Rutgers Offers Grief Counseling Following Sophomore's Possible Alcohol-Related Death

Rutgers University is offering grief counseling following the possible alcohol-related death of a 19-year-old university sophomore from South Brunswick.

Caitlyn P. Kovacs of the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick was pronounced dead at 3:19 a.m. Sunday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi said the university is “deeply saddened” by Kovacs’s death, adding that grief counseling was offered to students at the Student Activities Center and the College Avenue Student Center on Sunday night.

Anyone needing to seek one-on-one counseling to better deal with the tragedy is encouraged to call or visit Counseling ADAP & Psychiatric Services (848) 932-7884 or visit http://rhscaps.rutgers.edu/.

Counselors can provide support services, understanding and assistance to help anyone in the student body better cope with this situation, Barchi said.

“This is a time to let each other know that we care and to share our strength and understanding with those in need so that we come through this tragedy with a deeper commitment to each member of the Rutgers community. I know this is a difficult time for everyone,” Barchi wrote in an email to the Rutgers community.

Barchi noted that Kovacs was a sophomore at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, majoring in animal sciences. Her passing over the weekend “is a tragic loss to her family, her friends, and the entire Rutgers community,” he said.

An investigation has shown that the death may be alcohol-related, but the cause of death will not be determined until an autopsy is completed by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey.

Police began the investigation after hospital officials called at 3:28 a.m. to alert them to the student’s death.

Lt. Paul Fischer of the Rutgers University Police Department, Detective Ken Abode of the New Brunswick Police Department and Detective Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office have been assigned to the investigation, authorities said.

The investigation preliminarily has determined that Kovacs was taken to the hospital by friends at about 3 a.m. when she appeared to be in distress while attending a small gathering at the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity house at 78 College Avenue in New Brunswick.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lt. Fischer of the Rutgers University Police Department at (848) 932-8025, Detective Abode of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5217, or Detective Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3300.