Carleton students deliver flowers to all attending St. Olaf after junior's death

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.

October 17, 2014 at 1:41AM
Flowers from Carleton College students overwhelmed the mailbox area this week for those attending St. Olaf College. The flowers were sent as a gesture of sympathy after a St. Olaf junior died last week in her dorm room
Flowers from Carleton College students overwhelmed the mailbox area this week for those attending St. Olaf College. The flowers were sent as a gesture of sympathy after a St. Olaf junior died last week in her dorm room (Vince Tuss — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

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

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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