Tyler Clementi’s suicide raised two questions that are worth asking. What could Rutgers University have done to help him once it learned that his privacy had been violated? And what actions should the university, and law enforcement, take against the students responsible?
Clementi was the Rutgers freshman who leaped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22, after his roommate surreptitiously streamed live video of Clementi’s intimate encounter in his dorm room with a male visitor. The episode, and its tragic ending, unleashed a torrent of publicity last week. And the commentary about it — both from professionals whose comments were solicited by news organizations, and from readers commenting on stories posted online — was remarkable for the diversity of opinions expressed.
