laLate yesterday afternoon, Bwogger and sophomore at Barnard College Elle Ferguson died unexpectedly after introducing herself to the wrong professor.

After a few days of exchanges with Professor David Lurie from the East Asian Department at Columbia, Elle Ferguson was admitted to his class on Japanese Civilization with a “very reluctant” invitation. Eager to make a good impression on her first day in the lecture, Ferguson arrived ten minutes and sat in the front of the lecture hall. She saw the professor at the podium, and decided to introduce herself personally. “Hello Professor Lurie,” said Ferguson as she arrived at the podium to greet the professor, “I’m Elle Ferguson, we exchanged emails last week. I just wanted to say thank you in person for allowing me into your class on such late notice. I bought all the books and borrowed notes from a friend so I’m all caught up for today’s lecture.” The professor she’d just introduced herself to nodded politely, shook her out-stretched hand, and walked out of the lecture hall. Thinking this was strange but pleased at the professor’s warm yet quiet reception of her, Ferguson sat back down in her seat and waited for class to begin. Several minutes later, another professor arrived, booted up his computer, and began class.

Ferguson, realizing her mistake, began having heart palpitations, eventually dying in her front-row seat.

“She will be missed,” a friend says in response to the tragic news. “But perhaps it is for the best, as she would have suffered greatly after that humiliation.”

“It was for the best,” another friend agrees. “She would have had to live with this for the rest of her life — no one should have to.”

Her death, sad but necessary.

Relevant Pic via Bwog Archive