Basil Brown
Age 217 Apr 2024
Lafayette, Louisiana (USA)
Suicide
Basil was genderqueer and used they/them pronouns. After they died on their university campus the university was criticised for not looking after the mental health of students.
Basil Brown was a magnetic person. [Their] presence filled the room and could even make the biggest Debbie Downer smile.
It's what [their] friends and those who knew [them] remember most about the University of Louisiana at Lafayette student who died by suicide last week.
Those who interacted with Brown have only been able to recall positive experiences with the 22-year-old, said Malek Richard, who knew Brown through the UL band program.
Brown always “spoke up for the little guy,” Richard said, and was an advocate for the LGBTQ+ and disability communities.
Brown shined creatively. [They were] the “clarinet player with the fire fits,” a fellow band member told Richard about Brown and the outfits [they] would wear. [They] combined [their] knowledge of coding with his artistic eye to code a unique universe to life. It was [their] pride and joy.
But Brown’s friends have said they’ve barely had time to grieve. They’ve criticized the university for its handling of Brown’s death claiming it wasn’t transparent after Brown’s death leading to misinformation and more pain.
A group of about 200 students, staff and others gathered Monday afternoon near the UL student union to call on the university to change its welfare check protocol, update its emergency notification system, publicly acknowledge Brown's death and better staff its wellness center with more certified mental health personnel.
Had the system been different, if it were better structured to support those struggling, Brown’s friends said they wouldn’t have to shoulder the responsibility to call for change.
“If (Basil) had been taken care of properly, Basil wouldn’t be in the place [they were] in,” Richard said. “When someone is (in that) situation, they’re not thinking rationally. There has to be someone to make the grand decision of ‘what do you need right now?’ instead of ‘what do you want?’”
Basil's Instagram profile is https://www.instagram.com/8asil00.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5adQu7OG1J/
