Open Letter to Western President Shepard,
On behalf of our entire family, I want to express our gratitude for the compassionate letter you wrote to the campus community regarding the death by suicide of my nephew, Matt Borovina, last week. Through your courage and resolve to promote a dialogue about this tragic loss, and your decision to share details about the loss of your own son, I believe some good can come from our loss.
Your letter of condolence and concern was appreciated by the entire family, and we felt the resolve of those who have felt the pain of suicide in their families. Your willingness to discuss what can be done to prevent as many of these occurrences as we can is a path forward for all of us at a time when we were at a loss.
Our family intends to discuss the circumstances of Matt’s untimely death and the depression that was responsible for it. We have always watched out for each other as a family, but we need to redouble these efforts, as depression often runs in families.
Thank you for using your influence to ask the community to think about these issues. As an educator myself, I know we often are not aware of the positive difference our efforts make in the lives of those we teach. I believe your willingness to focus on these issues will save lives.
All the best to you and your family. We will keep you in our prayers and we will always be grateful for the example of courage you gave us.
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