An Indiana University student visiting Ball State died in a dormitory room early Saturday after partying with friends, Ball State officials said.
Jarrod Polston, 18 from Greenwood, was pronounced dead at 10:49 a.m. in Ball Memorial Hospital. Delaware County Coroner Jim Clevenger said the cause of death was asphyxiation after choking on his own vomit.
Polston was staying at Studebaker West with friends. They were all graduates of Center Grove High School, said Kay Bales, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students.
Bales said the group had gone out for the evening before returning to the residence hall.
Polston was last seen conscious at the residence hall around 3 a.m., Clevenger said. He passed out in a dorm room shortly thereafter.
"Jarrod vomited after passing out and it compromised his airway," the coroner said.
When his friends awoke around 10 a.m., he was unresponsive and they called 911, Bales said. University police arrived at 10:05 a.m. They began to administer CPR and called for EMS assistance, which took him to the emergency room of Ball Memorial Hospital.
Evidence at the scene and student statements from Polston's friends indicate that the group was using methadone and drinking alcohol, Clevenger said. He said the toxicology report, which will be released in a few weeks, should confirm that the alcohol and drug use led to the vomiting and the cause of death.
"I don't believe when the findings come in that we'll be surprised," Clevenger said.
Bales said it was unclear if alcohol or drugs were used in the residence hall or how much was in his system.
The other students who were with Polston have not been publicly identified. Bales said the dormitory room belonged to freshmen Ball State students.
No students have been punished or taken into custody, Bales said. A use of alcohol or drugs in the residence hall would be a violation of Ball State's rules as a dry campus. Any charges or punishments would be dependent on the results of an investigation by UPD.
"Until that's concluded, we wouldn't really know what sanctions would need to be administered," she said. "At this point, it's really much too early."
Part of the investigation will be to determine what happened between 3 and 10 a.m. Saturday as well as what led up to the group's arrival at the residence hall.
The timeline for follow-up action will be up to the police, Bales said.
Student reaction to Saturday's death has been mixed, including students who weren't aware of the incident for more than a day.
Rachael Ricker, a Studebaker West resident, didn't hear about the death until Sunday morning.
"When my friends and I found out, we were shocked," she said.
Ricker said the atmosphere around the residence hall has been pretty normal. However, she added that many students still hadn't heard about the incident because they hadn't returned to campus as of Sunday.
Freshman visual communications major Kirsten Fentz had feelings that were more empathetic.
"I had a cousin who died similarly to that, so it's a really sad thing," she said.
Ball State and IU officials have had limited contact regarding the incident, Bales said, partially due to the fact that it was the weekend.
The university chose not to send a campus wide e-mail to the student body regarding the incident.
"We certainly want to be sensitive to the family and recognize that Jarrod's family is going through a very difficult time," Bales said. "Certainly students are going to be talking about it. They're going to know about it."
Ricker said she agreed with that decision, adding that it was a private matter that should have stayed that way, including from the media.
Sophomore pre-law major Carmen Yarrell was upset Ball State did not contact students about a death on campus.
"We did not hear about it," she said. "Why didn't they tell us?"
Yarrell said she did not find until Sunday at 4 p.m., when Bales held a news conference for print and television media.
"I feel like they should have sent out an e-mail, just to let us know someone in our hall died," she said.
While security and resident assistants monitor the halls at night, they do not regularly go into rooms without cause, Bales said.
"When people are in their individual rooms, you assume that things are fine," she said.
Bales expressed condolences to those close to Polston.
"On behalf of the university and all of our faculty, staff and students, we would like to express our deepest sympathies to Jarrod's family and to his friends and extended family at Indiana University," Bales said.
A counselor was made available at Studebaker West to students and staff who felt they were affected by the death.
"It's a tragedy whenever you lose a young person, and we have an excellent counseling staff available to our students," Bales said.
Bales said Ball State offers an aggressive campaign throughout the year to help students be aware of the risks of alcohol and drug abuse, including booklets, a website, programs, workshop and an alcohol education program online.
"[The information] helps students make wise choices," Bales said.
Sophomore nursing major Jordyn Price said Ball State seems to deal with alcohol abuse similarly to other schools.
"I don't know if it's more of a problem [here] than any other college," Price said.
Sharon Hernandez and Sarah Phinney contributed to this story.
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