Elizabeth Shin (1980 - April 14, 2000) was an MIT student whose suicide by self-immolation led to a lawsuit against MIT, and controversy as to whether MIT paid adequate attention to its students' mental and emotional health, and whether MIT's suicide rate was abnormally high.
The Shin family has alleged that despite numerous warning signs, such as emails to faculty members that she was depressed and wanted to kill herself, she received minimal attention. MIT counseling services sometimes relegated duty to her parents, discharged her with minimal treatment, or failed to take action in response to her emails [1].
On April 10, 2000, a student named Andrew Thomas heard a smoke alarm in Elizabeth's dorm room. Although the door was locked, Andrew could smell smoke and could hear crying coming from within the room. When MIT police broke down the door, they saw Elizabeth "engulfed in flames, flailing on the floor in the middle of her room." [2] Her body was 65% covered in third-degree burns and she died several days later.
After this incident, MIT announced an upgrade of its student counseling programs, including more staff members and longer hours. However, the Shins claim these measures are not enough and have filed a $27.65 million lawsuit against MIT and its mental health employees.
MIT continues to deny wrongdoing. According to MIT's lawyer Jeffrey Swopes, "The death of Elizabeth Shin was a tragedy -- for this bright young woman, her family and friends, and all those at MIT who tried to help her... But it was not the fault of MIT or anyone who works at MIT." [3].
Elizabeth was the tenth student to commit suicide at MIT since 1990 [4], provoking controversy as to whether MIT's suicide rate is abnormally high. It is indeed higher than the national average, although some at MIT have argued that the numbers are not statistically significant due to small sample size.
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Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46
