At 6:40 P.M. on Sept. 26, President David Wippman informed the Hamilton College community that Isaiah Carpenter-Winch ’19 had passed away on campus. Wippman addressed the student body in an all-school email, reading,

Dear Members of the Hamilton Community,

I am writing with deep and profound sadness to inform you that Isaiah Carpenter-Winch, a junior from Cambridge, Massachusetts, was found dead earlier today on campus.

When a member of our community dies so suddenly and unexpectedly, especially someone so young and full of promise and possibility, it touches us all. Nothing can prepare us for such a tragedy, and people will respond to it differently. Please know that there are resources throughout campus to assist you.

I encourage you, in the strongest way possible, to reach out to members of the Counseling Center staff, the Chaplaincy and the Dean of Students Office who are available to assist you this evening and in the days ahead. Counselors will be available in the Counseling Center until 8 tonight, and then from 8 to 9:30 with the College chaplain on the third floor of the Chapel. The Counseling Center will have extended hours tomorrow until 7 p.m. Peer counselors provide an additional resource; they will be available from 4 to 10 p.m. tomorrow and Thursday.

On behalf of all of us, I extend our deepest and most profound sympathy to Isaiah’s family. Expressions of support and memories of Isaiah should be sent to the Dean of Students who will forward them to his family. Sometime today or in the days and weeks ahead, please take time to remember Isaiah and his family and friends.

Vice President and Dean of Students Terry Martinez confirmed that Isaiah’s death was unrelated to the death of a local community member which had occured on campus earlier that same day.

A Junior from Cambridge, Massachusetts, Isaiah arrived on the Hill in the fall of 2015 eager to pursue his passions of computer science and the digital arts.

Professor Mark Bailey, Isaiah’s academic advisor, remembers him as “quiet and independent,” adding, “he was deeply respectful of faculty and his peers” and that he “got along with everyone and had many friends in our department.” Isaiah had unique relationships with those in his academic discipline, according to Professor Bailey, who explained, “Isaiah was quite close to many of our concentrators; I know the entire Computer Science family is devastated by this news.”

The Spectator

extends our deepest sympathies to Isaiah’s family and loved ones, and we encourage members of our community to support one another through this difficult time.