Al Cubbage, vice president for University Relations, said this morning that the University followed its own procedure in communicating to students about the death of Weinberg junior Alyssa Weaver last Wednesday.
Information about Weaver, a Weinberg junior studying abroad at Goldsmiths, University of London in England, was first released in an email from Arcadia University – the school facilitating Weaver's study abroad – Friday afternoon GMT. Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for Student Affairs, informed the Northwestern community through a campuswide email Friday night.
"The university was notified on Thursday," Cubbage said. "The university always works with the local authorities, which are in London, England."
Cubbage also said it was key to work first and foremost with the family.
"It is our normal procedure, and the procedure of police and other authorities, to first contact and work with the family. And while we certainly want to make sure that our campus community is notified on a timely basis.... Our procedure is that we work with the family first."