Notre Dame Holds Mass for Student Killed in Fall

Declan Sullivan, of Long Grove, died Wednesday

Several hundred students packed into the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the University of Notre Dame campus Thursday night in a Mass of Remembrance for Declan Sullivan.

"It brings people together," said junior Nick Grasberger, who lived in the same residence hall as Sullivan at one point.  "It makes you realize what really is important.

Sullivan, a 20-year-old student from Long Grove, died when the scissor lift he was on toppled over at the LaBar Practice Complex.    High winds are initially being blamed.

On Thursday, the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration sent an investigator to the South Bend, Ind., campusSpokesman Marc Lotter said it was too early to say when the agency, which has the authority to levy fines, might release its findings, but did classify the death as a "workplace fatality."

The Rev. Tom Doyle, vice president of student affairs, said Sullivan "couldn't have one job" because "there were too many things to do."

Sullivan was a 2008 graduate of Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, where he was a trumpet player in four schools bands.  He also excelled in advanced placement and honors classes.

Students and faculty at the high school began the day Thursday with a moment of silence for their former classmate.  His younger brother, a sophomore at the school, plays on the football team.  The football players gathered in the school chapel earlier in the day for a team prayer.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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