we do not know the circumstances of Linda's death, I want you to know that we are taking immediate steps to provide additional security in the area around the Charles Apartments. We have been assured by police that they will provide additional protection in that area of Charles Village. The university is also stepping up our own patrols and assigning a guard on foot to the area.

We will be in touch again soon with any additional information we can provide. A memorial observance for Linda will be held early in the second semester.

Sincerely,

Bill Brody