Flowers by the thousands packed student mailboxes at St. Olaf College in a mass expression of sympathy from those attending Carleton College across town in Northfield.

The gesture this week follows the death of a St. Olaf junior, whose body was found in her dorm room on Oct. 8. Police have said they saw no evidence of foul play or an overdose. Autopsy results are pending.

On Monday, the students' floral mission kicked into gear over at Carleton, with condolence notes being handwritten. On Tuesday, the notes were finished, the flowers wrapped and then delivered that afternoon to St. Olaf's 3,100 or so students.

A photo of the flower-filled mailboxes at St. Olaf was posted Tuesday to Reddit.com and shared widely online.

In March, a similar gesture was made by Oles who sent flowers to Carleton's roughly 2,000 students after the deaths of Carleton juniors James Adams, Michael Goodgame and Paxton Harvieux in a car crash just north of Northfield.

The two campus communities come together Saturday when their football teams meet up at Carleton.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482